Media Reform Links

Educational Groups

Media Reform Network: www.mediareform.net
A national nonpartisan organization working to increase informed public participation in crucial media policy debates, and to generate policies that will produce a more competitive and public interest-oriented media system with a strong nonprofit and noncommercial sector.

Action Coalition for Media Education(ACME): http://www.acmecoalition.org/about.html
A coalition of teachers, scholars, students, journalists, public health advocates and community organizers who believe that today's media system is profoundly undemocratic.

Center for Media Literacy: http://www.medialit.org, http://www.medialit.org/bp_mlk.html
Dedicated to promoting and supporting media literacy education as a framework for accessing, analyzing, evaluating and creating media content, CML works to help citizens, especially the young, develop critical thinking and media production skills needed to live fully in the 21st century media culture.

Media Education Foundation: http://www.mediaed.org
Produces and distributes video documentaries to encourage critical thinking and debate about the relationship between media ownership, commercial media content, and the democratic demand for free flows of information, diverse representations of ideas and people, and informed citizen participation.

New Mexico Media Literacy Project: http://www.nmmlp.org/
The largest and most successful independent, activist media literacy project in the United States. They deliver multimedia presentations at conferences, workshops and classrooms across the country and abroad. They also produce activist guides and educational materials, including CD-ROMs and videos, on a variety of media literacy topics


Publishers

Beacon Press: http://www.beacon.org/
A non-profit, independent publisher of serious non-fiction books and high quality literary works founded in 1854. Beacon books seek to change the way readers think about fundamental issues; they promote such values as freedom of speech and thought; the importance of racial and ethnic diversity; religious pluralism; an anti-racist, anti-oppression agenda; respect for our environment; and the importance of the arts in a civil society.

Roundtable, Inc.: www.roundtablemedia.com
Combining television, radio, web, books and supporting print with thoughtful partnerships among institutions of civil society across the country, Roundtable is able to ensure that popular media projects reach deeply into communities. In conjunction with productions, we coordinate workshops, panel discussions, screenings, and events to make social mission media have an impact.

Seven Stories Press: http://www.sevenstories.com
An independent book publisher based in New York City, with distribution throughout the United States, Canada, England, Australia, and New Zealand.

South End Press: http://www.southendpress.org/
A nonprofit, collectively run book publisher who work to meet the needs of readers who are exploring, or are already committed to, the politics of radical social change.

Common Courage Press: http://www.commoncouragepress.com/
Helps progressive ideas to find a place in our culture. The press provides a platform to spread these ideas to activists and ordinary citizens alike.

The New Press: http://www.thenewpress.com/
A major alternative to the large, commercial publishers, The New Press is a not-for-profit publishing house operated editorially in the public interest. It is committed to publishing in innovative ways works of educational, cultural, and community value that, despite their intellectual merits, may be deemed insufficiently profitable by commercial publishers.

Recommended Reading

- Barbara Kingsolver, essay: “The One-Eyed Monster, and Why I Don’t Let Him In”. This can be found in her recent book of essays “Small Wonder”, 2002 (Hardback from Harper Collins, Paperback from Perennial). The essay is 13 pages.

- Robert W. McChesney and John Nichols, “Our Media, Not Theirs – The Democratic Struggle Against Corporate Media”, 2002; in paperback from Seven Stories Press; 140 pages. This is a revised and updated version of their previous book, “It’s the Media, Stupid.” It includes forwards by Noam Chomsky, Barbara Ehrenreich and Ralph Nader.

- Noam Chomsky, “Power and Terror – Post 9/11 Talks and Interviews”; 2003; in paperback from Seven Stories Press; 133 pages.

- Noam Chomsky, “Manufacturing Consent”: 1993; two-tape VHS set or DVD from Zeitgeist Video; associated book (same title) from Black Rose Books, 264 pages.

- Neil Postman, “Amusing Ourselves to Death – Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business”; Penguin Books, 1985.

- Douglas Rushkoff, “Coercion – Why We Listen to What They Say”; Riverhead Books, 1999.

