Media
From dKosopedia
For an encyclopedia of the corporate media and related issues see Sourcewatch
Media is the system of producing, packaging, distributing and consuming information.
The major media are: TV, Film, Radio, Electronic, Print, Realspace (like www.meetup.com and sporting events)
See the VideoVault for a collection of timely videos.
Additionally, technology resources that help structure democracy could potentially be considered media as well:
Congress.Org has a Media Contacts page which allows you to write a letter to up to five media outlets at once. This "shotgun" approach to writing letters to the editor has a low success rate, but makes up for it in numbers.
The media is sometimes known as the "Fourth Estate", i.e. as a part of our political system in addition to the conventional make up of government. Because of its critical role in politics, an important issue is media bias because media bias can influence the way the masses vote in elections. There is concern with the Corporate media and the SCLM (so-called liberal media). Media consolidation threatens to drown out less powerful community voices, thus giving more public influence to the corporate media. Media legislation drafted by Congress and policies implemented by the Federal Communications Commission can have a profound impact in countering consolidation. Legislation and other important issues are discussed at media conferences.
We now have our own Actual Liberal Media (ALM).
The media, especially print media traditionally endorses of of the candidates before the election. These endorsements can add legitimacy to a foundering or marginalized campaign.
Links
- FreePress.net - A national, non-profit, media reform organization founded by media critic Robert McChesney (excellent author) whose mission is to promote more democratic media policy in the United States. The website allows people to sign up to receive e-mail alerts (rarely more than three a month).
- StopBigMedia.com - A coalition of organizations (including FreePress.net, which hosts its website) that have "banded together to stop the FCC from allowing a handful of giant corporations to dominate America's media system."
- MediaMatters.org - from website: "Media Matters for America is a Web-based, not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media."
- FAIR.org - from website: - from website: "FAIR, the national media watch group, has been offering well-documented criticism of media bias and censorship since 1986."
- BenBagdikian.com - website of author of The Media Monopoly and The New Media Monopoly.
- OnTheMedia.org - radio show focused on the media; produced by WNYC, a National Public Radio station
See Daily Kos diary by "Timroff" for a list of media contacts. However, Andrew McNaughton of Scoop Media Ltd claims that the list contained inappropriate contact addresses including those of sales and technical staff.