Pentagon Disputes Lynch Rescue Charges
Posted Monday, May 26, 2003 by vgdesign

Victoria Clarke, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs - Los Angeles Times

I take strong exception to the accusations in Robert Scheer's tirade on the Jessica Lynch rescue (Commentary, May 20). Scheer's claims are outrageous, patently false and unsupported by the facts. He cites an anonymous source in a Washington Post story and questions the credibility of the Iraqi lawyer who provided details about Lynch's whereabouts yet takes at face value the allegations made by other Iraqis to the BBC. That he relies on third-party sources for the information upon which he draws his conclusions is no excuse.

No one within the Department of Defense "manufactured" the news about Lynch's rescue. A joint team of U.S. military forces put their lives on the line in a hostile area during combat operations to accomplish the mission. Official spokespeople in Qatar and in Washington, as well as the footage released, reflected the events accurately and as fully as possible based on information from troops and commanders who were directly involved in the rescue. To suggest otherwise is an insult and does a grave disservice to the brave men and women involved. >>More

>>Was Lynch rescue made up? 2 Illinois pols want to know

Paul Vitello: Media Giants Tune You Out
Posted Monday, May 26, 2003 by vgdesign

Let's say you are slapped with a lawsuit. A group of big companies wants a piece of your property. The case is pending for years, but you are never called to testify. Then one day you receive a notice in the mail. It says the judge will decide your case -- next week.

In brief, this describes a case now pending before the Federal Communications Commission. You, the public, are up against some of the world's biggest media corporations.

It is not a lawsuit, but a regulatory process in which these companies seek to become larger by acquiring rights to your property, the public airwaves.
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Oh. And one more thing you should know about the case. Your opponents are very cozy with the judge. They pay his many junkets to Las Vegas. >>More

FCC Shift May Choke Independent Voices
Posted Monday, May 26, 2003 by vgdesign

By Reshma Kapadia, Reuters

Call it the "Wal-Martization" of American media.

Critics say the chance of hearing unique and offbeat voices in broadcasting could drop dramatically even as the number of outlets proliferates when the Federal Communications Commission votes on media ownership rules in two weeks.

Like the Wal-Mart supercenters that have crowded out the mom-and-pop stores on Main Street and changed the U.S. retail landscape, the five major media owners could tighten their grip on programming, squeezing out local and independent views.

"We get the illusion that what we are seeing with all these numbers on the dial is a great sign of bounty and diversity. It may take some time to realize that it's coming out of only just a few faucets," said Robert Thompson, director of the Center for Study of Popular TV at Syracuse University in New York. >>More

ACTION ALERT: Does Stossel Deserve a Promotion?
Posted Sunday, May 25, 2003 by vgdesign

Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting

Starting tonight, ABC reporter John Stossel will have a new job at 20/20: co-anchor. Barbara Walters' former partner John Miller departed in January, and ABC chose Stossel to fill his role. According to a recent report in TV Guide (5/10/03), one source at ABC says that picking Stossel makes sense: "These are conservative times... the network wants somebody to match the times."

One might hope ABC would be more concerned with hiring a journalist with a record of credible and accurate reporting than with matching the perceived political climate. For years, Stossel's work has been notable for bungled facts and twisted logic, all in service to his conservative "free market" agenda.
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In a recent email to viewers (5/16/03) Stossel lashed out at his critics, "the activists of the totalitarian Left, which try to get people like me fired, or silenced."

FAIR, however, has never called on ABC to fire him. We have frequently asked for Stossel's reports-- more opinion pieces than news stories-- to be balanced with commentary from an opposing point of view, and we've encouraged viewers to ask ABC whether the numerous inaccuracies and distortions in Stossel broadcasts meet the network's standards.

Up until now, ABC has for the most part ignored the thousands of letters pointing out the unreliability of Stossel's reporting. Now, apparently, it's decided that the appropriate response is a promotion.

Please ask ABC News to explain how Stossel's journalistic record justifies his promotion. >>Take Action!