- Mark Cooper, “Media Ownership and Democracy in the Digital Information Age – Promoting Diversity with First Amendment Principles and Market Structure Analysis”; 2003; in paperback, self published via the Internet; 305 pages. A valuable reference book, although not bedtime reading. Extensive quotations, legal arguments, facts and figures; thoroughly researched and footnoted (the last 87 pages are footnote references). Available free online at http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/blogs/cooper/archives/mediabooke.pdf

- Bill Moyers, Keynote Speech to the National Conference on Media Reform (November 2003); videotape distributed by Democracy Now.

- Article in Dec 2000 Harper’s Magazine about how Clear Channel Radio operates.

- Amy Goodman, two videotapes, “Democratic Media in Time of War” and “Democratic Media in Time of War and Elections”.

- Bob McChesney, “The Problem of the Media: US Communication Politics in the Twenty-first Century”, 2004, 367 pages.

- Amy Goodman, “The Exception to the Rulers”, 2004, Hyperion, 352 pages

- Lawrence Lessig, “The Future of Ideas”, 2001, Random House


Alternate News Sources

The Nation: http://www.thenation.com/
Makes an earnest effort to bring to the discussion of political and social questions a really critical spirit, and to wage war upon the vices of violence, exaggeration, and misrepresentation by which so much of the political writing of the day is marred.

The Progressive: http://www.progressive.org/
A journalistic voice for peace and social justice at home and abroad. The magazine, its affiliates, and its staff steadfastly oppose militarism, the concentration of power in corporate hands, the disenfranchisement of the citizenry, poverty, and prejudice in all its guises.

TomPaine.com: http://www.tompaine.com
A public interest journal, which seeks to enrich the national debate on controversial public issues by featuring the ideas, opinions, and analyses too often overlooked by the mainstream media.

Air America Radio: http://www.airamericaradio.com
A collaborative effort that brings together a group of experienced radio entrepreneurs with a talented team of creative artists. A new voice in talk radio: a smart voice with a sense of humor. On air in Madison on 92.1 FM, and in Chicago on WNTD-950 AM.

Democracy Now!: http://www.democracynow.org
A national, daily, independent, award-winning news program airing on over 140 stations in North America.

Independent Media Center: http://www.indymedia.org
A collective of independent media organizations and hundreds of journalists offering grassroots, non-corporate coverage. Indymedia is a democratic media outlet for the creation of radical, accurate, and passionate tellings of truth.

CounterPunch: http://www.counterpunch.org
Brings readers the stories that the corporate press never prints, muckraking with a radical attitude.

International Herald Tribune: http://www.iht.com/frontpage.html
The premier international newspaper for opinion leaders and decision makers around the world. In an era of information overload, those who both make and track decisions on the global level depend upon the IHT as the most complete, credible and concise daily newspaper in the world.

Harper’s Magazine: http://www.harpers.org/
An American journal of literature, politics, culture, and the arts published continuously from 1850.

The Guardian Unlimited: http://www.guardian.co.uk/
The online presence of The Guardian Newspaper, founded in 1821, with a long history of editorial and political independence.

The Onion: http://www.theonion.com
Arguably the most popular humor periodical in world history, with scathingly funny commentary on world events, human behavior, and journalistic convention.

The Daily Show: http://www.comedycentral.com/tv_shows/ds/
Satire -- the most important television show ever, with the most important guests, hosts, and news – current event news, pop culture news, sports news, entertainment news -- of all time.

WORT: http://www.wort-fm.org/
Listener-sponsored community radio station in Madison offers a whole host of programming.

Flashpoints!: http://www.flashpoints.net/
Investigative news radio.


Media/Advertising Watchdogs

NewsWatch: http://www.newswatch.org
News about the News. Views on the News.

Media Carta: http://www.mediacarta.org/
A movement which ultimately seeks a new human right for our information age, one that empowers freedom of speech with the right to access the media -- The Right to Communicate. Also features several Adbusters commercials which the major networks refuse to air.

