bm208 Blogging New Orleans til the Very End

He knows the city will flood again, and is fully aware of all the corruption and neglect that goes on in New Orleans. But the American Zombie says there is no where else in the world he would rather be, than living in New Orleans, and exposing the bastards, up until the very end.

We discuss:
– His early blogging following the hurricane
– Blogging as a reporter and a watchdog, covering the rebuilding
– Corruption, from insurance, to taxes, to the mayors office
– Who is Mayor Ray Nagin really?
– Who is profiting from the bad state of things?
– Decline of New Orleans, death of America
– The inevitable flood and looking to the future

NOLA

 

Prison Writing

I’ve recently tried to get in touch with Josh Wolf, citizen journalist recently released from jail. Obviously since his release he’s had nonstop places to be and people to talk to, but I figured I would get in line and see about interviewing him.

The purpose of my interview was NOT going to be his case and the whole question of journalist-blogger rights. That topic, while important, has been well covered by the alternative media online.

Instead I want to talk to Josh about prison life. Especially about the conversations, the thoughts, every aspect of prison life and the experiences of other prisoners. He had lots of interesting things to say while he was in prison about what things they did have a right to and what things he thinks they should have a right to, and I wanted to explore all that and hopefully learn from it.

Well I still haven’t heard back from the man, but I will remain patient. In the meantime, I was excited to hear about his project “Prisonblogs.net”. Free blog hosting for prisoners, a space where they can communicate their thoughts and experiences. Over my 7 years of publishing on the internet, I’ve come across many letters from prisoners republished on a few blogs. I glad to see that someone like Josh is helping to make this more possible and will be reading along with great interest.

ps- Do watch his appearance on Colbert.. it’s fun.

**UPDATE: Just recieved an email from the man. thank you internets.**

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.

Victims of the Tea Industry

In the 90’s there was the big collapse of coffee prices, and the millions of farmers whose lives were ruined while their story was barely covered in the mainstream.

Today I’ve been reading more and more about the collapse of tea prices in the last 10 years; ruining the lives of tea farmers in India. Between 1998 and 2004 the price of tea dropped dramatically, and now the major tea companies are buying each other up… once again.. leaving tea farmers to pick up the pieces.

It is yet another one of those stories we never hear about. We drink coffee, tea, expect dirt cheap prices, and put little more thought into how it gets to us.

This will be a topic for an upcoming podcast, just as soon as I get a hold of some people with some experience or knowledge related to this topic. In the meantime it reminds me of a recent post about the Development of India by Dilip over at Death Ends Fun.

bm207 Tracking Corruption in Latin America

Corruption is a global problem, and Transparency International has made it their business to track and measure corruption worldwide. In this program I head to TI headquarters in Berlin to ask about their projects in Latin America.

My first guest is Marta Erquicia, programme coordinator, Americas Dept. at TI.
Then via telephone we hear from Silke Pfeiffer, regional director, also from the Americas Dept.

We discuss:
– Transparency International’s mission
– How the organization functions
– Funding sources
– Different areas of focus in Latin America
– Political Campaign Funding
– Who cooperates who doesn’t?
– Recent meeting with the OAS
– Group of 8 involved in the campaign
– Sources of dirty money
– Much more, so give it a listen

More info at the Carter Center as well

Listen to Mailer

A cool wind blew through my tshirt and grey clouds rumbled above my head today, as I scooped water from out the boat. Never the funnest task in the world, I always have podcasts playing in my ears while I balance myself over the boat, keeping my feet from touching the water.

A perfect backdrop for listening to Radio Open Source’s interview with Norman Mailer. I’m often quick to say that I admire Mailer, and look up to him as a writer and a thinker. But as I listened today, I realized I hardly know the man.. and in fact there is much more to admire than I’d previously assumed.

What I liked best was his words regarding ignorance and television. And even his take on George Bush was actually extremely telling beyond the typical criticism you can hear everywhere else. It was about intelligence and admitting one’s mistakes, one’s limitations. Actually if you listen you may hear something even different from the way I summarize it… so you know what to do: listen to it!