Weekend Video Salon: Jeremy Scahill

Quite a bit has been said lately about Blackwater USA in the mainstream media--but very little of this coverage has concentrated on Blackwater's desire to bring their unique brand of customer service to the lucky citizens of our own country. Jeremy Scahill, in this very short video, ties much of the Blackwater story together.

Weekend Video Salon: Early Edition!

OK, so we're a little early! This is an excellent presentation given by Naomi Wolf, about the state of our democracy--and its apparent slow slide into fascism.

WATA 1450 AM

Consolidated media is all about the cheap. And syndicated, satellite-fed programming like Neil Boortz fits the consolidated media world's business plan like a cheap suit.

Neil Boortz claims to be a "libertarian." You can catch his "educational" program on WATA 1450 AM.

Why would a local media titan pay for local staff to run a local show about local issues if he could save big bucks by airing the beamed-in voice of some distant radio host? It's pure genius--kind like running a radio station on auto-pilot.

Here's Neil helping WATA fulfill their FCC-mandated mission to serve the public interest by addressing an issue that is vital to the survival of our democracy, via Media Matters:

During the November 26 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Neal Boortz stated that "maybe the reason [Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL)] doesn't wear a U.S. flag on his lapel is because the U.S. flag -- regardless of what he thinks -- the flag of this country irritates a lot of Democrat [sic] voters." Boortz was referring to Obama's statement that he had decided to stop wearing a U.S. flag lapel pin during the run-up to the Iraq war because it "became a substitute for, I think, true patriotism."

Full article, transcript, and audio here.

A Little Q & A

Q: If an author wrote a book that was critical of said author's government--and then wound up on that government's terrorist watch list, in which country do you think the author resides?

A: Find out here.

One Cheese Pizza, Hold The Lead

"You can make a pizza so cheap that no one will want to eat it." Gordon Bethune, former CEO of Continental Airlines once uttered these words of wisdom when asked why he decided not to cut costs to the bone during the airline's second trip through bankruptcy reorganization.

Turns out he was on to something.

Take lead for example. We've all seen the stories in the media about poisonous lead in toys, many of which are sold at deep discount stores like Walmart and Target. These stories definitely explain the what, but they decidedly avoid the why--or the "back story" about our recent close encounters with lead.

Indeed, the why part of the story seems to be off limits.

Here's one reason why: we live in a time that values the relentless pursuit of cost reduction--regardless of the impact upon our society. If it's cheaper, it has got to be better. And if something undesirable like lead winds up in our toys, then the invisible hand of the free market will take care of that. Sure, it may take a little time, and some lives may be lost--but that sure beats any type of regulation--especially by big government.

And so we shop--at Walmart, Target--any place that's cheap. Maybe that's because we have less disposable income. Maybe that's because we refuse to pay a tiny bit more for something made locally--even if it would benefit our neighbors, our community. And we read that it is the evil people putting the lead into the toys that are ones to blame. We play no role in this dynamic at all, do we?

But we do play a role--we buy the cheap stuff, sometimes because we have to, sometimes because we save five cents. We're driving the demand for this junk. Can you imagine a local company selling toys containing lead? Poisoned dog food? How long would they stay in business? Could a local business face their neighbors everyday, while still allowing their poisoned products to be sold? We think not.

If our local media highlighted the role we play as consumers in driving the demand for ever-cheaper goods, would Walmart or Target be as eager to put their advertising inserts into our local papers?

You decide.

Sooner or Later, General Will Own YOU

The negative impact of media consolidation is something that we have to deal with on a daily basis here in the High Country. Aisling Broadcasting owns nearly all of the radio stations in the area, and Jones Media owns darn near everything else on the print side of things.

As each entity seeks to cut costs, we suffer the consequences--irrelevant, canned, syndicated radio programming, and newspapers that serve as cheerleaders/megaphones for those in power--rarely questioning the status quo (the powerful folks can afford to buy ads, remember).

Yet media consolidation is all around us, too. Case in point: Media General, owner of the Winston-Salem Journal, the Hickory Daily Record, and many, many other media outlets. You see, Media General is losing money in the newspaper/TV business, and lots of it.

But wait--Media General may have a savior in the FCC. Turns out that Media General is one of the major forces behind the FCC's recent effort to allow even more media consolidation--in the form of radio/TV-newspaper cross-ownership, or what used to be called a monopoly by most folks.

Media General is pushing the FCC to allow them to buy up even more media outlets in a town--to the point where they would own the radio/TV station AND the newspaper--thereby controlling all of the traditional media outlets.

Media General's tactics have nothing to do with journalism, obviously. Their plan is to get the FCC to allow them to operate as a monopoly in as many towns as possible so that they can recoup the money they paid to accumulate all of these media outlets in the first place.

