gypsies, tramps && thieves

i attended a lecture by prof. mcchesney the other evening. he was speaking about media coverage and the election. most of his arguments were ones i am familiar with due to his money, media & power course i took last fall. but, some of what he said took on new meaning--especially since i am taking a media & democracy course. he mentioned jefferson and madison's ideals for the media system and they directly related to that course. jefferson and madison were looking for the media system to promote equality and to prevent imperialism (respectively). these were exactly the concepts we discussed in media and deomcracy. the system today is in a state of crisis because of the lack of relevant content. a lot of the information being provided by the media comes from governmental sources and corporate interests and because of this the credibility of the information itself is not being questioned. this is a problem when trying to fulfill jefferson and madison's ideals of equality and anti-imperialism (and prevention of factions).

speaking of sourcing in journalism--herman and chomsky's model of propaganda comes to mind. in their piece entitled, "manufacturing consent," they address the "filters" used in media that explain why it is a form of propaganda. the filters include:

1. the conglomeration of media corporations. they have interests in other nations and other industries and those interests are based upon profit which ultimately influences the content and information being put forth

2. advertising: advertising is a major source of income for the media industry and thus, shapes content

3. sourcing (as referenced above): media rely on pre-packaged information from government and corporate interests without checking credibility

4. development of right wing corporate "flak": the pressure toward the media to follow up the corporate agenda

5. ideology of anticommunism: when anticommunist fervor is around, the demand for serious evidence in support of "communist claims" is suspended by the media

according to herman and chomsky, grassroots organizations and activists can change the current system for the better. with the use of the internet in creating a new public sphere investigative journalism can be revived and a media system that is beneficial to citizens will replace it.

anyway...that's my rant for today...i am anxiously counting the days (i guess i should say weeks) until thanksgiving...it cannot come soon enough.

sweeter dreams.
k