PR Watch: http://www.prwatch.org/
Offers investigative reporting on the Public Relations industry, to help the public recognize manipulative and misleading PR practices by exposing firms that work to control political debates and public opinion.

Mediawatch: http://www.mediawatch.com/
Challenges abusive stereotypes and other biased images commonly found in the media. Media Watch, which began in 1984, distributes educational videos, media literacy information and newsletters to help create more informed consumers of the mass media.

Wisconsin Democracy Campaign: http://www.wisdc.org/
A nonpartisan political watchdog group working for clean government and real democracy. To carry out this mission, WDC tracks the money in state politics and works for campaign finance reform, media reform and other pro-democracy reforms.

SourceWatch: http://www.sourcewatch.org/ (formerly http://www.disinfopedia.org)
A collaborative project to produce a directory of public relations firms, think tanks, industry-funded organizations and industry-friendly experts that work to influence public opinion and public policy on behalf of corporations, governments and special interests.

Awareness Alerts
Sign up for mailing lists to monitor what is going on in courts, congress, and behind the scenes in the media:

http://www.judicialwatch.org/
http://www.citizen.org/congress/
http://www.yourcongress.com
http://www.yourcongress.com/ViewArticle.asp?article_id=303
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/indiv/jour/subject/watch.html


Political Action/Advocates

Media Access Project: http://www.mediaaccess.org/
A non-profit, public interest law firm which promotes the public's First Amendment right to hear and be heard on the electronic media of today and tomorrow.

MoveOn.org: http://www.moveon.org
Working to bring ordinary people back into politics. A catalyst for a new kind of grassroots involvement, supporting busy but concerned citizens in finding their political voice.

Common Cause: http://www.commoncause.org
A movement propelled by the focused and concerted grassroots lobbying activities of Common Cause members and reinforced with professional lobbying on Capitol Hill

Communication Rights in the Information Society: http://www.crisinfo.org
A campaign to ensure that communication rights are central to the information society and to the upcoming World Summit to the Information Society.

Media Democracy Legal Project: http://www.medialegalproject.org/
A group working to use constitutional legal process to attain democratic governance of our publicly owned airwaves in accordance with the democratic ideals of our U.S. Constitution. MDLP stemmed from the work of UUs for a Just Economic Community, along with other groups.

World Association of Community Broadcasters: http://www.amarc.org/
An international non-governmental organization serving the community radio movement, with almost 3,000 members and associates in 106 countries.

Chicago Media Action: http://www.chicagomediaaction.org/
An activist group dedicated to analyzing and broadening Chicago's mainstream media and to building Chicago's independent media. Chicago Media Action monitors and analyzes media in the Chicago area in order to expose the economic and political interests which control them, and also seeks to democratically empower and organize the working-class to challenge corporate control of major media, and to create their own media.

Freepress: http://www.freepress.net/
A non-profit organization working to involve the public in media policymaking and to craft policies for a more democratic media system.

Adbusters: www.adbusters.org
A global network of artists, activists, writers, pranksters, students, educators and entrepreneurs who want to advance the new social activist movement of the information age, with an aim to topple existing power structures and forge a major shift in the way we will live in the 21st century.

Tools/Projects

· Start an LPFM station
http://www.prometheusradio.org/
A collective of radio activists. A group of people who have started a small non-profit organization committed to creating the best opportunities possible for the public in the LPFM ruling. Also serve as a microradio resource center offering legal, technical, and organizational support for the non-commercial community broadcasters.

· Give direct feedback to media providers or advertisers, via email, mail, or phone.

· Find out how your representatives stand on these issues, and contact them often: http://www.house.gov/writerep, http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

· Share your opinion with the FCC: http://www.fcc.gov/contacts.html

· Study up and converse about media issues/groups with friends and family, or even people you’re less-acquainted with.

· Gather (and circulate) a list of local alternative media, and local FCC hearings, etc. Get on an email alert list if possible, to stay abreast of the latest happenings. Buy books as presents.

· Support a local radio program, or get on one, or submit material.

· Donate time, money, or good ideas to any of the groups above.


"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." - Thomas Jefferson