And journalism? Well, who cares if making money and true journalism are incompatible? We can always look forward to more coverage of the Hickory Crawdads--that's cheap!

Weekend Video Salon: Naomi Klein

Naomi speaks about the current obsession with the privatization of the public commons - and provides some great historical context. Enjoy!

Up Is Down

FCC Chairman Martin says the best way to ensure that media diversity remains strong is to allow more media consolidation. Pretty Orwellian.

How great it would be for us in the High Country if all of our media outlets were allowed to consolidate under one owner. Martin's new rules would allow that to happen--maybe we could call our new High Country media Borg the Aisjonescharpress?

That would almost be funny, but what Martin wants to do is sanction media monopolies in nearly every market--all in the name of diversity (and PROFITS!)--by allowing one company to own both broadcast and print media outlets. Because to him, media diversity cannot happen unless it is eliminated.

FCC Commissioners Adelstein and Copps have this to say about Mr. Martin's big plans:

The [Martin's] proposal could repeal the [cross-ownership] ban in every market in America, not just the top twenty. Any city, no matter how small, could be subjected to newspaper broadcast ownership combinations under a very loose standard.

Under Chairman Martin’s plan, all markets will be open to one company combining broadcast properties with cable, the newspaper (already a monopoly in most places), even the Internet Service Provider. His proposal could propel a frenzy of competition-stifling mergers across the land.
...
Under the Chairman’s timetable, we count 19 working days for public comment. That is grossly insufficient. The American people should have a minimum of 90 days to comment, just as many Members of Congress have requested. More importantly, the Commission has yet to finish its Localism proceeding, teed up four years ago, or to forward comprehensive ideas to increase women and minority ownership of broadcast outlets.
...
There is still time to do this the right way. Congress and the thousands of American citizens we have talked to want a thoughtful and deliberate rulemaking, not an alarming rush to judgment characterized by insultingly short notices for public hearings, inadequate time for public comment, flawed studies and a tainted peer review process – all designed to make sure that the Chairman can deliver a generous gift to Big Media before the holidays. For the rest of us: a lump of coal.

Full article here.

How about Charjoaipress? Any other ideas?

At Home and Invisible

Invisible.

You could be forgiven for thinking that Boone's own 1451st has disappeared--if you listen, read or watch to the High Country media outlets. Yes, the High Country media titans served up the standard coverage of veteran ceremonies and celebrations on Veteran's Day--kudos to the media titans for doing something.

The 1451st went to war and came home--that's it--no issues, no concerns, no nothing. They're back and that's all anyone needs to know.

That's just really hard to believe. Because on a national level, our vets are facing real difficulties. Are we to believe that High Country vets are somehow not facing these very same issues?

Almost 2 million veterans are without health insurance, along with 3.8 million members of their households, a new study finds.

Among the 1.8 million uninsured veterans, 12.7 percent are under 65. In addition, the number of uninsured veterans has increased by 290,000 between 2000 and 2004, according to the report in the Oct. 30 online edition of the American Journal of Public Health.

"The Bush Administration has been sending Americans overseas asking them to fight for their country, and yet, when people come home, they have no guarantee of health care," said study co-author Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a member of the advocacy group Physicians for a National Health Program. "The most basic human right of health care is being denied to our veterans, along with other Americans -- and that's a disgrace."

...

(CBS) Some of America's 25 million veterans face their biggest fight when they return home from the battlefield -- when they take on mental illness.

And, a CBS News analysis reveals they lose that battle, and take their own lives, at a clip described by various experts as "stunning" and "alarming," according to Chief Investigative Correspondent Armen Keteyian. One called it a "hidden epidemic."

He says no one had ever counted just how many suicides there are nationwide among those who had served in the military -- until now.

The five-month CBS News probe, based upon a detailed analysis of data obtained from death records from 2004 and 2005, found that veterans were more than twice as likely to commit suicide in 2005 as non-vets.

Full CBS story here.

The Public Airwaves

Did you know that the public can challenge license renewals for radio and TV stations? Yep, you can. In what may be the beginning of a wave of challenges, media activist groups in New Jersey are challenging WWOR-TV's bid to renew their broadcasting license on the grounds that WWOR had "failed to provide a program service and adequately meet the needs of its northern New Jersey viewers.”

The groups are also challenging the waiver that the FCC has granted to WWOR-TV (WWOR-TV is owned Rupert Murdoch's News Corp), over News Corp's cross ownership of both TV and newspaper outlets in the same market (in this case, Northern New Jersey/New York City)--you see, Murdoch also owns the New York Post. Under most scenarios, that is called a monopoly.

