News and the media in general are in flux right now. The internet has taken over for younger people at least. Network news caters to the politicians and corporations so things remain status quo. One news agency has gone against the grain to inform the public what goes on behind the scenes of politics.
Democracy Now! is a national, daily, independent, award-winning news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez. Pioneering the largest public media collaboration in the U.S., Democracy Now! is broadcast on Pacifica, NPR, community, and college radio stations; on public access, PBS, satellite television (DISH network: Free Speech TV ch. 9415 and Link TV ch. 9410; DIRECTV: Free Speech TV ch. 348 and Link TV ch. 375); and on the internet. Democracy Now!’s podcast is one of the most popular on the web (About).
The last two decades have seen unprecedented corporate media consolidation. The U.S. media was already fairly homogeneous in the early 1980s: some fifty media conglomerates dominated all media outlets, including television, radio, newspapers, magazines, music, publishing and film. In the year 2000, just six corporations dominated the U.S. media (About). Corporate media outlets in the U.S. are legally responsible to their shareholders to maximize profits. Therefore these media outlets are told what to say by politicians and corporations.
Democracy Now! is funded entirely through contributions from listeners, viewers, and foundations. They do not accept advertisers, corporate underwriting, or government funding. This allows them to maintain their independence.
This independence has created some of the best war coverage since we started the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Says host Amy Goodman, “I really do think that if for one week in the United States we saw the true face of war, we saw people's limbs sheared off, we saw kids blown apart, for one week, war would be eradicated. Instead, what we see in the U.S. media is the video war game. Our mission is to make dissent commonplace in America" (Amy). "War coverage should be more than a parade of retired generals and retired government flacks posing as reporters," Goodman says, why not invite some voices that are not Pentagon-approved" (Peace)?
War is not the only thing covered by Democracy Now! Extensive coverage of the BP Gulf oil spill has brought new questions about what these big corporations are actually doing. That is what the media should be doing to protect our democracy. If politicians and corporations have a free pass to do whatever they want our democracy is in serious trouble.
Media sources like Democracy Now! are a key to the future of freedom in the U.S. After accepting a prize recently, Goodman was asked to explain her approach. She replied: "Go where the silence is and say something" (Peace). With all the blabbing going on in the media nowadays there sure is a lot of silence about important issues.
Works Cited
About Democracy Now!. Democracy Now!, 2010. 1 September 2010
Amy Goodman. Americans Who Tell the Truth, 2010. 1 September 2010
No comments:
Post a Comment