HATING MEDIA NOW BIPARTISAN

RAISING THE TRUTH LEVEL

VIEW FROM MALAYSIA

Our country may be divided down the middle on its political choices but one issue has united us: dislike of the media. While other issues divide, when it come to the media, there seems to be convergence. Yesterday morning, one Gordan Stephan sent me a simple question:

“Who said this?’

The quote: “The American people should be made aware of the trend toward monopolization of the great public information vehicles and the concentration of more and more power over public opinion in fewer and fewer hands.”

Answer: Disgraced REPUBLICAN Vice-President Spiro T. Agnew

Now, who said this? “Maybe it is the media that has us divided.”

Answer: Laura Bush on Bill O’Reilly’s Bush lovefest.

FIRST LADY AS FIRST CRITIC

For a day anyway, the First lady has become our first media critic saying: “I think there are a lot of reasons to be critical of the media in America. I think that a lot of times the media sensationalize or magnify things that aren’t — that really shouldn’t be.

Media warrior Bush didn’t stop there, adding, “I DO THINK there’s a big move away from actual reporting, trying to report facts. It’s in newspapers and everything you read — that a lot more is opinion.”

I do think this is an interesting phenomenon. As one journalist wrote to me, she is right in one sense — if the media would so its job reporting, the country would unite in an effort to remove her husband. Maybe true, maybe not.

RIGHT TURN

But Republicans, like those far to the left of them, now say they believe more in, and use “alternative media.” Veteran right-wing strategist Richard A Viguerie has a new book out arguing that Republicans used “new and alternative media to take power.” The book, America’s Right Turn, argues that “50% of voters in 2004 will get MOST of their political news from new and alternative media. . . Talk Radio exists because Ronald Reagan abolished the fairness doctrine. . . and “the conservative movement would not exist without the new and alternative media.”

For more, see www.righturn.us

All of this seems to be part of an effort to discredit the centrist mainstream media by accusing it as an arm of the left.

MediaChannel’s Media Savvy passes along a piece by Tom Scocca, from the NY Observer saying: “Murdoch’s New York Post is waging war not only against John Kerry but also against the rest of the press, who, according to Post columnists, don’t tell the Kerry story straight.”

http://www.observer.com/pages/frontpage5.asp

MEDIA IS CHANGING

Another book by Dan Gilmor of the San Jose Mercury is reporting that the media itself is changing in more democratic ways. His new book WE THE MEDIA argues “Grassroots journalists are dismantling Big Media’s monopoly on the news, transforming it from a lecture to a conversation. Not content to accept the news as reported, these readers-turned-reporters are publishing in real time to a worldwide audience via the Internet. The impact of their work is just beginning to be felt by professional journalists and the newsmakers they cover. Dan Gillmor tells the story of this emerging phenomenon, and sheds light on this deep shift in how we make and consume the news. . . ”

www.oreilly.com/catalog/wemedia/

SOME MEDIA SCOFFING AT BIG MEDIA REPORTS

Overseas, many media outlets are not taking our terror alerts seriously. Rupert Cornwell writes in one Australian paper” “To describe America’s latest terror alert as a silly season folly, filling the airwaves and newspaper pages in the usual high summer absence of real news, would be uncharitable.

“But, in the space of 48 hours, what sounded on Sunday like an imminent threat to financial targets in New York, New Jersey and Washington has metamorphosed into an imbroglio of disarray and confusion, with a dash of farce thrown in. . . ”

Perhaps that’s why many international news outlets seek out and quote a wider ranger of information like this piece in Capital Hill Blue:

“Despite a highly-public terror alert which brought increased security and cost millions of taxpayer dollars, intelligence and law enforcement officials now admit they really don’t know if current al-Qaida plans called for attacks against specific targets in New York, New Jersey and Washington.

“Yes, we may have blown it on this one,” admits one top administration intelligence source. “After all this time, we really don’t know that much about how these people think or what they are really up to.”. . .