What is highly unusual here is that the FCC has allowed a public forum to be held regarding the license renewal challenge. Does this indicate an actual change in FCC direction, or will this be a token showing of concern by the FCC? That remains to be seen.

The takeaway message of this post is that you (yes, you), can file a license renewal challenge too--or send a letter to the local media titans--letters sent to radio and TV stations must be kept on file, for possible FCC review.

Are you tired of the canned, non-public service oriented programming on local High Country airwaves? Options do exist.

Full article here.

Weekend Video Salon: Geena Davis

Here is Geena Davis at the 2007 National Conference for Media Reform. Very refreshing!

The Context of Making Contact

Rarely in the consolidated media world in which we live is an important news story fully placed into context. It just takes too much time. Too expensive. Gotta fit those commercials in.

When it comes to the extreme drought we are experiencing in the High Country, context becomes pretty darn important. So we'll give it a try.

A bill, called the Water Resources Development Act of 2007 has been designed to "provide for the conservation and development of water and related resources, to authorize the Secretary of the Army to construct various projects for improvements to rivers and harbors of the United States, and for other purposes."

November 2, 2007: President Bush vetoes the Water Resources Development Act of 2007.
November 6, 2007: The U.S. House of Representatives votes to override the Bush veto. The bill now goes to the U.S. Senate, where it remains to be seen if they can muster the votes to override the Bush veto.

Why would Bush veto the bill knowing full well that our area (and most of the rest of the country) is facing severe water supply problems? In a word, PRIVATIZATION.

Our water supply represents one of the last money-making frontiers for supporters of the privatization agenda. Simply put, there's money to be made by getting local governments to sell off their water supplies to private companies--and even bigger money to be made by those private companies when they turn around and start selling that water back to the citizenry. You'll find a way to pay when you are thirsty.

Access to clean water has long been considered a basic human right--a part of the public commons. Well, no more. Right alongside our privatized military (Blackwater USA, Triple Canopy, Halliburton), you can add water. And you can count on big media not to cover the story.

There are some small voices out there covering the important issue of water supply privatization--but you won't hear them on the radio here in the High Country--the High Country media titans must not think this type of programming is profitable. Following their logic, if isn't profitable, then it must not be all that important.

You'll have to go here to tune in to Making Contact. When you listen, ask yourself why we can't have this sort of programming carried on High Country radio. Having local radio offer programming like Making Contact would indeed be "the pause that refreshes."

WXIT 1200 AM

Did you know that the FCC says that the airwaves used by radio and television stations to broadcast their signal actually belong to the public? This is the concept of the "Public Airwaves," and is the reason why radio and television stations are required by the FCC to occasionally do something that benefits the public--like some sort of public service--or maybe children's educational programming.

Say, like--Rush Limbaugh. If you were lucky today, you got to hear Rush relentlessly mocking a 13-year old Inuit girl, as she broke down in tears testifying before Congress about the impact of global warming on her Alaskan community. And you got to listen to it right here on WXIT 1200 AM!

The girl was upset about losing her entire way of life to global warming, she broke down, and Rush just had to make fun of her. Take a listen for yourself, and then give WXIT 1200 AM a call to let then know that you expect them to do more to promote public service--as opposed to airing shows that purposely hurt kids who are genuinely frightened.

NewsTalk 1200 WXIT
738 Blowing Rock Road
Boone, NC 28607
(828) 264-8255 Local
(828) 264-2412 Fax
wxit@newstalk1200.com

70 Percent

Now we have even more proof that the American public believes that Big Media is a Big Problem. A new survey shows that as the American media system has grown ever more consolidated, Americans--regardless of their political affiliation--have gotten more and more concerned.

We all understand in our guts that a healthy democracy cannot sustain itself without a rigorous, diverse, and truly independent media system. The founders of this country understood it, and we still understand it today.

The question is--will Big Media report on the results of this survey? Will the very consolidated radio stations and newspapers in the High Country talk about or discuss this survey? Generally speaking, Big Media would rather not talk about itself--call it a form of modesty.

After all, why would Big Media want to do something that might hurt the bottom line?--or give people proof that their own concerns about media consolidation might in fact be shared by 70 percent of the rest of the U.S. population?

Have a look for yourself, from the Media and Democracy Coalition:

The major findings of the poll include:

· Seventy percent of the poll respondents describe media consolidation as a problem and 42 percent of Americans describe it as a major problem. Democrats, independents and Republicans all consider ownership consolidation to be a problem in nearly equal proportions; seventy-one percent of Democrats, 73 percent of independents and 69 percent of Republicans believe increasing ownership consolidation is a problem.

