Slashdot Mirror

In depth, and by the Pacifica Radio Network.

http://rt.com/usa/news/occupy-wall-street-spreads-505/

http://www.pacifica.org/

http://www.kpfa.org/

And also I found, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Project-Censored/151690209993

I really don't see that this is any real revelation, It's NOT a free country (unless you're very, very rich) and it's NOT "By the people for the people", it's by the money for the money!

Bah. I'd bet that 95% of Americans have never even heard a real "lefter-leaning network".

It was interesting to read the very detailed answers given to the questions, but I couldn't help feeling that Jay didn't fully address the second part (and to me the more important) that I asked: namely how will it not be the case that accepting corporate sponsorship (in this case Reuters' $100,000) not inevitably lead to control of the organization.

Jay answers this by saying that he'll make sure that there's no undue influence brought to bear on the editor. That misses the point that Chomsky (yes, I know hate him if you must but he makes some good points) & Herman make about media censorship, which is that the people that occupy positions in which they know they're funded by big business are RARELY directly censored. Instead most of the time they self-censor (see paragraph 4). The Pacifica Radio Network made the decision to avoid government or corporate underwriting explicitly because they realised that any normal, reasonable person is influenced by the source of their funding and has it hovering in the back of their mind.

I like the idea that Jay proposes of having professional editors sorting the wheat from the chaff but believe that although the site may have initial success and credibility it will inevitably be slowly co-opted because of the process of media hegemony detailed by Chomsky and Herman.

B.t.w. anyone idolizing Bob Woodward should think about this perspective. I think he and Seymour Hersh are prime examples of how well intentioned individuals are unable to make an effective difference within a corporately funded system.

• The Indymedia network is one of the longest standing examples of an attempt to have a large citizen journalist network.
• The Pacifica Network (especially the Democracy Now show
• The New Standard

There is no left wing media in the USA unless you want to call Air America and CNN liberal

I am really worried about the next four years in this country.

Living in New York is an expensive lifestyle. But on the other hand, New York cops really seem to enjoy themselves when it comes to corruption. Take for example last year's Republican convention. New York Cops did their best to round up thousands of people, stick them in an asbestos contaminated concentration camp and then charge them with crimes they never committed.

The Banno Story - Corrupt nyc cops lie, the DA encourages and participates in the lies.. get caught red handed
Police Perjurers
another story related to the new york DA editing/manipulating video tapes

Google the story, hundreds of cases have been dropped because the Police were inventing stories that never happened and then having the DA charge innocent people with full knowledge.

If you're a hardcore lefty, what are you going to listen to?

Pacifica network perhaps?
"Democracy Now?"
They've been on the air "for over 50 yrs.".

They regularly have Zinn and Chomsky on, as well as a host of other real left vs the
latte left-I wear a slogan t-shirt to visually name drop to co-opt legitimacy in the absence of holding real values and beliefs themselves people.

I'll second this recommendation. Democracy Now is based on the Pacifica Radio Network but broadcast on a lot of other stations also. If you like Democracy Now, a lot of other Pacifica shows (talk, news, etc) are also free for download. Donate some money too... unlike NPR, they're completely listener-supported.

FWIW I initially heard him on Flashpoints on Pacifica radio, that's produced out of KPFA in Berkeley and I hear it on KPFT 90.1 Houston, 89.5 Galveston

The Pacifica radio network (the older but less recognized brother of NPR) has a program focused on technology. The hosts of the program brought were responsible for some of the first DMCA criminal and civil cases to make it to court.

As is typical of Pacifica; the programming is legendary and edgy.

Check out:
http://www.2600.com/offthehook/

The Pacifica radio network (the older but less recognized brother of NPR) has a program focused on technology. The hosts of the program brought were responsible for some of the first DMCA criminal and civil cases to make it to court.

As is typical of Pacifica; the programming is legendary and edgy.

Check out:
http://www.2600.com/offthehook/

Avid listeners can sign up (for free) to listen and review potential programming.

I've seen a lot of comparisons to NPR, but from the description in the news bit (I can't load the prx.com website for some reason), it seems to run with a philosophy a bit more comparable to Pacifica - a public radio foundation that is run with active participation from listeners. With the level of listener involvement apparently available, I can't really see the NPR comparison.

It goes to show the immense influence government agents have over mainstream media. The biggest lie of this decade is that the media is liberal. In the televised news world, CNN is also known to be heavily influenced by government agents, and Fox News is a lost cause.