“We have very little information - target information, but not the full breadth of the plot or possible plot,” one law enforcement official said Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity because parts of the investigation are classified.” (DS NOTE: This story relies on unnamed sources)

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_4970.shtml

TOM: “KEYSTONE COPS COMEDY”

Tom Engelhart comments in his dispatch: “If this weren’t so serious, it would have the media quality of a Keystone Kops silent comedy. Unfortunately, our media is programmatically like some exceedingly slow, brain-damaged acquaintance. You have this constant urge to stretch out your hand and say, “Here, here, I’ll help you along.” But you also know that, massive and influential as it may be, on certain crucial matters it is institutionally incapable of learning. I mean, it’s almost three years after 9/11 and we know we have an administration that never saw a piece of false intelligence it couldn’t run with or accurate intelligence it couldn’t mangle or suppress. Having just absorbed The 9/11 Commission Report and the Senate Intelligence Committee report, we also know that we have intelligence agencies that consider a 33% good-guess ratio great work.”

http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=1663

PAKISTAN AT YOUR SERVICE

William Rivers Pitt of Truthout.org reminds us: “Recall, if you will, the report in July by John Judis, Spencer Ackerman, and Massoud Ansari of the New Republic titled ‘July Surprise’. The report read, “This spring, the administration significantly increased its pressure on Pakistan to kill or capture Osama bin Laden, his deputy, Ayman Al Zawahiri, or the Taliban’s Mullah Mohammed Omar, all of whom are believed to be hiding in the lawless tribal areas of Pakistan. A succession of high-level American officials–from outgoing CIA Director George Tenet to Secretary of State Colin Powell to Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca to State Department counterterrorism chief Cofer Black to a top CIA South Asia official–have visited Pakistan in recent months to urge General Pervez Musharraf’s government to do more in the war on terrorism.”

“The kicker appears in the next paragraph: “A third source, an official who works under ISI’s director, Lieutenant General Ehsan ul-Haq, informed TNR that the Pakistanis ‘have been told at every level that apprehension or killing of HVTs (High Value Targets) before [the] election is [an] absolute must.’ What’s more, this source claims that Bush administration officials have told their Pakistani counterparts they have a date in mind for announcing this achievement: ‘The last ten days of July deadline has been given repeatedly by visitors to Islamabad and during [ul-Haq’s] meetings in Washington.’. . . But according to this ISI official, a White House aide told ul-Haq last spring that ‘it would be best if the arrest or killing of [any] HVT were announced on twenty-six, twenty-seven, or twenty-eight July’–the first three days of the Democratic National Convention in Boston.”

INTERNATIONALIZING IRAQ

War seemed to be escalating this morning in Najav with a US helicopter down and clashes with the al-Mahdi Army up. . . At least three dead, 12 wounded. . . . While John Kerry continues to promise to internationalize the War in Iraq, the Bush Administration is working quietly behind the scenes to defuse his issue by getting countries like Russia and Saudia Arabia to commit troops. Info Clearinghouse reports: “Do not be surprised to see three or four divisions of the Russian army in the Sunni triangle before year-end, with an announcement just prior to the US presidential election in November.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6625.htm

The Mail and Guardian in South Africa reports: “Repeated abuses allegedly suffered by three British prisoners at the hands of United States interrogators and guards in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba could amount to war crimes, the Red Cross said on Wednesday. The prisoners said they had been beaten, shackled, photographed naked and in one incident questioned at gunpoint while in US custody.”

http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?a=13&o=134187

Newsday reports that Denmark’s defense minister dismissed the country’s two top military commanders in Iraq yesterday as a result of charges that a Danish officer abused Iraqi detainees.

WHAT IS HER RACE?

Boston Phoenix media blogger Dan Kennedy writes about a recent incident in Arizona where the Bush-Cheney campaign demanded to know the race of a photographer that the paper had assigned to cover an appearance by Dick Cheney last Saturday. Managing editor Teri Hayt refused, but the photographer - Mamta Popat, who is of Indian descent — was allowed to attend the Cheney event anyway.

“As you’ll see when you read the story, the demand came from the campaign itself, and was supposedly related to security concerns. Yet in this follow-up, the Secret Service takes the hit, calling the need for racial identification part of its standard security procedures.

“Hmmm . . . then how come the Phoenix wasn’t asked for the race of reporters who would be covering the Democratic National Convention? We received nine passes for the FleetCenter, including a seat high above courtside, and I guarantee you we weren’t asked who anyone’s color was. And in case you didn’t notice, the Secret Service practically ran the DNC.

“I’ve covered maybe a half-dozen events over the years in which the Secret Service was involved, and I’ve never once been asked to state the color of my skin. Yes, I know, someone named Kennedy is probably white, but my brother Randall Kennedy shows that’s not always the case.

“So is the Secret Service telling the truth? If so, then why did the initial demand come from the Bush-Cheney campaign rather than from the agency? And if the Secret Service is not telling the truth, doesn’t that amount to partisan flak-catching on behalf of the Republicans?

