Thursday, August 30, 2007

Sorry, This Water Is Private...

Much has been said about the drought here in the High Country, and the impact that rapid development has had on the ability of local municipalities to provide water. In this election season, water has become a huge local political issue as well.

While these discussions are important, there is another side of the issue that you probably won't hear about in the mainstream media here in the High Country: Water Privatization.

Most of us would consider the access to clean water to be a basic human right. But these days, we seem to constantly hear how all of our problems would be solved if we would just privatize everything and get rid of government "interference." Indeed, private water companies are popping up all over the U.S., including North Carolina. Cash strapped local governments seem focused only on the short-term windfall they stand to make by selling off their water systems.

Strangely enough though, once these private water corporations come to town, they seem to have a problem sharing.

While it is understandable that a local government may want to rid itself of the hassle and expense of owning and maintaining a water system--not to mention the pressure that governments must feel from local citizens demanding that they cut costs, no matter what the outcome--local governments need to understand that water privatization is not a panacea.

In Barnstead, New Hampshire locals passed a law prohibiting corporations from mining the town's water supply--as in taking the town's water and selling it elsewhere--which was essentially sucking the town's water supply dry.

So, let's try to think long term here. That soggy private sector white knight is just a mirage. Our water supply should not be sold to the highest bidder.

Monday, August 27, 2007

Down To 2

We almost missed it. Sometimes, it seems like the folks who run newspapers want it that way.

Last Thursday, the Winston-Salem Journal announced in a very short 5 paragraph story that it was eliminating its stand-alone business section, deciding to offer only 2 pages of business coverage Monday through Friday attached to the local news section--all because of cost cutting measures. 5 employees were "eliminated."

The story went on to state that Sunday's Winston-Salem Journal business section would continue as a separate stand-alone section, and that it will include the Wall Street Journal business report (as had been the case already).

This represents a sizable reduction in local coverage. How many in-depth articles can we expect to see in just 2 pages of business news (don't forget the ads, they will take up a lot of space).

Just last summer/fall, the Winston-Salem Journal did a series of reports on the impact of second home growth and development in the High Country. Their stories were important for many reasons, but especially because they were willing to ask the questions that needed to be asked--and follow the stories where they went--even if some of the developers weren't happy that the reports did not read like a company press release.

And that Sunday Winston-Salem Journal business section which will include the Wall Street Journal business report? The Wall Street Journal was just purchased by Rupert Murdoch. Should be an enlightening read.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Talk Radio HEARTS General Motors

We often wonder about the links between big media and big corporations -- I guess that's one of the main reasons we started DNHC. We came across this little ditty the other day, and we just kept right on wondering. It seems that Rush Limbaugh (along with other conservative radio talkers - and some progressives, too) is being given General Motors cars to test drive, and is also being offered VIP trips from General Motors to meet with GM executives in Detroit. Apparently, this may have helped some talkers sing the praises of GM while on the air. Go figure.

Wow. This really does not pass the smell test, nor does it say much good about media "transparency." Since Rush is carried on seemingly all of the radio stations ;-) here in the High Country (plus the 50,000 watt WHKY, easily heard up here too), I wonder what the local reaction will be. Will we all suddenly become subliminalized into purchasing a gas-guzzling, big-oil friendly, big 'ol honkin' SUV--that costs $80-$110 to fill up? No, wait--I'm sure Rush is busy plugging GM's hybrid line of vehicles, right? Equal time, maybe? That must be it.

Are we to believe that these radio hosts will somehow not tread lightly on GM should a controversy arise? Maybe like, say--global warming? What conflict?

Do you mean to say that car emissions might actually be contributing to that whole global warming thing?

Friday, August 17, 2007

When They Come Home

These days, you don't hear much in the mainstream media about how our troops are adjusting to life at home once they come back from active duty combat. Here in Boone, it sure was great to see the members of the 1451st come home in May.

