Bill Moyers reports on FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, who against an outcry of public and political protest wants to hand Big Media even bigger, more powerful monopolies:
For more information visit: stopbigmedia.com/
And, to tell the FCC how you feel about Kevin Martin’s push to allow the Big Media Conglomerates to have more control over our news and entertainment go to: //www.fcc.gov/contacts.html
You will find a list of email, phone numbers, and addresses for the FCC.
Why is it so important that we don’t let the big six conglomerates: The Walt Disney Company, Time Warner Inc. (Warner Brothers), Viacom, Sony, CBS, General Electric (NBC and Universal), and New Corporation (Fox) own all the newspapers, TV stations, and radio shows we read, watch, and listen to… ?
Because it is choking our thoughts, our voice, and our rights as a society. If they control all the media, they control how our collective unconscious is shaped. For the few uber-rich and incredibly powerful, it behooves them to keep us in the dark – to keep us stupid:
My favorite thing about this Jon Stewart clip is that it starts with a plug for “Newsbusters.org” a website dedicated to “exposing and combating liberal media bias”. The clip is named: “Jon Stewart: liberal yes, funny yes, smart noo”. Then, you watch the clip and he’s brilliant. And it makes you think – wtf – who thought this wasn’t smart? Then you read the comments and almost everyone asks the same question: "Who thought this wasn't smart?"
Right now the Internet is still a place for democratic participation. This is because of a little thing called Net Neutrality. But, even that is under fire by big media corporations who want to control the web by gutting Net Neutrality.
For more information on how the Internet is under fire check out: //www.savetheinternet.com/
11/19/2007
STOP BIG MEDIA
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18 comments:
FWIW, I recommend everyone check out the Bill Moyers story from two weeks ago about media consolidation. It's all viewable online:
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/11022007/watch.html
Oh I hope Bill Moyers, et al got paid too for the streaming ;)
Bill Moyers gets paid. Just like last few real journalists left in this country who have left big media to work for the underdogs (PBS, Discovery, HDnet). This will be the news leaders soon if the old timers don't get their heads out their asses.
Also FWIW, Bill Moyers was on Democracy Now earlier this year calling for the preservation of a free and open Internet, the end of media consolidation and a more democratic and diverse media system. Moyers opened the conference with a stirring address.
Check it out here
Cue the slider to about 07:15 to begin the coverage of Moyers speech.
I'm glad you guys are talking about this.
Kate - love the blog and the great work, keep it up. Totally agree that the web should stay free, as is. But really, Kate ... just between us ... Noam Chomsky? The Chomsterizer? The guy who said Clinton's bombing of Sudan was worse than 9/11?
After years of working in TV and features, I get major chuckie-chucks when academics try to portray big media as some kind of conspiracy. I wish the script notes I get were that consistent ...
Don't get me wrong. I'm against media consolidation. I don't think it serves democracy all that well. But that doesn't make "Big Media" (which includes all of Hollywood) the enemy.
The companies overreach, as they're trying to do with the WGA. They can be assholes, short-sighted, venal, and dumb. They can also be smart, tasteful ... they can give us jobs ... I've even seem them be right once in a while!
Also, I've gotten them drunk.
Chomsky's idols (Che, Mao, Pol Pot), by comparison, gave much clearer notes than ABC. The notes were fast, consistent, and came straight at you. They were called "bullets."
If you had a clip of Jim Henson, then all my personal heroes would be represented in this post.
What, you couldn't find a relevant Muppet Show clip (Statler & Waldorf, Sam The Eagle, Crazy Harry)?
Doesn't the "smart, noo" refer to the fact that Stewart says "We're stupid!" in the clip?
yeah, fight the powers. Democracy. power to the people.
blah blah blah
doesn't Bill Moyers strike anyone but me as a little nihilistic and naive?
Kate, great post. At the Center for Creative Voices in Media, we've been working on these issues for years at the FCC and on the Hill. Many WGA members serve on our Board of Advisors, and I'm proud to be a quarter-century long (!) WGA member myself. Check us out.
Best, Jon Rintels
Center for Creative Voices in Media
www.creativevoices.us
BTW, the Jon Stewart Video now comes up as "No longer available".
Stop whining and go back to work - unions are what is wrong with this country - do your job, allow those in the business who make even less than your $100K minimum (now that's suffering) get back to work, and humor your audience - the viewers - who are tired of the whiny baby routine. Shut up and go back to work!!!
How would the big Media firms take away Net Neutrality? I don't understand how that would be possible with Blogs, etc. Sounds like they're wanting to take away free speech...?
"allow those in the business who make even less than your $100K minimum..."
Right there? That's where you make it obvious that you're living in a fantasy world. 100k MINIMUM???
Really sad - and kind of ominous - that the Jon Stewart clip is no longer available...loved the Bush/Dennis Hastert, "He's got an epidermis" line.
It underlines the whole argument about Big Media - although it's kind of a Catch-22, as nobody is getting any residuals from YouTube.
Free is cool, but I'd be happy to pay a few cents each time I watch a clip on YouTube, if some kind of formula could be worked out.
Kate, it seems that 'Liberal Bias' website actually gets the joke. Stweart is implying that he is dumb, because the smartest man in the world is running the U.S., obviously.
It's like the infamous line I like to use sometimes from the classic bad movie "Plan 9 from outer space"
"All you of earth are idiots!"
-which, when spoken by an Earthling, by default has to include oneself.
As far as the strike goes, get that money out of those folks. They surely quote all those losses they suffer when they go after a file sharer or a YouTube posting..
As an aside, I'd love to see a cast of a program do a reading of Shakespeare on their set; no rewrites necessary.
Signed, dumber than the president.
Bill Moyers naive? No way. He's been around since the LBJ administration, and somehow has become less cynical. If that's naivete, sign me up.
Oh, whoever's in charge of the blog - please fix the Stop Big Media link in this post; it's currently
http://stopbigmedia.com/%20 - drop the %20
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