Tag Archives: media

Owning the Media

On the flight back from Lisbon, I listened closely to another excellent On Point program. This one focused on media mogul Rupert Murdoch, his bid to buy the Wall Street Journal, and more importantly: his power to influence his media.

Years ago while writing my MA thesis, I remember collecting Murdoch quotes about his opinion on influencing his newspapers. My least favorite was something to the effect of: He wants to take a sledge hammer and destroy the wall between the marketing department and the news room. That in itself told the whole story of what kind of person this is and how much he values a free and independent press.

During the On Point program you hear from journalists who say they won’t tolerate him taking over the paper. Both because of the times where he has been hands on, and because of the type of media he also owns such as Fox News, The Daily Standard and other tabloid /info-tainment/ conservative newspapers. (myspace!) You also hear of examples where he doesn’t get involved or interfere in the work of media professionals at his own companies. The contrasting habits of a man that owns such a huge chunk of the global media.

Which ever style of owner he behaves as once he takes over the Journal, this is still another nail in the coffin of mainstream press. Because business is business and somewhere somehow it was decided that media was just another business and therefore can be bought and sold and picked apart or bullied by its owners and shareholders. On the one hand, another sad day for journalism, on the other hand, yet another reason why the work of independent and alternative journalists, especially on the internet, is VITAL.

Darfur Awareness Followup

Staying with the issue of Darfur, on the heels of yesterday’s podcast, I noticed an interesting study on public opinion of the Darfur situation in the US, published on the PEW center’s site. (love PEW center because I have the patience and the time to read through their numbers and reports)

My attention was particularly sparked by the survey of how the public feels the media is covering the crisis in Darfur as compared to Iraq or Iran. As you can see in this image, not only do 49% feel it receives too little coverage, but if you look at the “don’t know” category.. 14% don’t know. Which makes me wonder if they really don’t know anything on the topic, which is still very possible considering the lack of coverage, or if they simply don’t care.. which is unfortunately also possible.

One statistic that represents exactly why I do the work that I do on this blog: 75% of those who had heard a lot about the situation believed that the US had a responsibility to take action to stop the genocide. The less that people had heard about Darfur the more they didn’t want the US to do anything.

Might sound simple enough, but for me it reminds me of an important relationship – the more you hear about a topic, learn about it, talk about it, argue about it; the greater the chance you will get involved and be concerned.

Media Should Not Be Business

Capitalism, at least the version that is commonly practiced in this era that we currently live in, has a long list of terrible drawbacks. The one I was thinking most about this evening, as I cruised the canals of Amsterdam, is the marriage of business and media.

Let us take a step back for a moment. While pure capitalism seems to push for a world where everything is a commodity and everything can be bought and sold. We know, in fact, that many things cannot and SHOULD NOT be for sale. Examples of this include matters of public safety, like the Fire Department. Many centuries ago they experimented with private fire brigades in the US, but of course houses that didn’t pay for service burned down and led to other houses catching fire. Clearly, fire protection was deemed something that cannot be a business.

Let us return to media, a far cry from the world of fires and fire protection. Media is widely operated around the world as a business. While there are numerous public media run from public funds, a majority of the world’s information comes from media companies that are private businesses. Why even in terms of language (english anyway) you hear this cultural norm in the term “the newspaper business”. Yup, when you talk about media, you’re almost always talking about business.

Yet everywhere you look there is evidence of what a terrible and detrimental marriage this is. News reports mixed with advertisements to the point you can’t tell which is which. Media companies buying other media companies and cutting staff and budgets in order to increase profit margins. News programs covering topics that will attract the most amount of people in order to attract the most amount of advertisers, appealing to people’s insecurities, fears, or dreams. Ignoring news that makes people uncomfortable about their lives, their government, or the companies they help fund. Firing or marginalizing reporters that dare to challenge this system, by direct or indirect orders of business managers or sponsors.

Over and over again, now of course, on the internet, we are told that media is a business and that is just how it has to be.

People ask me, “Maybe you could make a living out of your work on the site by having ads or a sponsor”, and I make some excuse about not being sure what to do. The truth is I am very sure it has been and would be a mistake. More than that, I disagree with the global norm, the widely accepted tradition that this is how media works and the world will be fine if this continues. It’s not fine. We are not ok, and one of the most basic reasons is the way our media system functions… the business of reporting the news.