ON ELECTION DAY 2004, How Will You Know if Your Vote Is Properly Counted?
Posted Sunday, May 25, 2003 by vgdesign

ANSWER: YOU WON’T

Rep. Rush Holt Introduces Legislation to Require All Voting Machines To Produce A Voter-Verified Paper Trail

Rep. Rush Holt today responded to the growing chorus of concern from election reform specialists and computer security experts about the integrity of future elections by introducing reform legislation, The Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2003. The measure would require all voting machines to produce an actual paper record by 2004 that voters can view to check the accuracy of their votes and that election officials can use to verify votes in the event of a computer malfunction, hacking, or other irregularity. Experts often refer to this paper record as a “voter-verified paper trail.”

“We cannot afford nor can we permit another major assault on the integrity of the American electoral process,” said Rep. Rush Holt.

“Imagine it’s Election Day 2004. You enter your local polling place and go to cast your vote on a brand new “touch screen” voting machine. The screen says your vote has been counted. As you exit the voting booth, however, you begin to wonder. How do I know if the machine actually recorded my vote? The fact is, you don’t.” >>More

Tell YOUR reps to support this legislation and >>Thank Congressman Holt!

Protest Clear Channel Radio and the Media Monopoly - Thursday, May 29
Posted Saturday, May 24, 2003 by vgdesign

A National Day of Protest to Stop the Media Monopoly - United for Peace

Washington, DC: Washington, DC Clear Channel Protest. Stop the FCC Media Giveaway!
Join Code Pink and others on Thursday, May 29, 2003 at 12:30pm as we say no more to Clear Channel and media monopolies! Brings posters and signs, and show the world that we demand truth over profit, diversity over monopoly!

San Francisco, California: No More Clear Channels! Stop the FCC Media Giveaway
Please join Media Alliance, Global Exchange, CodePink, and the Youth Media Council and others as we protest in front of the Clear Channel/KMEL offices just days before the FCC votes on a dramatic media deregulation proposal.

Portland, Oregon: CodePink Clear Channel Protest
Portland, Oregon Code Pink is planning an action at the Clear Channel offices on SW Macadam in Portland. We did an action there on May 8th (see http://codepinkportland.org/resources.html#clear ) and will do something similar. All of Portland is invited to join us. Pink is optional. Stay tuned!

New York City, New York: NO MORE CLEAR CHANNELS! STOP THE FCC MEDIA GIVEAWAY
Clear Channel Communications is the poster child of everything that's wrong with media deregulation. If the FCC passes Chairman Michael Powell's proposed new media rules, companies like Clear Channel and Fox will be given even more control over the public airwaves than they already have.

Los Angeles, California: Stop Clear Channel and the FCC
JOIN CodePink LA and others to protest the impending deregulation of the media by the FCC: CODEPINK is organizing protests at Clear Channel stations around the country at noon--in Los Angeles we are working on several ideas for an action that will get our point across in a powerful, provocative way.
>>More

Black deep in gray area with Hollinger deals
Posted Saturday, May 24, 2003 by vgdesign

By David Greising, Chicago Tribune

Newspaper lord Conrad Black told shareholders Thursday that the current focus on corporate governance is a fad.

He had better hope so.

Black, CEO of Hollinger International, is appointing a special committee to review questions of self-dealing and conflicts of interest swirling around him. He has a high-powered group of independent directors to choose from, including former Illinois Gov. James R. Thompson and former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

Tweedy, Browne, a New York investment firm, charges that Black enriches himself by paying consulting fees to a firm he controls. That he and three associates have pocketed $73.7 million from personal non-compete agreements they got when Black sold Hollinger newspapers. And that he sells Hollinger assets to entities controlled by the company's board members--a good-governance no-no.

Essentially, the critics say, Black uses Hollinger as a personal piggy bank. >>More

Critics incensed by MCI wireless contract in Iraq
Posted Saturday, May 24, 2003 by vgdesign

By Brian Bergstein, ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Pentagon made an interesting choice when it hired a U.S. company to build a small wireless phone network in Iraq: MCI, aka WorldCom Inc., perpetrator of the biggest accounting fraud in American business and not exactly a big name in cellular service.

