THE FIRES OF CELEBRITY

“SOMETHING HAS GONE AWRY”

GLOBAL MEDIA CONCERNS

The last illusion is the headline. Its easy to get burned when you dance around the fireplace of media celebrity. One day, you are on top, he or she who can do no wrong, a household name, and “brandable” commodity. And then, some small detail leaks, a flaw emerges, and then, a dirty deed comes to light. Soon, the fire is consuming you. “They build you and up and then they tear you down,” is a mantra I have heard before. It is like Sisyphus getting too close to the sun. It’s HOT up there, and heat melts adoration.

WHITHER MARTHA STEWART?p>That seems to be what’s happening to Martha Stewart who says she “can’t believe this is happening.” Martha Stewart, the guru of good living and “diva of all things domestic” according to the New York Post was the very symbol of upscale perfection. She offered advice on how to do your home, your kitchen, your clothing, your life. She had TV shows, a magazine and her own product line. She became an industry built around her personna. She took her ideas public and was considered the very model of the modern media entrepreneur. She branded herself and became an instant zillionaire. Now, because of her friendship with a corporate executive in hot water for stock irregularities who gave Stewart an inside track into what is emerging as the IMCLONE affair, another cesspool of white collar crime, Martha is in the hot seat and on the way down. Her company’s stock is off 22%. She is under scrutiny by regulators. But in the eyes of some of the tabloids, she is GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY. I can’t say I am weeping as a booster of lifestyles of the rich and famous takes a dive, but the media attack is a bit vicious and probably exaggerated.

FIRING UP RAGE

Fire is the metaphor today. The rapacious forest fires yapping at the edge o Denver may burn all summer gobbling up acres of valuable land, while consuming vast amounts of energy by hundreds of fire fighters. They are hoping for rain today…The fires of hell are what’s frightening many of the Catholic Faithful after the Bishops ruled that no priests who have been, are, or will be sinning with children or women can continue to minister to their flocks. This decision is less than the vindictive wanted but will still lead to more uphearvals and disruptions in many a US diocese. So far Rome has not been heard from.

Religion is in other news, too ,as Afghanistan proclaims itself an Islamic Republic which sounds to American ears like a replay or Iran or even the Taliban. Clearly, while the government may change in Kabul, the underlying culture has not. Just to add fuel to the fires of religious hostility, the New York Times reports “A prominent Southern Baptist pastor caused protests thisweek with a speech condemning American religious pluralismand insulting the prophet of Islam, Muhammad.” This hostility to Islam is seething under the surface of many in the religious right to whom the Administration is banking as it plans its electoral strategies. The political essence of the War on Terror is finally emerging into the light of day. Reports the Times: “”White House advisers say their proposal for a department ofhomeland security will be a critical element in theirmidterm election strategy.” Until now, widespread support among Americans for the Bush Presdency has rested on the belief that national security was non-political. And hence, many who disagree with Bush priorities have given him high marks in the name of national defense. If National defense (aka homeland security) becomes politicized as an issue, his approval rating could decline.

CRACKS IN THE WHITE HOUSE

Journalists overseas are already reporting on cracks inside the government that suggest the INTERNAL CONSENUS is beginning to fall apart. Here is Julian Borger in the GUARDIAN today: “Something has gone awry in George Bush’s White House. The administration’s once impermeable self-confidence is beginning to show cracks. A string of blunders has revealed that it is increasingly unsure of itself. Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary, who has epitomised the administration’s sense of infallibility, embarrassed himself on a visit to South Asia with speculation about al-Qaida’s role in Kashmir which he was quickly forced to retract. Back home the White House acidly disowned the views of two senior cabinet members - the attorney general, John Ashcroft and the secretary of state, Colin Powell. The issues at stake could not have been more serious. Mr Rumsfeld was speaking from the hip at the flashpoint of a potential nuclear confrontation. For his part, Mr Ashcroft claimed to have foiled a plot to detonate a “dirty bomb”, possibly in central Washington. As Americans contemplated the prospect of a radioactive cloud drifting over their capital and sent off for anti-radiation pills, the White House press secretary, Ari Fleischer, insisted that the country’s top law-enforcement official had over-reached and “lurched to the worst-case scenario”.

“For good measure, administration officials told journalists that the White House was furious with Mr Ashcroft for overdoing it. It left him looking opportunistic, ready to risk panicking the population to make the arrest of the suspect Abdullah al-Muhajir look more of a coup. And the administration just seemed confused in the face of the terrorist menace. Then on Wednesday it was the secretary of state’s turn to be slapped down. Colin Powell had told the Arabic newspaper al-Hayat that the president would back the rapid establishment of a provisional Palestinian state. Mr Bush had said almost as much himself, and White House officials confirmed yesterday that a declaration along those lines was expected next week. But Mr Fleischer went out of his way to belittle Mr Powell’s observations, pointing out drily that the secretary of state had the “prerogative” to say what he liked.”

PALESTINIAN FEARS

Eyebrows are being raised by Palestinian negotiators about just what Bush intends when he unveils his “Plan” for a Palestinian state next week. The vagueness of the proposal,a nd the lack of consultation may doom its acceptance. Meanwhile, Reuters reports from Israel: ” ” Police are probing an Israeligambling ring suspected of putting its money on a grimgame of chance — predicting the target of the nextPalestinian suicide bombing.

“The betting ring was set up in the southern Israelitown of Kiryat Malachi, where local gamblers can fillout a form that gives odds for different cities andregions in Israel, the Tel Aviv weekly Zman Tel Avivreported Friday.

