Category Archives: Media

More than 2,500 people converged in downtown St. Louis in mid-May for an historic meeting of citizens, journalists, activists, scholars, artists, policymakers, and media producers, all dedicated to solving a crisis that threatens the roots of American democracy: the media. … Continue reading →

about the current state of our local and national broadcast media as I am? I hope so, because our democracy is facing a media crisis of untold proportions that is threatening its very vibrancy and vitality. On May 13-15, I, … Continue reading →

“Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets.” (Napoleon) “ We are not afraid to entrust the American peo – ple with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and com – petitive values. For a nation … Continue reading →

 , ,    – surrounded by executives from the major television networks, production companies, and advertising agencies, Richard Nixon somberly asked his audience for their support to help “warn our youth constantly against the dangers of drugs.” … Continue reading →

  the Illinois State High School Press Association’s (ISHSPA) journalism conference at the Illini Union along with 800 others students on Friday, October 3. Surrounded by other kids like myself, I attended sessions taught by members of the local … Continue reading →

November 8 & 9,Madison Wisconsin Moving beyond critique to action, the National Conference on Media Reform is a groundbreaking forum to democratize the debate over media policymaking. A broad range of media reform activists will join members of Congress, the … Continue reading →

Thanks to volunteers from the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center and other indymedia outlets, some 500 high school students from around the state will be exposed to alternative ways of doing journalism. The occasion is the fall conference of the Illinois … Continue reading →

The Question: What should be covered in the mainstream media that isn’t? After a period of confusion about whether any local media outlets other than The News Gazette would be allowed to distribute their materials during the annual Urbana Sweetcorn … Continue reading →

AlterNet A self-described “infomediary,” AlterNet.org is a like Dante’s Virgil, guiding us to the Web and helping us drudge through hellish corporate-driven, merger-loving, war-supporting mainstream media. It is John Edwards for the information-obsessed, like myself, or for progressives who go … Continue reading →

It may not have compared in terms of sheer drama and suspense, and certainly not in terms of violence, to the classic Gary Cooper film of the same name. But a recent “High Noon” summit on Main Street in Urbana, … Continue reading →

This fall, with little fanfare, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has proceeded with plans to overhaul and possibly eliminate its remaining ownership regulations for media companies. These include regulations which currently prohibit one company from owning newspapers and TV stations, … Continue reading →

In just the past nine months, the US news media have been presented with what most journalists believe will be the two most dramatic and important stories of their lifetimes. Vast, perhaps unprecedented, resources have been devoted to the post-2000 … Continue reading →