The Iraq contract incensed WorldCom rivals and government watchdogs who say Washington has been too kind to the company since WorldCom revealed its $11 billion accounting fraud and plunged into bankruptcy last year.

"We don't understand why MCI would be awarded this business given its status as having committed the largest corporate fraud in history," said AT&T Corp. spokesman Jim McGann. "There are many qualified, financially stable companies that could have been awarded that business, including us." >>More

Bill Moyers on Candor in Journalism
Posted Saturday, May 24, 2003 by vgdesign

From your letters I know some of you are curious as to why journalists like me keep opening the Pandora's box of democracy; why we come round and round to what ails America…things like the bribing of Congress, the desecration of the environment, corporate tax havens, secrecy, fraud on Wall Street, the arrogance of ideology, the pretensions of power.

Do we delight in the dark side of human experience, you ask? Do we never see good in the world?

I can only speak for myself, of course. And I confess to thinking of journalism as the social equivalent to a medical diagnosis. My doctor owes me candor; I pay him for it. Candor could save my life.

I like to think journalists are paid for candor, too; society needs to know what could kill us, whether it's too many lies or too much pollution. Napoleon left instructions that he was not to be awakened if the news from the front were good; with good news, he told his secretary, there is no hurry. But if the news were bad, he said, "rouse me instantly, for then there is not a moment to be lost."

Think of journalism as a kind of early warning system — iceberg spotting in the choppy waters of democracy. >>More

Harley Sorensen: Ann Does Joe McCarthy Proud
Posted Friday, May 23, 2003 by vgdesign

The opening of old records last week revived the memory of Joseph R. McCarthy, a fine Republican senator from another era who would be right at home in today's Congress.

"Tail-Gunner Joe," as he liked to call himself in political years, makes our current Top Gun president look like a Boy Scout. He never was a tail gunner, though he did join the U.S. Marines in 1942, at age 34, when he could have exempted himself. That seems today like great patriotism, but in those days almost every red-blooded American male signed up.

McCarthy did make it to a combat zone in the South Pacific. On the way, on a ship crossing the equator, he fell while climbing a ladder with a pail attached to his foot. That silliness was part of an equator-crossing ceremony aboard ship. The injury to his foot became McCarthy's much-ballyhooed war wound.

Sometime later, after a speech in his home state of Wisconsin, McCarthy was asked why he walked with a limp. "It's because I carry 50 pounds of shrapnel in this leg," McCarthy responded. No lie was too outrageous for the man. >>More

Robert Byrd Opposed the Iraq War, and He's Not About to Yield
Posted Friday, May 23, 2003 by vgdesign

By Peter Carlson, Washington Post

"What is happening?" Robert C. Byrd asks. "What is happening  to us?"

His voice is soft but etched with an unmistakable anger. At age 85, the West Virginia Democrat, the Senate's most senior member, has become its most outspoken dissident.

Our nation is in peril, he says, threatened not by foreigners but by the Bush administration, which he describes as warlike, arrogant and elitist -- "an administration of the wealthy, by the wealthy, for the wealthy."

Byrd, who supported the Vietnam War right to the bitter end, has emerged as Congress's most vociferous critic of the war in Iraq.

"We just fought a war that didn't need to be fought," he says, sitting on a white armchair in his Senate office. "There was no real justification for sending those 300,000 men and women to Iraq to fight. Contrary to what Mr. Bush tried to convince this nation of, Saddam Hussein did not constitute an imminent danger to this nation. . . . We've lost 145 men and women killed -- not a great number but too great a number. We didn't need to lose any of them. And we killed thousands of men and women and children in Iraq! Thousands of 'em! That was needless slaughter." >>More

A Good Laugh
Posted Friday, May 23, 2003 by vgdesign

Jay Leno: "Well, let's see, the big news out of Washington -- press secretary Ari Fleischer announced he is resigning. He said -- this was his quote - 'My heart tells me it's time to go.' That was his quote. But he's not leaving until July. See, that's 'cause he's a young guy. When Dick Cheney says, 'My heart tells me it's time to go' -- boom!"

