28
May
Independent Media or Dependent Media?
In Germany, I spoke to students from 57 countries at the Ilmanau Technical University during International Student Week. It was great fun and I found lots of interest in mediachannel.org although many in the room, especially from Russia and Serbia seemed to feel that independent media is a contradiction in terms because everyone is always dependent on money. One young journalist who works with ANEM (Association of Independent Electronic Media) in former Yugloslavia, told me she thinks it is more useful to speak in terms of “professional” journalism versus the more ideological state controlled variety. The idea of corporate dominance — the problem we in the US struggle with — is not yet on her radar screen.
