Social media revolution

I posted here an interview I saw on Democracy Now!, broadcasted from Las Vegas, covering a conference on social media being held there. This interview highlights the role social networking can play in democratizing the media, taking the news away from the corporate deceivers of CNN, FOX, MSNBC, the New York Times, Washington Post....   

Honduras back in the news (except for U.S. corporate news)

Amazing. Honduras is once again making international news, with the return of President Zelaya and his holing up in the Brazilian Embassy, and I couldn't find one word of it on the cable channels. Just more proof of Noam Chomsky's thesis in Manufacturing Consent. Of course, Democracy Now! aired almost a half-hour worth of coverage.

Excellent anti-war interviews on DN!

In the latest Democracy Now!, Amy Goodman interviews a number of Iraq War veterans speaking out against war and occupation. I've linked to one of the interviews, but they are all excellent.

Corporate news drops the Honduras story

CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, Bloomberg, all of these outfits are corporate-owned. Given their economic power and control of the media, their political interests get favored in the news. Worse, they decide what is news, and given our corporate culture in the U.S., it is mostly what people end up hearing.

This reality is always there, but the extent of the corporate news bias never ceases to amaze me. The most recent surprise was the rapidity that the major news outlets have dropped the Honduras story. With Iran, when U.S. oil interests are at stake, the story of an oppressed political opposition lasted weeks and continues. With Honduras, a story that involves a murderous military coup against a popularly elected leader, and one that might involve players here in the U.S., well.... that doesn't count as a news item. But the resistance there continues, and it is getting reported on, just not on CNN.

Are there alternatives? Yes, many, mostly on the Internet, and in many leftist mags and newsletters. One good place to start, however, is Democracy Now! news with Amy Goodman. I'm extremely appreciative that they exist and can even be found on the Dish Network on Free Speech TV, channel 9415.

Right-wing terrorism

This is a sad day for those of us who believe in women's rights and reproductive freedom. Dr. Tiller's assassination is a tragedy that we must not forget.

Deborah Meier on charter schools

This Democracy Now! video from 5/21/09, featuring Deborah Meier on education, is a fairly good counterpoint to Obama's atrocious pro-NCLB/pro-charter school education plan. What's missing from the analysis, however, is that charter schools are designed to attack teacher unions and whatever democratic accountability exists within the present public school system.