Jay Leno: Real reason Ari Fleischer is leaving the White House: "He got tired of playing Scrabble with President Bush and having to say over and over again, 'Mr. President, that's not a word!'"

Conan O'Brien: "Yesterday, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer announced that he's leaving his job. Yeah, after 21 years in government, Fleischer said he wants to lie in the private sector." >>More

Misleading Media Story May Doom Middle East Roadmap
Posted Friday, May 23, 2003 by vgdesign

By Ira Chernus, Common Dreams

If you read a roadmap carefully, you can usually tell what's around the next bend in the road. To predict what comes next in Israeli-Palestinian relations, you need a roadmap and the latest news. But it all depends on where you get your news.

If you get all your news from mass circulation media in the U.S., you are being told that there is a fork in the road, coming very soon. One path leads to peace, via a new Palestinian leadership that stops the terrorism. The other path leads to more Palestinian terrorism, more Israeli counter-violence, and seemingly endless conflict. It's up to the Palestinians. They caused the problem, so they must choose which direction the Middle East will take. That's pretty much the way the mainstream press here portrays the story.

If your news comes from more diverse sources, you know the situation is more complicated. You know that there is serious doubt whether any Palestinian leaders can prevent all violent attacks against Israelis. You know that Israel has kept up its state-sponsored violence against the Palestinians, ignoring calls by the Bush administration to abide by the roadmap, which requires restraint from both sides. You know that some Israeli analysts, and some of Prime Minister Sharon's own advisors, see this as a calculated move by Sharon to undermine the roadmap before it can be tested out.

In this broader news context, things around the next bend look somewhat different. >>More

Chris Hedges' Rockford College graduation speech
Posted Thursday, May 22, 2003 by vgdesign

I want to speak to you today about war and empire.

Killing, or at least the worst of it, is over in Iraq. Although blood will continue to spill -- theirs and ours -- be prepared for this. For we are embarking on an occupation that, if history is any guide, will be as damaging to our souls as it will be to our prestige, power, and security. But this will come later as our empire expands and in all this we become pariahs, tyrants to others weaker than ourselves. Isolation always impairs judgment and we are very isolated now.

We have forfeited the good will, the empathy the world felt for us after 9-11. We have folded in on ourselves, we have severely weakened the delicate international coalitions and alliances that are vital in maintaining and promoting peace and we are part now of a dubious troika in the war against terror with Vladimir Putin and Ariel Sharon, two leaders who do not shrink in Palestine or Chechnya from carrying out acts of gratuitous and senseless acts of violence. We have become the company we keep.

The censure and perhaps the rage of much of the world, certainly one-fifth of the world's population which is Muslim, most of whom I'll remind you are not Arab, is upon us. Look today at the 14 people killed last night in several explosions in Casablanca. And this rage in a world where almost 50 percent of the planet struggles on less than two dollars a day will see us targeted. Terrorism will become a way of life, and when we are attacked we will, like our allies Putin and Sharon, lash out with greater fury. The circle of violence is a death spiral; no one escapes. We are spinning at a speed that we may not be able to hold.

As we revel in our military prowess -- the sophistication of our military hardware and technology, for this is what most of the press coverage consisted of in Iraq -- we lose sight of the fact that just because we have the capacity to wage war it does not give us the right to wage war. This capacity has doomed empires in the past. >>More

Well Connected: The Center for Public Integrity’s unprecedented examination of the telecommunications industry
Posted Thursday, May 22, 2003 by vgdesign

The three largest local phone companies control 83 percent of home telephone lines. The top two long distance carriers control 67 percent of that market. The four biggest cellular phone companies have 64 percent of the wireless market. The five largest cable companies pipe programming to 74 percent of the cable subscribers nationwide.