But where are the follow up stories? Have all of our returning soldiers been accepted back into their jobs (as required by law)? Are the soldiers getting all the medical benefits that they are entitled to (and so rightly deserve)? Do any of them need our help?

These are important questions, and they need to be asked.

So why is it that no mainstream media outlet is willing to ask them? Why is it left to a tiny news bureau in Washington to report on the tough issues?

We owe it to our soldiers to support them in every way we can--and this need for support does not stop once they come home.

Thursday, August 9, 2007

Who Is Wally Anyway?

Wally Bowen is one of western NC's best known media activists, and a very successful entrepreneur to boot. He founded the Mountain Area Information Network, a local non-profit provider of internet services (wireless, broadband, dialup, email accounts, website hosting, etc.).

In places like Bakersville, the reason that wireless internet access is there is because of his efforts--the big corporations wouldn't touch a place like Bakersville when he first founded MAIN, because it would be "unprofitable." Wally is a very frequent visitor to Raleigh, where he works to help the "elected ones" understand the importance of local access to broadband.

Wally has a great presentation called "A Progressive Response To An Undemocratic Media," which you can find here. It is a serious, enlightened analysis. Take a look and think about our media options here in the High Country.

Sunday, August 5, 2007

Local Consolidation

It wasn't all that long ago when the High Country witnessed a wave of media consolidation...remember when the Mountain Times was an independent paper? How about the Watauga Democrat? Both are now owned by a non-local entity.

You can add another local paper to the growing list of THE CONSOLIDATED: the once-independent Jefferson Post. Connecticut-based Heartland Publications, Inc., LLC recently acquired the Post, along with 15 other papers in North and South Carolina. Already, the layoffs have started: 12 employees from the Mount Airy News and the (Elkin) Tribune were fired.

While the out of town corporation will probably make millions by laying off employees and combining reporting personnel, others won't be quite so lucky. In the end, it will be the readers of the papers who lose the most, as the new owners seek to cut costs by reducing coverage of local issues (like elections, the impact of development, etc.). As has been shown time and time again with media consolidation, corporate owners look for the cheapest ways to fill up a paper, often by relying on irrelevant AP wire copy or soft news items. After all, you can't report on the real news if you get rid of all of the reporters...better still, the owners can hire brand new cub reporters on the cheap, who would be all too happy to write soft news stories...while missing the big picture entirely.

A Little Less Rupert In The High Country

Well, it looks like Mr. Rupert Murdoch finally bought the Wall Street Journal. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone here at DNHC defending the WSJ's editorial page (especially their role as a less than fact-based cheerleader during the run up to the Iraq invasion), but we will mourn the loss of yet another professional reporting outlet, as it succumbs to still more media consolidation. The WSJ still has some excellent reporters, but we are greatly concerned that the paper's "news" articles will now become just another political mouthpiece for Mr. Murdoch, just like Fox News, and all of his other media platforms. We think that this is a much more likely outcome than the WSJ suddenly turning into a sensationalist tabloid focusing on the woes of Paris Hilton.

Our primary purpose is to promote Democracy Now!, but we at least wanted to let you know about two new progressive news sources here in the High Country--neither of which have been approved by Mr. Murdoch! Charter Cable is now carrying AGR TV News, and Liberty News TV. Both are high-quality, professionally produced news shows. AGR TV is the new television version of the Asheville Global Report newspaper, and it is produced in western NC. AGR is the winner of 10 "Project Censored" awards, and strives to cover issues that are significantly under reported by the mainstream corporate media. LNTV is produced in Maine, and offers a wide range of progressive programming-from satire to independent documentaries.

Here are the decidedly un-Rupert-like details:

AGR TV airs each Monday night at 6:30 pm on Charter Cable Channel 2.
LNTV airs each Sunday night at 8:00 pm on Charter Cable Channel 2.

You can also see these programs on the web:
http://www.agrnews.org/?section=tv
http://www.libertynewstv.com/