HOUSE

What’s happening to press coverage from Iraq? The Governor of Mosul may have been killed and US troops may be now protecting the UN, but coverage is going down. Retired Air Force Colonel Sam Gardner penned a fantasy note to Bush chief of staff Andrew Card:

“Our strategy seems to be working. I think cutting out press conferences from Baghdad has been particularly important. We can see our success in the numbers. (These are from a morning Google search on “Iraq.”)

7-24 - 241,000 articles
7-26 - 199,000
7-29 - 236,000 (111 people killed)
7-30 - 229,000 (Kerry’s speech at the convention)
8-1 - 194,000
8-2 - 187,000
8-3 - 166,000

“Compare these number to around 500,000 articles each morning during the war and around 300,000 before we changed our press strategy. A major incident in Iraq obviously causes a spike, but the spike is significantly below what we would have seen earlier. Kerry can cause a spike, but his influence on the coverage is not that significant; he’ll most likely not be able to duplicate the impact of the convention speech.

“My recommendation is stay with our press policy. We want to take Iraq off the national agenda as much as possible. No press conferences from Baghdad. Keep Negroponte off television. Keep the Pentagon from talking too much about Iraq. They are now limiting their announcements even of casualties; that’s good.

“Continued talk of terrorism is good. Secretary Powell is doing a good job of changing the strategic focus to Sudan. We need to encourage him. There are some within Defense who want us to use Iran to change the strategic focus. That does offer some opportunities. We might want to pick up an Iran theme in September.”

Winstone sends this item along from Robert Mugabe’ Zimbabwe: “ZIMBABWE’S gays and lesbians partially aborted their exhibition at the Zimbabwe International Book Fair (ZIBF) on Monday after they were attacked by people opposed to their cause.

Reports say they were forced to abandon their stall after a baying mob pounced on them screaming abuse.At least three members of the Gays and Lesbian Association (Galz) manning their stand were physically attacked by the baying mob before fleeing, leaving their stall unattended.”

ACLU SAYS NO

In a letter sent today to the head of theCombined Federal Campaign, which administers charitable donations fromfederal and state employees to more than 2,000 non-profits, the AmericanCivil Liberties Union said that it would reject $500,000 in contributionsfrom private individuals rather than submit to a government “blacklist”policy.”

“It is increasingly clear that the Patriot Act and the government’s ‘war onterror’ are threatening the ability of America’s non-profit charities to dotheir essential work,” ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said in aletter to campaign director Mara Patermaster.”

http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=16188&c=206

YOUR LETTERS

Pam Bergren wriites: “The Media is one of MY pet peeves. What can we, citizens be doing for the most effective way to stop this Biased, slanted reporting ???”

VIEW FROM MALAYSIA — COKE V PEPSI

MGG writes from Malaysia: “I have sent you an article, written originally in Malay but translated into English, by a local activist, Hishamuddin Rais. it is an interesting perspective. Thought you might want to have a look at it. Incidentally, somewhere in the story he talks of Bush’s “Rahim Noor” being Donald Rumsfeld. Rahim Noor was the Inspector-General of Police who beat a manacled and blindfolded just arrested former Malaysian deputy prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, and went to jail for it.”

“A couple of days ago, I read an investigative report in the Guardian about Pepsi Cola and Coca Cola. The scholarly study looked into how and why people chose the two brands of soft drinks. The companies which manufacture the two drinks are racing to dominate the world market so intensively that there is not a nook on this globe where the two brandnames are not recognized.

“Once I had become politically aware, and wanted to do something which was politically correct, I had stopped purchasing both Pepsi and Coke. This also meant that I had to turn away from Bacardi and Coke - the trendy drink of the 70s in Universiti Malaya, in particular, in the Fifth College. I now choose Pernod ala West Bank [tap water] - the labourer’s drink in Paris.

“But what I want to expound about here is not about the Guardian, Bacardi, Pernod or Naomi Campbell’s inked-on “brassiere.” I want to discuss about the election of the president of the United States of America. But I do not want to confess whether I accept or reject the American democratic process - that is a personal matter.

My exposition here is about the presidential elections which will be held in November - a choice between the Democrats and the Republicans. To me, the Democrats and the Republicans are like Pepsi Cola and Coca Cola. . . .

“It is hard for us, as citizens of the world, to see the battle lines drawn by the two American political parties. It is most difficult to discern what is Bush-Cheney, and what is Kerry-Edwards. Something like how hard it will be for a Yankee from Boston to differentiate between Batu Berendam belacan and Tanjung Keling belacan.