Those findings come from the Center for Public Integrity’s unprecedented examination of the telecommunications industry, the centerpiece of which is a first-of-its-kind, 65,000 record, searchable database containing ownership information on virtually every radio station, television station, cable television system and telephone company in America. >>More

This week on NOW with Bill Moyers
Posted Thursday, May 22, 2003 by vgdesign

With ten days until the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announces whether it’s going to allow big media to get even bigger, why do many see the result of the FCC vote as a foregone conclusion? Do major media corporations have influence over government decision-making and data? NOW examines the access of big media companies to the FCC in ON THE INDUSTRY DIME.

Bill Moyers interviews Chuck Lewis of the Center for Public Integrity, which released a study Thursday on the close relationship between the FCC and the media industry. >>More

Lord Black faces $73m inquiry as he is forced to loosen grip on empire
Posted Thursday, May 22, 2003 by vgdesign

David Teather in New York, Media Guardian

Lord Black, the press baron behind the Daily Telegraph, bowed to investor pressure yesterday, promising to loosen his iron grip on the newspaper's holding company and commission an independent review of transactions that have netted him millions of pounds.

At a crucial annual meeting in New York's Metropolitan Club, Lord Black moved to head off a growing revolt among shareholders in the company Hollinger International.

The two main concerns revolved around a $73m (£44m) payment received by Lord Black and three fellow executives which shareholders say should have been paid to the company, and the complicated ownership structure which allows Lord Black to dominate Hollinger.
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Lord Black controls Hollinger International through another company, the Toronto-based Hollinger Inc. The board at Hollinger International includes Henry Kissinger and rightwing US foreign policy adviser Richard Perle. >>More

Learn all about Hollinger International >>Here

Art Buchwald: Vox Monopoli
Posted Thursday, May 22, 2003 by vgdesign

It wasn't terrorism or a coup d'etat that turned the United States into a dictatorship. It was the information monopoly.

The first inkling that the country was in trouble came when the FCC gave the giant media companies more control over what they could own.

Newspapers were allowed to own an unlimited number of television stations, cable channels and radio networks. They could control all the media outlets in the same town.

The companies became all-powerful. They could now control the hearts and minds of the American people.

The "King of Monopolies" was Rupert the First, who in a short time bought up every press, TV and radio outlet in the United States. >>More

The 'Times' Addiction to Anonymous Sources
Posted Thursday, May 22, 2003 by vgdesign

'Editor&Publisher' Editorial on the Real Lesson of Blair Affair

Of all the lessons The New York Times, and newspapers in general, should draw from the saga of Jayson Blair, the least significant is the one that is generating the most heated discussion. Though he is young and African American, his race and the Times' avid desire to diversify its newsroom explain little about Blair's ability not just to survive but to flourish at the newspaper during four years of repeated unprofessional behavior that culminated in a long binge of fabrication and plagiarism while assigned to the highest-profile national stories of the moment.

While the usual anti-diversity crowd was charging the Times with a double standard on race last week, the paper's attorneys were at a federal libel trial in Cleveland, vigorously -- and expensively -- defending a reporting mistake in a 2000 article by Fox Butterfield. That's the same Fox Butterfield, national correspondent and white male, who embarrassed the Times in 1991 when it emerged that he had lifted material from a story in The Boston Globe while reporting, ironically, on plagiarism by a Boston University dean. On journalistic merit, Butterfield does not deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as the fabulist Blair -- and we do so only to emphasize that race does not necessarily determine who gets second chances at the Times.

The real lesson from the Blair affair is that the Times' system for dealing with accuracy in its newspaper and discipline in its newsroom is badly broken -- if, indeed, any system exists. It's all very well to "trust" reporters, as Times executives insistently declared, but the dull credulity top editors evinced throughout this episode suggests they have not learned the first thing the old hardscrabble City News Bureau in Chicago told its greenest recruits:
If your mother says she loves you, check it out. >>More