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Critical Clicks:
New and important features from the MediaChannel
network
latest entry: January 2, 2003
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Venezuela's Media
Mindshock
The TV networks run by
those determined to take down President Chavez are full of content
that's closer to public brainwashing than journalism, says this
report from Maracaibo. From The Gully Online Magazine
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Solutions For Copyright
And Free Expression
The "intellectual
property" system in the United States is broken, argues this new
report by the Free Expression Policy Project. They recommend
specific policy changes and public domain initiatives to protect
creativity, art and culture against excessive copyright
restrictions. From National Coalition Against
Censorship
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U.S. TV News Blames
Africans For Famine
The massive Southern
African famine that threatens millions is barely covered by U.S. TV
news. What's worse, warns Zeynep Toufe, is that the role of
international policies, global warning and finance systems are never
mentioned, instead African nations are blamed for the crisis. From FAIR (Fairness &
Accuracy in Reporting)
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Media Year In Review
• Danny
Schechter's year-end
News Dissector weblog.
• I Want Media's top media
stories of the year, and many more roundups
of media news, 2002.
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Artists And Activists
Face Web Eviction
Internet Service Provider
The Thing has hosted artist and activist sites for 10 years. But
after two groups used parody Websites and an electronic sit-in in
protest against powerful corporations, the host for hundreds of
sites could be shut down. A collection of articles. From Newsgrist - where spin
is art
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The Dangers Of Wildlife
Documentaries
Nature documentaries
pretend humans don't exist. So for 50 years they've covered up
environmental destruction and supported ethnic cleansing in Africa.
George Monbiot explains. From Guardian
Unlimited
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Education Is Not Enough
To Transform Media
Worldwide movements for
critical media education have increased people's understanding of
the "perils and promise" of media — but have they actually helped
citizens and communities take action? Asian media activists and
educators are confronting the limitations of critical media
education and moving beyond them with grassroots programs to
democratize and reform the media. From World Assoc. for Christian
Comm.
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Minority Ownership of
Major Media Going Extinct
Viacom's decision to cut
news programming at Black Entertainment Television (BET) is just
another example of white-owned conglomerates controlling the
channels that target people of color. Activism is needed now, argues
Jeff Chester, to demand regulations that stop media concentration
and that support the growth of independent outlets.
Plus: Minorities
Have Little Media Ownership and Even Less Control. From AlterNet/Independent
Media Institute
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Can Corporations Stop
Criticism With Copyright Law?
When Dow Chemical tried
to stop a parody Website that focused on the company's
responsibility for India's Bhopal disaster, they used the Digital
Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Corporations are arguing that any
use of their trademarks, even for criticism and satire, are
copyright violations. Also see: News Tracker-Copyright
And The Future Of Digital Media. From Index on
Censorship
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TV Ads And Fear Of
Queer
Protests convinced the
UK's advertising regulator to pull Yahoo!'s ad featuring a leering
man in a purple hat but predatory gay men and male rape are still a
common comedy theme in TV ads. Commercial Closet challenges the ad
industry to do better -- and hosts "the world's largest collection
of gay advertising." From Commercial Closet
Association
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How To Make Media That
Respect Kids
Far too often, media
treat children only as targets for toy ads or as sensationalized
victims. Journalists and producers should bookmark this excellent
Website from UNICEF featuring guidelines, best practices, cases
studies and useful resources for making media that respect and
support children. From United Nations Children's
Fund
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White Journalists Have
"Personal Backgrounds," Too
Journalist and Native
American Kara Briggs points out the logical flaws in a recently
lauded book that bashed newsroom diversity programs. She notes that
"all journalists have something in our politics, religion or
economic class that could at any day be used to unfairly slant some
aspect of the news, or could be used to report a better story."
From Robert C.
Maynard Institute for Journalism Education
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India's Online Gays:
Trapped In A High-Tech Closet?
"In a country where gay
sex is still criminal, India's Internet gays have revolutionized
homosexual life. But many gay activists wonder if Web-based chat
rooms and social clubs postpone the difficult task of coming out
publicly and politically in the nation." Sandip Roy reports for
Pacific News Service. From Globalvision News
Network
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Consumerism: Emotions,
Cultural Identity And The Body As A Brand
Brands
build emotional attachments between the purchaser and the product.
With economies now dominated by branded goods, our bodies are
increasingly defined by the products we consume. From
Although.nu
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A Handbook For Afghan
Journalists: Reporting The Future (PDF)
How will
Afghanistan's journalists represent the challenges facing their
country to themselves and the rest of the world? This excellent
online handbook provides practical guidance and exercises and
introduces many concepts and ideas new to Afghan reporters.
(Requires Acrobat
Reader) From Institute for War and Peace
Reporting
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Women And Images-Pageant
Ignites Controversy
Despite the sentencing of
Amina Lawal to death by stoning for adultery, most contestants
decided to attend this year's Miss World contest in Nigeria. The
subsequent riots and deaths over a controversial article linking
prophet Mohammed to the pageant reaffirm cultural divisions and
revive important questions concerning feminism. For more regional
coverage, visit the new preview of MediaChannel:Africa. From Common Dreams
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Fighting AIDS By Making
Media
December 1 is World AIDS
Day, designed to capture fickle media attention for the pandemic
that continues to consume millions, transforming societies
worldwide. With 40 million people currently infected, the struggle
to educate for health and advocate for resources takes form through
TV shows and posters, hip hop, Web art, radio and every possible
medium.
* MediaChannel Special Report: The Epidemic
And The Media
* MTV and OneWorld Radio team up for AIDS
radio programs you can listen to, download and rebroadcast.
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From AIDSChannel: Communicating about HIV/AIDS requires the
right message and the right medium for each culture and
community.
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Women Improve News, But
News Is Losing Women
"A new study indicates
that newspapers with more women in top-level jobs provide the type
of coverage readers say they want: local, people-centered news
coverage." But thanks to sexism in the newsroom, women in journalism
"are looking for a way out, not up."
Also see: MediaChannel Issue
Guide: Women's
Media From Women's Enews
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Communication Rights And
Civil Society
Public-interest advocates
from around the world are working to define their vision for policy,
community media, corporate media ownership and more as they prepare
for the "World Summit on the Information Society" in Geneva in 2003
and Tunis 2005. Most of the impact of UN Summits is actually in
organizing that takes place well before the big gathering so get
caught up with the issues with this edition of Media Development
Journal. From World
Assoc. for Christian Comm.
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U.S. Radio Faces The
People
• Young Activists
Hold Hip-Hop Station To Account
• Report:
Radio Deregulation Has Not Served Citizens, Musicians
• What
You Can Do About Clear Channel, The Monster That Ate
Radio
From Youth Media Council, Corp Watch, and Future of Music
Coalition via Center for
Digital Democracy.
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