The Memory Hole should be rewarded for their vigilance against lies from mainstream media. Sadly, most people think that mainstream media will protect them from government abuse by reporting on those abuses. Yet, Time has proven that as a corporate animal it is obviously too immature to ensure its own good conduct. What we need is a news organization that operates on democratic, not strictly capitalistic principles. Raw capitalism is fine for most organizations. But, news, worthy news, is not one of them. A democratic organization must be behind the news broadcast or print, not a bottom-line oriented organization. Think of Ben Franklin as the person who started a newspaper for the cause of man, not the image of Ben on that greenback which has the ability to alter the truth so readily.

Get your democratic news here and here.

= 9J =

Maybe not. But, I have an idea of how good it should be, and we're not there. Don't take offense if it seems to me that you have no idea how bad we have it from just a few short years ago.

Until you've seen the face of a person terrified at the idea of meeting any police, or a person shaking after getting a ticket, or a person afraid to talk to anyone in government, then you should talk.

I can guess by your lack of experience that you're without a permanent tan and haven't been pulled out of line by airport security for having one. Not through any fault of yours, as we are all birthed in our skin by chance. I would submit that freedom isn't a state of being, but a continuous struggle against those who hypocritically only value their own rights while disregarding yours. Freedom isn't very anything. It simply is or isn't happening. It can start or it can stop. The freedom to access a lawyer when your arrest has been categorized as a "terrorist action" has stopped.

We are free. We are very free. You can walk up to the White House and picket it. You can drive your truck with a rifle in the back. You can say what you want on the Internet. You can read the books you want.

Anyone can do any of the things you've mentioned and more. It is simply a matter of the consequences that becomes the deterence to those activities. Even expressing yourself on the internet can be a dangerous proposition. To keep this reply short and educational, I'll simply point you to a source you can learn from.

Even if another terrorist attack occurs, do you think they're going to take these liberties away? No. The government won't. In fact, they can't. Because people like myself speak up and let people like you know what is going on.

You're statement has a naivete that is almost charming. On the other hand, it is also a sad indictment of our public schools' failure to teach history in any meaningful manner. This failure is one the reasons why historical events repeat themselves in such tight, short cycles in the U.S., which is reflected so heavily in our foreign policies.

Our founding fathers knew what they were doing a hell of a lot better than you give them credit for.

I give them all the credit. Many of them are my heroes. Unfortunately, they are dead. The dead cannot defend their dreams. Its up to you and me to defend them at home, so that bad things don't happen to other people.

= 9J =

Well, it's a bit unfair to tout noncommercial radio on this discussion. But Pacifica Radio is full of fresh surprising viewpoints, and my local Houston affiliate kpft.org actually plays great music. It gives you a sense of how fun dj's used to be.

Democracy Now is a Pacifica Radio program. Counterspin is produced by FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting - a left wing media watch group).

Both are carried by many NPR stations around the country. Both are considerably more progressive than NPR itself.

entertaining, if not educational is Pacifica's DemocracyNow! radio show. Archives of the show daily show (now 2 hours I believe) are available for download in mp3 or a RealAudio stream within a few days of the broadcast. I used to listen to this a lot but haven't much lately since I scored a bunch of audio books on tape. I'd probably be better off listening to DemocracyNow, but the audio stuff is entertaining. And I ripped about 15 hours of programming from BBC Radio4, which was mentioned previously.

FYI, AudioHijack for OSX will rip RealAudio streams to mp3 or aiff (for further transformation of your choice). I'm sure an equivalent exists for windows and perhaps linux users.

Wow! What a flaiming load of bullshit! This crap gets modded up these days under a story about the Shuttle desaster?

Where the hell do you get that "In this case we have essentially a single individual, George W Bush who is the advocate of this war." ?

40 other nations have endorsed it, 11 in Europe (including Ireland expressing hurt feelings for not being asked to sign the "letter of eight").

The vast majority of the American public supports it in every poll.

Where do you get this bombing of schools and hospitals bulllshit from? Unless you condone the Iraqis running military operations from them like they did with their air-raid shelters last time. No military, no target.

This crap comes straight from the Workers World Party and their "Socialist news" site, as well as their radio network You Workers World Party Communists are the most vile people on earth and you refuse to admit what you really are. You wish to enslave the world with systems just like the old Soviet Union, North Korea, Iraq and Cuba (the only places who's governments you support, see the weblink).

You support tyrants like Chamorra in Venezuela and use propoganda, like you have posted all day, to disguise your dream to bring some sort of Utopian misery to the world.

I urge all to go read the websites that I have linked to and see exactly what I mean.

