Media - Corporate

Unable to Get Simeone Fired, NPR Drops "World of Opera"

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Yesterday, NPR's PR flack was haranguing me on the phone about how NPR had nothing to do with getting Lisa Simeone fired from an independent program called Soundprint.  This was despite NPR having gone public with its concerns over Simeone's "unethical" participation in democracy, and Soundprint's referencing of NPR's "ethics" rules in firing Simeone.  It was also despite NPR's clear intention to get Simeone removed from our airwaves.

NPR Gets Producer Fired for Occupying

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National Public Radio on Wednesday discovered that a woman named Lisa Simeone who produced a show about opera called "World of Opera" had been participating in a nonviolent occupation of Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C., organized by October2011.org.  That same day, NPR persuaded a company for which Simeone worked to fire her, cutting her income in half and purging from the so-called public airwaves a voice that had never mentioned politics on NPR.

This frantic email was sent to all NPR staff:

From:NPR Communications
Sent: Wednesday, October 19, 2011 6:12 PM
Subject: From Dana Rehm: Communications Alert

To:       All Staff
Fr:        Dana Davis Rehm
Re:      Communications Alert

Cut the Cable to Stop the Lies

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    Bob Fertik
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As workers, students, parents and progressives battle Scott Walker in Wisconsin, one of the most popular chants is "FOX News Lies."

We've been saying that at Democrats.com since Election Night 2000, when FOX's Jeb Ellis falsely declared his first cousin George Bush the "winner" in Florida by under 1,000 votes. FOX spent the next six weeks viciously smearing Al Gore for requesting a recount.

FOX News has lied every day since it was launched by rightwing Australian billionaire Rupert Murdoch in 1996. And every day, Media Matters documents FOX's lies. Does FOX ever admit or correct its lies? No, they lie about Media Matters instead.

Now they're lying about Wisconsin protesters - calling them "violent" as they show clips of thuggist protesters with palm trees!

Mike Stark Chats Up and Out Argues Rush Limbaugh Again

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From Mike Stark

Hard to get a word in edgewise toward the end. ’tis too bad, because I really wanted to focus on comparing the legacy of conservative ideology vs. that of liberals. Rush Limbaugh cheered George Bush every chance he got. (Don’t be deceived by his claim that he was unhappy with the Bush admins’ spending – he never said so at the time.)

I will say this though: Barack Obama is very difficult for a liberal to defend. Every day seems to bring new disappointment.

 

60 Minutes: Putting the BS in CBS

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The reason people in Tunisia, Egypt, and other parts of the world have been influenced to some extent by the work of Wikileaks is that they have read or heard about the material that Wikileaks has helped to make public. The CBS program "60 Minutes" has just published video of an interview with Wikileaks' Julian Assange -- with the video focused, of course, on Assange himself, with almost no substantive content related to the massive crimes and abuses that have made news around the globe.

The value of the "60 Minutes" video is not in its potential to inform anyone about Wikileaks. We can't, after all, judge the utility of informing Americans about their nation's illegal spying, bombing, war making, or coup facilitating until Americans are actually informed of it, which will require that we finally drop the BS "reporting" on Assange's childhood and haircuts.

Media

The most powerful force in American politics is the corporate media.

And because it is corporate-owned, it promotes the conservative agenda of corporate bosses: bigger profits, lower wages for workers, and lower taxes for the rich.

Progressives are fighting back by creating our own progressive media - and by challenging the propaganda and lies in the corporate media. For more info visit:

Newspaper Truthiness

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The Cleveland Plain Dealer is the latest in a series of major newspapers around the country that have announced a partnership with a group called PolitiFact which will aid them in the innovative practice of letting readers know whether statements made by politicians are true or not. Here's last Sunday's front page announcement:

That's the Average Male Brain?

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By David Swanson

According to USA Today here is "A snapshot of the goings-on in the average male brain as it matures:"

Fetal stage. Brain development starts eight weeks after conception.

Boyhood. High testosterone from 1 to 12 months; lower testosterone from 1 to 11 years. Major interest in winning, movement, chasing objects, exploratory play.

Puberty. A 20-fold increase in testosterone. Major interest in turf, social interaction, girls' bodies, male hierarchy.

Single male. Visual circuits change to spot fertile women. Focus on career, money.

Fatherhood. Circuits for sex drive suppress, auditory circuits enhance to hear baby cries. Focus on protecting mother/baby.

Midlife. Continued focus on sex, turf and attractive women. Testosterone slowly decreases.

Video: George W. Bush, Internet Activist

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ACORN Taken Down by Media Lies

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