Adapted from his talk at the Independent Media Evening.

It’s not just the point that fewer and fewer corporations are owning the media — newspapers, TV and radio stations, book publishing, magazines — or that now, with the recent FCC ruling, corporations can buy up even more media than before. The point is that they are not giving us the truth and they are not allowing diversity of viewpoints. Also, it appears they are in the business of making us stupid, obsessed with entertainment, spiritually bankrupt, turning us into rabid consumers, toying with our needs and desires, deluding us into thinking that by buying their products we will become happy, rather than awakened and participating citizens.

The media conglomerates are not interested in reporting the serious urgency of the world in crisis. What they are good at is creating fear by inundating us with so much bad, sensationally horrific news that we sit back and do nothing. They do not instill inspiration and hope with the myriad solutions that are out there. They do not evoke responsibility and action; rather they incite more blame, irresponsibility, and the desire to go back to sleep. I’m not even concerned one behemoth corporation or governmental agency owned all the media as long as the democratic ideals are manifested in diverse and balanced viewpoints.

But it is not happening. To use just one example of how this is not happening: how the war in Iraq was covered. All the major networks used “sources” that were 75% military personnel, either retired or current. Only 6% of these sources were skeptical about the war, while less than 1% were affiliated with an anti-war cause. (Go to www.FAIR.org for the study.)

And where were the photos of the Iraqi casualties? None to be found except for the Al Jezeera TV networks and obscure websites. The embedded journalists reported the news like good soldiers for the Pentagon rather than being the independent seekers for truth, for reliable and balanced information in a “democratic” society.

In a piece called “Coverage of the War by US Press Called Disgusting” by Russell South in NYROB, he speaks of the new newsspeak of the embedded journalists: The exploding of Iraqi soldiers in their bunkers is called “softening up.” Slaughtered Iraqi units are being labeled as “degraded.” And the bizarre word “attrited” has been used to mean “we are slowly killing them as fast as we can.”

So, what are the solutions?

• Either you commit your time and energy (the only things we can actually own) and tackle the problems at the top by petitioning, educating, supporting bills like the one Congress is issued on June 19th, [the action was a huge rebuke to the FCC and represents a bipartisan slap at the deregulatory policies of the agency’s Republican majority and adds to the momentum behind reversing the FCC’s action. Significantly, the effort was supported by a broad bi-partisan group of Senators who include some of the most senior members of the Senate. We have rolled back the FCC rule on cross ownership for 97% of the country.], criticizing the FCC and the corporate media.

OR

• Encourage, depend upon, and support the INDEPENDENT media. As Jello Biafro so succinctly said during the anti-WTO protests in Seattle (in 1999): “Don’t Blame the Media, Become the Media.”

OR

• Do both if you have the energy and stamina!

Hopefully, with the attention now placed on how the FCC and the corporate media lobbyists have been in bed together (according to the Center for Public Integrity’s website, there were 71 behind-closed-door meetings the FCC had with members of the mainstream press, compared to only five meetings with consumer groups) ... more and more people will turn their attention to independent media.

More and more people are indeed turning to the Internet for their news. Whether it’s the BBC, www.commondreams.org, www.truthout.org, www.counterpunch.org or a plethora of websites that are dealing with the global news and analysis. And most often these websites are not simply fringe or conspiratorial websites. Often they link to mainstream articles.

Even SLO’s own local hopedanceglobal listserv keeps people abreast of global news that is not readily available on the streets. People are also turning to the satellite (Dish-TV and Direct- TV) where much independent information can be viewed (which is frequently not available on Charter Cable). There is FreeSpeechTV, WorldLinkTV, UCTV where such programs as “Democracy Now!,” “Mosaic,” “Palestinian News,” “Indy Media Reports” and many other programs are now available. It’s no longer simply the motto: “Turn off your TV” but “TURN THE DIAL.”

Some are listening to cyber radio like KPFK or KPFA or Meria Heller. Some people are campaigning to get more social justice programs on NPR affiliates.

People are using Cable via Public Access (Channel 2 in SLO and Channel 17 Cox Cable in Santa Barbara) to get their shows on the air, whether they produce and create the films themselves or, at HopeDance we simply give Public Access a 30 minute video to air twice a week (Tuesdays at 11:00 am & Wednesdays at 7:30 pm). And people can get free training to learn how to use the camera/video equipment.

“Alternative news” films/documentaries are being shown in the county that are certainly not showing at your corporate cineplex, i.e., “Afghan Massacre,” “Gaza Strip,” Amy Goodman’s speeches, “From Cuba With Love,” “Culture Jam,” anti-Globalization films, and films that focus on solutions that I mentioned above.

We recently had an Independent Media event in San Luis Obispo featuring a film called “The Myth of the Liberal Media” including such notable media critics as Ed Herman and Noam Chomsky. Over 100 people were in attendance. People are hungry for different information; call it “independent” or “alternative” but they want something that is truthful, something they trust plus having an ingredient of inspired action connected to the stories so they can do something about the various issues.

As Wes “Scoop” Nisker said more than three decades ago, “If you don’t like the news... Go out and make some of your own!”