[IMC-US] personal reprtback for indy folks abouttheNationalCOnference on Med

[deva]

I have just finally read through all the comments on this thread.

I find the discussion around issues of media somewhat frustrating in  
general. I feel like there ends up being alot of defining such as Media  
Reform, Media Democracy and Media Justice. Fine as it is, but I find  
that all off target.

Fuck the Corporate Media!

Corporate use of the public airwaves is predicated on the notion of  
doing the public a service. It is not. Corporate media may be the  
single most destructive force in our society. They are not providing  
anything for the public good. Corporate use of the public airwaves,  
should be rescinded. Period.

To me this is such an obvious and basic position to stand on. Yet I  
rarely hear it stated. I believe this should be on the lips of every  
media activist! Corporate media failure to fulfill its social contract  
can be so clearly demonstrated. It is a sharp sword, that is not used.

I attended a media panel at a conference here in Portland a while back.  
It was a panel with some liberal media reformers and a couple folks  
from the local right wing radio squaring off. I asked some pointed  
questions, and finally  suggested that the profit motive trumps the  
public good and therefore, Corporate media is failing its public trust.  
The right wing guys argued with me, while the reformers, who subtly  
blamed the public, ended up lost because I drew a line that left them  
no longer the opposition.

That basic challenge to their right to public resources, opened much  
more interesting questions and comments and changed the dynamic of the  
discussion.

So these are my basic points......

1- Corporate media has demonstrated beyond any doubt, its unworthiness  
to the use of public resources.

2- Corporate media is poison. It should be avoided. It is the most  
sophisticated system of brainwashing ever devised.  It is doing its job  
very well. Nobody is immune. So many activists still drink of that  
bitter brew, and perhaps do not see just how much it dulls the ability  
of the psyche to think and see outside the bounds that it sets.

3- The tools are there for people to make their own media. Independent  
media is the clear answer.


I would say too many people show a deference to the Corporate media.  
Still hold out hope for it or falsely conceive of what it is or how it  
works. Corporate media is the propaganda arm of the institutions of  
power that seek to control the entire world. It will never serve the  
person, so the person should stop serving it, by not consuming it, by  
denying it has any claim to public resources other than through force.

Indymedia is not alternative media as in an alternative to Corporate  
media. They have entirely different purposes and as far as legitimacy,  
Indymedia already far surpasses Corporate media. You will find more  
truth on one day in Indymedia, than you will find in the entirety of  
U.S. corporate media over the next 6 months. There is no comparison.

Corporate Media is a disease
Indymedia is a cure

regards,
deva
portland indymedia contributor





On May 18, 2005, at 1:16 PM, Tribal Scribal wrote:

> Right, and btw to add to the dialogue here's rabbles two cents on the  
> conference from his blog:
>
> http://www.anarchogeek.com/articles/2005/05/16/followup-on-the- 
> national-conference-on-media-reform
>
>
> d.o.
>
>
>> From: Chris Anderson <chanders_imc at yahoo.com>
>> Reply-To: "Working Group for IMC-US." <imc-us at lists.ucimc.org>
>> To: "Working Group for IMC-US." <imc-us at lists.ucimc.org>
>> Subject: Re: [IMC-US] personal reprtback for indy folks  
>> abouttheNationalCOnference on Media Reform.
>> Date: Wed, 18 May 2005 09:10:31 -0700 (PDT)
>>
>> if nothing else, this NCMR was worth it for generating
>> this really great discussion. This is "mahhhvelous,"
>> as Donald with the Indypendent would say. I hope folks
>> find a way to get these thoughts out into the public
>> domain.
>>
>> chris
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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