“Beware! I have already made my choice of who should become president. I do not make that choice as a [American] voter. How can that be, when I am not even a registered voter in my own nation of Malaysia, and so do not vote. I made a political choice for the person whom I consider as more beneficial to the struggles of the citizens of the world. I picked ’son of the Bush’ - George W Bush - to stay on in the White House. . .

“Today, we have seen all of Bush’s moves clearly. The citizens of the world have been united in hatred for him. Imperialism was once only opposed by left-wing movements and socialists. Now many groups, including the Wahabis and the “Yuppies from Talawi”, also view it in a similar way.

The imperialist project of the White House oilmen has been revealed to the public. The Weapon of Mass Destruction has now become the Weapon of Mass Deception. . . ”

k from Oregon City: “When I first heard that 4-year-old information darkened the weekend terror hue, I wondered if it was 4-year-old data found or data found 4 years ago. Did intelligence interceptors here have copies before 9-11 of what attackers collected before 9-11?. . .

“Danny, in some of your reports it seems like you don’t know what to think to explain and understand some of the news announcements. I could offer you a practice I have been using that shows me a straight and clear logic in events. Everytime I see or hear ‘al Quaida’ mentioned I replace it with ‘CIA.’ (After all, the CIA created al Quaida and gave it directions starting twenty-five years ago.) Practicing that word replacement has made all the news make entirely rational sense — rationale for a motive to control the world. . . . Love your chronicles”

SERVING ON THE GRAND JURY

Yesterday, I reported on a letter I received from a Supreme Court Judge acknowledging earlier complaints of mine about about Grand Jury service. Deborah Emin who is going through this ordeal now writes:

” I am in the midst of this egregious assignment myself. You should thank your lucky stars that you were spared the horrors of the full term I am now in the midst of. In addition to the emotional wear and tear of listening to some of the most gruesome cases you can imagine, there is just the further condition of one’s life being severely disrupted and placed on hold for 4 long weeks. It is quite fair to say that unless you have been privy to the experience, of being asked to listen to sometimes 4 or 5 horrible descriptions of crimes and abuse day in and day out five days a week, you can’t imagine what it feels like. Beyond that is the kind of treatment we observe. Many of the police seem to be patently lying. The ADAs while some seem genuinely interested in their work, others come across as blatantly sadistic. Many of my fellow grand jurors either sleep through most of the testimony, use the opportunity to promote a certain social agenda or act as if they were judges not grand jury members.

” This might not from this brief overview seem so bad, after all 3 hours a day is not what most people have to put up with in some bad full-time jobs. However, we’re talking about $40/day for our time, dirty and uncomfortable grand jury rooms, bathrooms that aren’t large enough for the 2 sets of grand juries in session at a time, incredibly long lines every morning to get through security and then only 2 elevators to handle the masses of people showing up.

“I think it is necessary for a democracy to allow its citizens to see the workings of the criminal “justice” system, but I think it also needs to be acknowledged that this is an inhumane and debilitating experience. While you may have had one bad day in court, the people I have served with have been subjected to an unrelenting recitation of violence, abuse, etc. I wish I could say more and really detail what it is we do hear, but we swear an oath to keep the proceedings secret. I advise anyone called to “volunteer” for this to find a way out of it.”

CHAEL MOORE

http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/team_america/

BORN TO VOTE

The culture wars was Nightline’s subject last night, and there he was, the BOSS, Bruce himself telling Ted about the tour he and other artists will be making in all the battle ground stations for Kerry-Edwards and to raise money for ACT, the group that is mobilizing voters precinct by precinct.

Rock an Roll is now engaged in election 2004 witha major Vote for Change tour. Other musicians on board: The E Street Band, John Fogerty, Pearl Jam, the Dixie Chicks, hip-hoppers Jurassic 5, bluesman Keb’ John Mellencamp and Jackson Browne among others. The artists, touring under the “Vote for Change” banner, plan to play 34 shows in 28 cities from Oct. 1 to 8.Most disturbing about the Nightline interview — the baiting of Bruce for speaking out. Why do musicians always have to justify their right to behave like citizens and express a point of view? Come on Ted, drop the snideness. . . .

One of the world’s great photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson is dead:
http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=3816733

I am off tomorrow to the Woods Hole Film Festival to show my film WMD and take part in a panel on Saturday. If you are around the Cape of Cod, drop by. Reach me at dissector@mediachannel.org