Don't forget your local radio stations that are community supported (if you have any) For me in MN i support KFAI. Go to Pacifica for a list of Pacifica community support radio stations in your area - there may be one near you and you don't even know it. You can and should support these stations, hell you can even listen to them online! Vote with your money, that's how some corporations do it right?

The only left wing radio I can think of is National Public Radio and it only stays in business because of the US Taxpayer

It isn't fair to say NPR only stays in business because of the taxpayer (unless you include all radio stations, because of free spectrum). It's maybe 10, 20% of funding now... I can't remember exactly (they always give the number during pledge drives, but it's been a while). I think something like 60% of funding comes from individual members. At least at the local station level -- the money then sifts its way up to NPR itself. The rest comes from corporate funding and grants, I believe.

That public radio keeps going mostly by pledges is really a quite inspiring model for web content... even Salon's subscription marketing looks more like a pledge drive than an exchange of goods. Too bad Salon couldn't quite pull it off -- they didn't have the modest beginnings that public radio had, though, and it took radio a long time to get where it is.

woo hoo! glad that here in LA the 'left-wing masses' have a few more choices which, fortunately, rarely play The Cure.

KPFK a pacifica station. they don't take any corporate funding and are completely free from the government (uh, except for the FCC)

KXLU which is a decent good college radio station

KILL! (corporate) RADIO well, it's web only but it's a cool project started by the LA Independent Media Center and RE:Generation TV. very 'college radio' style but has some great shows (and they occasionally play the cure)

KCRW the NPR/PRI station with some good shows (chocolate city!) but mostly i don't like the music. but at least i can agree with the format...

but that doesn't mean that i won't complain about radio here -- community radio licenses are not available here as they are in some other cities. community radio licenses were to enable underserved communities the ability to broadcast using a 10 to 100 watt transmitter. it was strongly opposed by NPR (of course, it would be a strong alternative)

and the LA 'hip hop' stations plays only gangsta rap -- there is A LOT of good hip hop and rap out there (well, i like it) that doesn't have anything to do with benzes, ho's, or fo'ties.

People have become so fickle that it does not even matter what the radio stations play, it will be bought and the advertisers will make out with tons of air time. That is another reason why it is so hard for other types of music don't make it onto the radio, the stations are just fine with replaying redundent songs and regurgitating whatever the advertisers want. Support your local public-supported radio stations (NOT NPR).

You are correct in that the media is made up of humans, and prone to make mistakes. But I think you misrepresent the entire situation with this statement, in implying that human error is the most significant factor in misreported news.

If you are not already aware, virtually all major news sources are intimitely tied in with large corporations that have major interests in slanting the media. Bias is a much larger problem than error.

If you check the CNN web page, you most likely see that the anthrax stories overshadow what is happening in Afghanistan. They are taking advantage of the current local scare to distract people from more important events happening elsewhere.

I suggest that you look into independent sources of media as well. They are error prone as well, but at least have a different bias than the conglomerates (unbiased media is a myth):

Independent Media

DMOZ: News -> Alternative Media
ZMag: Left Wing media resources
Indymedia: Non-Corporate news coverage
Guerrilla News Network
Project Censored: Censored news stories
Alternet: Alternative news, opinion, and investigative journalism
MediaChannel: "MediaChannel exists to provide information and diverse perspectives and inspire debate, collaboration, action and citizen engagement"
Common Dreams: "Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community
The Public i: An Investigative Report of the Center for Public Integrity
Pacifica Network News
The Onion: Media Satire

Media Analysis

"Propaganda" at the University of Washington School of Communication
PROMO: Project on Media Ownership
Military school article on Psychological Operations (PSYOPs)
Media Access Project: "A Non-Profit Public Interest Telecommunications Law Firm
Reporters Committee For Freedom of the Press
FAIR: Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting
The Poynter Institute: What journalists read
Columbia Journalism Review
Who Owns What
People for Better TV: "69 percent of Americans say TV is the most trusted source of information"

LS

They had hippies in 1949, when Pacifica was founded?

I personally find that Pacifica is in line with the social teachings of the Catholic Church, except, unfortunately, on the issue of abortion. In particular, Pacifica reflects the anti-government anti-corporate anti-globalism attitude shared by many Slashdotters. The slogan for their flagship program Democracy Now! is "the exception to the rulers."

You must not live in an area that has a Pacifica station, which is better than NPR. But even Pacifica is being infiltrated now.

please donate money to PBS

1. Pacifica Radio. Still good, even with all the current problems. Be sure to listen to Democracy Now! with your RealAudio player.
2. Radio for Peace International Free Speech non-commercial shortwave station broadcasting from Costa Rica
3. Public Access Television. NOT affiliated with PBS. On your local cable network. Watch it, and support it by taking the classes and MAKE YOUR OWN SHOW!
4. Deep Dish TV. Available on Public Access and on some Satellite networks.
5. Free Speech TV. Available on Public Access and on some Satellite networks.
6. Paper Tiger TV. Available on Public Access and on some Satellite networks.