And so I carry on without the sponsors. Without the money that journalists need to survive. Like many of my friends and fellow reporters on the internet, I try to formulate a better way. Or more often, sit here hoping that if I keep doing my work, that new day will finally come when media breaks free from business and finds a better way to exist. One where reporting about people and injustice gets the priority, and funding comes without the need to sell something or compromise the essential principles that make it possible to shed light on what has been left in the dark for much too long.

2 Minute Judgement

With the population of the world being as big as it is, I realize evaluating people for jobs, prizes, relationships, you-name-it; there is less time to spend on each person.

That said, I still hate it. A 1 page letter of motivation. A 2 minute audio sample. A 3 minute conversation over a drink at some party. Each of these is supposed to give someone an accurate idea of who I am, and then a judgment is to made based on that.

FUCK THAT.

The world is going to have to figure something else out, because humans are simply more complicated then these little allotted samples.

Recently my wonderful friends over at Radio Open Source, aka Public Radio in Boston, urged me to enter into the Public Radio Talent Search…. so I submitted my audio for judgment in a contest who’s winner gets money, and some other lovely support from the NPR world.

As a struggling journalist, obviously I could use such things. Plus I’m honored that they thought of me, so I entered. I grabbed a random 2 minutes from the NEw Orleans series, and submitted it. (click the link if you feel like voting) And even as I did it, I was thinking “2 minutes… thats it?” Two minutes does not explain what I do and why it matters. To be judged in 2 minutes, after almost 3 years of podcasting, 200 shows, 6 years of blogging, and untold experiences and studies… is to me.. preposterous.

But this is how the world works, so often. Universities and their methods for judging potential students. Employers and their demand for that “CV”, which of course they never read beyond the first page. So your life’s worth is then evaluated based on a piece of paper, or a few pieces of paper, maybe some testimony from 2 people. The horror.

Actually it reminds me of speed dating. Thats right, I’m a curious person and an amateur anthropologist, so I went to a speed dating debauchery not too long ago. And again, my first thought from the moment I arrived: I will not try and explain myself in 3 minutes. I am complex in what might be a very good way, but that complexity cannot and should not, be squashed into 3 minutes because the world doesn’t have time to listen.

So public radio, you’ve got my 2 minutes. While it is true that this struggling journalist could use your help, I don’t need you to tell me my work is worth something, and I certainly don’t need you in order to continue in this well established podcast that already has a wonderful relationship with a large group of people scattered throughout the world.

bmtv41 Message for Brooklyn College

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The following vlog entry is made specifically for Brooklyn College and the students of Prof. Brian Dunphy’s class. (brave souls!) The internet is welcome to watch as well, of course. This is about why I do what I do, the inspiration behind my little media career.

Resonating in my Ears

Working very very late on some upcoming podcasts, from Afghanistan, to Guinea, to Liberia.. there’s alot coming up.

But in the meantime, as I did my research for the day, which always includes almost 6 hours of podcasts daily, two in particular had me captivated and hitting rewind to hear words again.

The first was Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who most people in the Netherlands would be quite tired of hearing from, but in this case she appeared on WBUR Boston’s On Point, to discuss her new book and of course… the usual condemnation of islam. I must say, I don’t agree with her on many things, but I always tune in to interviews with her.. she has an interesting style and she handles debate quite well.
But in this particular program what is striking is her descriptions of both her and her brother being forcefully circumcized back in Somalia when she was a child. Each word of her sentences made me shutter. And even more captivating are the callers from around the US that call in to either condemn her.. or mostly to praise her in very strange ways.. including reminding her of how great it is to live in the US and having Jesus watching over her. AN INSTANT CLASSIC.

The other program that Ill never forget was Monday’s democracy now, featuring an interview with one of my hero’s and citizen journalist-colleague… Josh Wolf.. on the phone from prison. You should really hear what he has to say about what has happenned to him and the country. Among other things, it reminded me of how dangerous it is for individual… independent journalists making their own media without the backing of corporate or government forces, to do what I do within the United States. As far as Im concerned it could happen to me or any other of my wonderful friends out there doing our own reporting. Josh is an inspiration and a hero…. they should be learning about him in schools everywhere!