The "Lunatic Left" converge for Media Reform

Earlier this month, journalists such as Bill Moyers, Amy Goodman, and Dan Rather gathered in Minneapolis to share thoughts on Media Reform. Organized by FreePress.net, the National Conference on Media Reform encouraged people to strategize on how to take back media from powerful conglomerates.

The full run-down is here, but perhaps the most entertaining upshot of the conference is Bill O'Reilly's take on the whole affair: he calls the people calling for media reform 'facists', saying of the more than 3,000 participants that, "You know, clearly these are unstable people". That, coming from Bill O'Reilly, ladies and gentlemen.

You can hear the gems for yourself below, and then hear Bill Moyers take down a FoxNews producer during a heated exchange at the conference. Those who feel compelled may want to take action by sending word to FoxNews to tell Bill O'Reilly to 'stop pretending to be a journalist'...

kmmmusic... turns into kmmmusings...

Because there is more to life than music (gasp), kmmmmusic... will now include a monthly media news posting for your enlightenment. It is more important than ever that the average citizen remains alert with regard to where their news comes from, and as The New York Times recently reported, propaganda is not just an antiquated rallying technique for the masses employed by the likes of Hitler and Mao. Our current administration has long held a tight grip on conservative media outlets such as Fox News, but Bush's misinformation missions have grown into outright propaganda.

The Pentagon launched a "Military Analyst Program" whereby "experts" on military operations were planted in myriad mainstream media outlets and encouraged to assuage fears with regard to the war in Iraq and to generate favorable news coverage about the current administration's military strategy. The Times pointed out that, "most of the analysts have ties to military contractors vested in the very war policies they are asked to assess on air".



While The Times blew the lid on this effort to transform the media coverage of terrorism and the war from within the major TV networks and radio stations, there has been a media blackout in other media outlets concerning this story. The very media outlets that conformed to Bush's plan have refused to report on the exposé, and further, some outlets are still parading the pundits on the air (as you will see in the clip above). PBS is the only major outlet that has reported on the story, and in their piece they invited CNN, NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX News and MSNBC to participate, all of whom declined.

Free Press is leading a charge to have this story become public. Their website states, "The mainstream media’s silence illustrates the effects of corporate owners invested in stifling in-depth reporting and dissenting views. Not only is this a violation of every conceivable standard of journalism, but spreading "covert propaganda" is illegal under federal law." It is now up to independent media outlets such as Democracy Now! (whose piece appears below) and everyday citizens (and their blogs) to take action on this issue.



While it is news to nobody that the American media focus has always been enormously skewed toward reporting on domestic events, there is a very real danger that we are not receiving fair and balanced reporting in the US. The picture to the right shows a map of the world according to how it is reported on in US media outlets (where the swollen purple mass is the US and the green area represents an inflated Iraq). This graphic was featured as a part of a TED talk on why we know less than ever about the world, and the four-minute talk suggests that it is not for a lack of audience interest: thirst for international news is actually growing while domestic media feeds on trivial celebrity scandals like Britney Spears and Anna Nicole Smith. It falls to independent media outlets to keep the checks and balances in place, you might also benefit from checking out The Huffington Post, Stop Big Media, Democracy Now!, and Free Press if you are looking for the "rest of the story".