“We are checking into it to see if there is aviolation of the gambling laws,” police spokesman GilKleiman said. “We’re not getting into the moralaspect.”

DID YOU KNOW: AFRICANS ARE STARVING?

In more underreported news from Africa, a story out of Malawi caught my eye because its sugegsts that IMF policies help PROMOTE starvation in that impoverished countryIRIN reports “The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is on the hot seat over charges that its policies helped bring about Malawi’s current devastating food shortages.

ActionAid, a leading NGO in the Southern African country, said it would release a policy brief on Thursday June 12 “showing aid conditionalities and bad directives from the IMF played a role in the famine and death at the beginning of this year”, the French news agency, AFP reported.

President Bakili Muluzi declared a state of disaster in February and has asked for $21 million in international assistance for food relief.

” The IMF maintains that it is not at fault for Malawi’s decision to sell strategic maize reserves just before a crop failure and widespread food shortages.

” Close to three million people or 28 percent of the population are in need of emergency assistance and more than 300 people are reported to have died of hunger this year. ”

GLOBAL MEDIA WRAP UP

EJC reports” The two major US newspaper editor associations are joining forces toexpress alarm over increased government secrecy particularly in the wakeof the September 11th attacks. They also aim to help the US publicbetter understand the values of an informed society.

“Douglas Clifton, editor of The Plain Dealer in Cleveland and head of theFreedom of Information Committee (FOI) of the American Society ofNewspaper Editors (ASNE) said that after September 11th “the challengeis especially great because public officials are shrouding all kinds ofaction from public scrutiny in the name of security and the public’sfear is giving them momentum”. He added: “”Yet in times such as these,an informed public is essential to the democratic process.”

FROM PRAGUE TO FIJI, IRAN TO HAITI

Two Mediachannel affiliates have merged. “Transitions Online (TOL), the Czech Republic-based Web site covering thedevelopments in Europe’s former communist countries, has taken over thepublication of Central Europe Review (CER), which covers culture andsociety in Central Europe. ..Pacific Media Watch reports: “” Murdoch and other foreign domination of theNew Zealand media, Fiji coup editorials, the Pacific “non solution” onrefugees, and rural publishing in Papua New Guinea are featured in thelatest edition of Pacific Journalism Review released this week.

“If the concentration of media control in Australia in 1993 was leadingto a loss of liberty to dissent at a critical time in Australia, it iseven more true of New Zealand today,” writes researcher and analyst BillRosenberg….

IRAN: BBC Reports that “Iranian state radio is launching a half-hour daily broadcast in Hebrew aimed at countering what Tehran views as “one-sided” news in the region.The official Iranian news agency, Irna, said the radio broadcast - known as Voice of David - would start on Tuesday and its is expected to target Middle Eastern Jews, especially in Israel.”…

UZBEKITSTAN: The international media should focus more attention on the state ofpress freedom in Uzbekistan, said journalists attending a conferencelast week sponsored by the World Press Freedom Committee (WPFC) andGlasnost Defence Foundation (GDF). Issuing a resolution on mass media inUzbekistan, participants said the press “remains under absolutegovernment control” despite the government’s announcement last monththat official censorship would be abolished..,…

HAITI: Haiti Progres reports: ” “On Jun. 8, the Haitian government released journalists Darwin St.Julien of Haïti Progrès and Allan Deshommes of Radio Atlantique,thirteen days after they were severely beaten and illegallyarrested on May 27 while covering a demonstration in Guacimalnear St. Raphael They were never charged with any crime.Upon release, the two were immediately rushed to receivespecialized medical care, which was pointedly denied them duringtheir two weeks in detention. St. Julien was struck with amachete in his right eye, from which he still cannot see andwhich he might lose. He also suffers from severe headaches.

BACK TO FINLAND

Finally, yesterday I carried a letter with some suggestion from Media Channel advisor Anna Kaca from Helsinki. She wrote to correct the way I mangled her idea which was broader than I realized. She is calling for the creation of a FUND to support many Indy media projects, including Media Channel, not just Mediachannel as I implied. She also has some thoughts about the nature of the media challenge today.

“Globalized Media function as globalized corporatebusinesses in The New Economic Order. They consolidate by merging into giants in order todominate a bigger market and to avoid competition.They cut costs by outsourcing to remain flexible. In the process, they expose outsourced entrepreneurs to global comptetition.

” The core products of the biggest Global MediaGiants of today are Mass Distributed News andEntertainment - packaged and formatted to fit ahomogenously administrated global market for a varietyof national and regional tv slots. The news content, “the story”, is designed to passcultural barriers by focusing on footage that is easilyunderstood all over the world : flooding, fires, wars,starving people and rich elites.

“I watch TV news from four European countriesevery evening : the same stories, the same footage,the same news language. There is, a national anchor in between and somenational news from a national government or a nationalcathastrophe. I won’t comment on the brain dead entertainment shows.But what many of us have learned lately is that national TV companies ( public service as well ascommercial media) are outsourcing functions notdefined as core production : that’s usually journalismor documentary films which can’t be defined as coreproduction. Also all kinds of magazines and talkshows.

“I won’t go any further into this here: my mainmessage is that to compete with this, we need to raise money for independent media. Let’s start thinking about how to collect money, raisefunds and put up independent funding for independentmedia - the way our grand-grand fathers and mothers did.” (Note: English is not Anna’s first language and I may not have gotten all her nuances right, but her input and concerns resonate with my own and need to be heard and acted upon. Thank you for writing.”

Have a great weekend. I may not be back tomorrow, but, if not, I will see you in this space on Monday.Keep your comments coming. Write dissector@mediachannel.org.