· By a considerable margin of 57 percent to 30 percent, the public favors laws that make it illegal for a corporation to own both a newspaper and a television station in the same city or media market. Similar levels of support exist among political liberals (59 percent favor), moderates (58 percent favor), and conservatives (56 percent favor). Likewise, the poll finds support among both older and younger Americans (58 and 55 percent, respectively), white Americans and people of color (59 and 50 percent), and union and non-union households (59 and 56 percent).

“The quality of our country's media is not a partisan issue. This poll is proof that Americans of all political stripes are concerned about increasing media consolidation, which limits consumer choice in local markets. This is particularly true regarding cross-ownership. An overwhelming majority is opposed to one company owning both newspapers and television stations in the localities where citizen voices should matter the most," commented Joel Kelsey, Grassroots Coordinator for Consumers Union, a member of the Media and Democracy Coalition.

Big Media: Kids Aren't Profitable--So Why Bother?

"Synergies" generate higher profits we are told, over and over again--and that's great for everybody! Because when you combine companies (or TV, radio, and newspaper outlets for that matter) you can eliminate those awful inefficiencies--and serve the public an even better product!

Except for those darn pesky kids. Turns out TV programming for kids just doesn't generate enough revenue--so when two or more TV stations come under the ownership of a single company, they drop the amount of kids TV programming dramatically.

Children Now recently completed an analysis of the effects on the availability of children's TV programming in "duopoly" markets (i.e. when media companies are allowed to own multiple TV stations in a single market). And wouldn't ya know it, the results aren't pretty:

The research provides compelling evidence that, as media companies grow bigger through consolidation, the amount of programming provided for children decreases dramatically. This finding is especially important because the quantity of children's educational programming is one of only a handful of ways that citizens can measure broadcasters' efforts to serve the public interest, which they are required to do in exchange for free use of the publicly-owned airwaves.

Broadcasters have claimed that duopolies are necessary to "preserve and enhance" their ability to serve the public interest. The study, Big Media, Little Kids 2: Examining the Influence of Duopolies on Children's Television Programming, finds quite the opposite is true when it comes to children's television. For example:

• Across markets, duopoly stations decreased both their total weekly hours of children's programming and number of children's series an average of four to five times more than did non-duopoly stations.
• Duopoly stations made significantly greater reductions to their educational program offerings, cutting two and a half times more educational programming than did non-duopoly stations.
• By 2006 there was no difference in the quantity of children’s program offerings on duopoly and non-duopoly stations. The one exception was the number of educational series offered, in which duopoly stations offered significantly fewer programs than did non-duopoly stations.
• Children are not receiving the benefits of local programming, as only 1% of children's programs in 1998 and 2006 were locally-produced. Seven of the eleven locally-produced children's shows in the sample were from just one market: Chicago.

...

"This study makes it very clear that when big media win, kids lose," said Christy Glaubke, director of Children Now's Children & the Media program and author of the study. "Broadcasters have an obligation to serve the public interest, and the needs of children must not be sacrificed for broadcasters' financial gain. We hope the FCC will consider the effects of media consolidation on children as they make their ruling."

Ouch. Full report here.

Weekend Video Salon: Bill Moyers

Enjoy Part 2 of Bill Moyer's speech on media reform at the 2007 National Conference on Media Reform. A great motivator!

Foxx, FEMA, and Filtering

Perhaps using FEMA as a role model, U.S. Representative Virginia Foxx recently held a "telephone town hall meeting" to chat with her constituents. You may recall that FEMA recently held a "news conference"--but the "reporters" asking the questions at the FEMA presser turned out to be FEMA staffers only, asking softball questions designed to make FEMA look good. Actual reporters could call in on the phone to "listen only"--the real reporters were not allowed to ask questions of FEMA.

Foxx's telephone town hall was billed as an opportunity for constituents to “participate in her candid conversation on the important issues facing Congress.” Curiously (and very much like the recent FEMA "news conference"), only one caller to the Foxx event asked a tough question--the rest of the callers were highly complimentary of Foxx's record.

How very FEMA-like.

Here are some highlights from the High Country Press coverage of the Foxx/FEMA event:

Dick Sloop of Wilkes County said, “I definitely feel that I was filtered. I dialed into the town hall and listened for a half hour. I got tired of the softball questions and the feel-good commentary, so I dialed *3 [the procedure for joining the queue] and 15 minutes later I was asked for my name, county of record and the content of my question.”

Sloop said he wanted to ask Foxx, in light of her Christian values, if she considers water boarding torture.

“I held for about 30 minutes and then Foxx said, ‘Let’s go to Dick Sloop in Wilkes.’ I’m the only person she identified by my full name and then my phone went dead and she said, ‘Let’s go to Walt in Sparta.’ I wanted my question answered in public, and I’m reasonably sure I was filtered.”