Media

Very Sweet Holiday Wishes

by Diane Farsetta — December 22, 2004 - 2:43pm

"Like Big Tobacco, Coca-Cola has the right to push their product. Like Big Tobacco, Coca-Cola knows of the health risks of their product, yet prefer silence to safeguarding children," writes John Borowski. After publishing an earlier article, Borowski was contacted by Coca-Cola's principal manager of scientific and regulatory affairs, who suggested the piece "misinformed" readers.

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Guerrilla News Network, December 21, 2004

A Selected Sample of Iraqi Voices

by Diane Farsetta — December 21, 2004 - 4:14pm

"Just before the election, a film about Iraq hit art house theaters around the country," writes Eartha Melzer. The "Voices of Iraq" documentary came from more than 400 hours of footage from 150 digital video cameras distributed to people around Iraq.

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AlterNet, December 16, 2004

Mo' Better News?

by Sheldon Rampton — December 15, 2004 - 11:50am
  • Topics: Media

    • Wikipedia, the successful open source encyclopedia, is launching a daily news website called Wikinews. Its goal is to "create a diverse environment where citizen journalists can independently report the news on a wide variety of current events." Will it succeed? I think it's got some problems, but also potential.

    Weapons of Mass Deception - The Movie

    by John Stauber — December 14, 2004 - 6:58pm

    Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber, co-authors of the Center's 2003 book Weapons of Mass Deception, appear in filmmaker Danny Schechter's latest movie of the same title, but the movie is completely the creation of Schechter. A review on the Portland Independent Media website asks "what do you get when you cross relaxed media ownership laws, the military industrial complex, and public opinion? Weapons of Mass Deception.

    Main Source: 
    Portland Independent Media Center, December 12, 2004

    Dark Day For Investigative Journalists

    by Laura Miller — December 14, 2004 - 2:21pm

    "In 1996, journalist Gary Webb wrote a series of articles that forced a long-overdue investigation of a very dark chapter of recent U.S. foreign policy – the Reagan-Bush administration’s protection of cocaine traffickers who operated under the cover of the Nicaraguan contra war in the 1980s," Robert Parry of Consortium News writes.

    Main Source: 
    Alternet, December 14, 2004

    Demanding a Counter-"Point"

    by Diane Farsetta — December 14, 2004 - 11:11am

    A new campaign charges Sinclair Broadcast Group, the "largest single owner/operator of television stations in the United States," with "misusing public airwaves with partisan news programming." The campaign, by Media Matters for America, MoveOn,

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    Los Angeles Times, December 14, 2004

    The Military Is the Message

    by Diane Farsetta — December 13, 2004 - 12:48pm

    Should "deceptive techniques endorsed for use on the battlefield to confuse an adversary" be adopted "for covert propaganda campaigns aimed at neutral and even allied nations"?

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    New York Times, December 13, 2004

    Attack of the Appalled Embeds

    by Diane Farsetta — December 10, 2004 - 5:09pm

    In Kuwait, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld was asked why soldiers "had to dig through landfills to find scrap metal to up-armor vehicles." The soldier who asked the question discussed it beforehand with an embedded reporter. In an email to colleagues at the Chattanooga Times Free Press, reporter Lee Pitts explained, "I was told yesterday that only soldiers could ask questions so I brought two of them along with me.

    Main Source: 
    Poynter Online Forum, December 10, 2004

    Another Reason Not To Trust Everything You See

    by Diane Farsetta — December 9, 2004 - 6:07pm

    "U.S. Special Operations Command, whose antiterrorist missions are usually conducted in utmost secrecy, is in the market for an ad agency," reports the St. Petersburg Times.

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    St. Petersburg Times, December 8, 2004

    The Military Channel

    by Sheldon Rampton — December 8, 2004 - 10:57pm

    Discovery Communications International (DCI) is about to launch a cable TV network called "the Military Channel," which will focus on all aspects of the armed forces, military strategies and personnel throughout the ages.

    Main Source: 
    Alternet, December 6, 2004
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