According to Leadbeater the "first Internet" failed because the technologists and geeks,

Failed? It was awesome!

I was just talking to a guy on the train about this last week. I was reminiscing about the high-signal-to-noise days of the early days of Usenet over the Arpanet (late 1980's). He was yacking on about some new startup making pay-as-you-go chips that was gonna be the next e-boom, .... yeah yeah yeah. He was telling me that I should "load up" on this stock and that I would be rich.

I was telling this guy that I thought e-commerce was a big capitalist gang-bang, and that it (and advertising) has ruined then internet. And reminded him that the Internet was originally a SOCIALIST program, meaning, government "controlled", funded with tax dollars... and it worked real well!

I couldn't belive that I was saying this, as I'm a Green/Libertarian, and the term "socialism" is anathema to the Libs, (as well as the Dems and the Repubs).

But think about it: Certain things SHOULD be funded by a socialist model. The roads, for example. In a "free market" system, you'd have 2 toll roads going between the same 2 points, with the toll takes competing/colluding for your money. Look at the Cali energy crisis: public utilities should be severely regulated!

Look at the capitalist/commercial media in America. It sucks. It does not inform, it does not provide a balanced view of things, the corporations control the elections... the capitalist media does nothing well, but produce/distribute SPAM.

The socialst media in Canada and England produce some wonderful art (Imagine Monty Python or The Young Ones being produced in America?). The only thing like it in America is Public Access TV, or community radio (like what Pacifica is/was/tries to be) which has a socialist funding model with a decentralized authority (just like DNS).

I say its time for a return to the Socialst (economic) internet model, with the goals of decentralization and free speech, get the profit-seekers off the 'net, and immediately delcare the Deja archive a national treasure, with the goal of an UNCENSORED archive being restored/preserved for the good of mankind.

Call me a dreamer ... ;^)

whoa -- it's my understanding (perhaps, MISunderstanding, uh, sorta inattentive.) from the Pacifica interview, that they intend to include this format in a CD-type form, and to release SDMI readers -- meaning if the copy protection is impenetrable, eventually, you won't have any CDs to rip from.

of course, given processor power evolution, etc, etc, and the time it will take to introduce YET ANOTHER music format, it will probably be pretty damn moot by then.

fisfhcuekr.

But they are arguably the country with the worst track record today.

"arguably" is the key world there. I would say that in terms of impact on human lives, the US might be considered far worse.

Why? Because our corporations do some pretty godawful things in third world countries (up to and including indirectly killing people), and our government not only does nothing to stop them, but it rather supports them merely to better our economy.

Combine that with our regular non-U.N.-sanctioned bombings of other countries, and we have violated the basic human rights of just as many people as the Chinese government, if not more.

The nature of such organizations is to hold onto these assets tightly and release them slowly, so that the most efficient return on investment can be achieved.

Duh no. They deploy them as quickly as possible to realize the fastest return on investment.

This article in question only made it to Slashdot because it had the words "open source" somewhere in it. It was poorly written (worse than Jon Katz, even), poorly researched, and didn't know whether it was a persuasive essay or not. I recommend against.

As an aside, it's also interesting that whenever a paradigm is on the verge of collapse, or a technology on the edge of obsolescence, the people who benefit most from that technology will violently defend their turf, to the point of killing. "Communism" (read: social democracy) threatened the top .1% for years, and several democratically elected governments (particularly in South America) have been overthrown and/or their candidates and officials killed to keep wealth where it is. Hemp threatened the Hearst paper and Du Pont chemical monopolies, so they lied in Congress and whipped up a media frenzy to have it banned. (Hemp more directly threatened the existing social order in the early '70s; the Controlled Substances Act of 1972 was passed shortly thereafter, and civil liberties have been in decline ever since.) Chevron keeps labor cheap in Nigeria by renting the Nigerian police forces (and, after this information was presented in an award-winning program "Drilling and Killing" by Pacifica Radio's Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzales, Chevron barred a credentialed Pacifica reporter from a press conference because "Pacifica does not report news"). And do I need to mention Steve Kangas turning up dead in a restroom near the office of a CIA operative he fingered, with bullet holes in the wrong places and facts that don't match up?

Not only does this explain Microsoft, it explains society. C'mon, kiddies, they're playing for keeps. They need us more than we need them.

-jhp