Sunlight Seeker
Look up national or state donors or check where your Congresspeople are getting their money.
Media Campaign Tools
The Democratic Agenda
*Tips & Talking Points for Letters to Editors
Email The Media
*Email Iowa and national media, five at a time
Framing The Message
*UC Berkeley professor George Lakoff tells how conservatives use language to dominate politics
Simple Framing
*A step-by-step guide on how to frame progressive issues, by George Lakoff
DemSpeak
*Values Inventory, Message Identification and Development, Engagement & Rapport Strategies, Framing and Reframing Language, Strategic Development and Deployment of Frames, Mediaspace Injection Choreography, and Framing/Media Crossfire training of Capitol Hill Legislators, new TV spokespersons for progressives, Talk Radio callers, and Progressive Leaders
| December 2005 |
| Sun |
Mon |
Tue |
Wed |
Thu |
Fri |
Sat |
|
|
|
|
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
10
|
|
11
|
12
|
13
|
14
|
15
|
16
|
17
|
|
18
|
19
|
20
|
21
|
22
|
23
|
24
|
|
25
|
26
|
27
|
28
|
29
|
30
|
31
|
pablate - Mon 01 Sep 2008 02:15 AM CDT
Connie Wilson - Sat 23 Aug 2008 06:31 PM CDT
altheakims - Tue 19 Aug 2008 04:28 AM CDT
Richard - Sun 17 Aug 2008 06:57 PM CDT
sspl05 - Sat 02 Aug 2008 07:21 AM CDT
|
Monday, December 26
This Week in Media
by
Arron Wings
on Mon 26 Dec 2005 11:20 AM CST
 This Week in Media
The
biggest news this week was all but ignored by the media. The
grassroots group Iowans for Better Local TV filed a formal Petition to
Deny with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), challenging the
renewal of a broadcast license to KGAN Channel 2 in Cedar Rapids, a
station owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group. The petition is
available online and the supporting affidavits and exhibits (close to
400 pages) will soon be available for reading at the Iowa City Public
Library.
Free Press was also active this week, filing a Formal Complaint with the FCC protesting “payola punditry.”
The
Senate confirmed two members to the FCC, Michael Copps (returning) and
Deborah Tate (new), on Wednesday. The confirmations fill four of
the five seats with a nomination for the fifth expected early next year.
A great editorial by Marie Cocco details the terrible track record of the press in 2005.
“This has been an annus horribilis for the American press.
Other
years have produced more spectacular scandals — the serial fabrications
of former New York Times reporter Jayson Blair come to mind. But
nothing resembles the depressing mixture of press failure,
brass-knuckled administration enforcement of secrecy, and blatant,
taxpayer-funded promotion of government propaganda we suffer now.
Add to
this the corporate slashing of newsroom budgets that decimates staffs
and diminishes what the remaining, overworked journalists can produce,
and you have a poisonous stew.”
Click here to read the entire editorial.
And Free Press Minutes Media Minutes are here.
Please
consider becoming more active in Media Reform as one of your
resolutions for the New Year. Sign up to be an Free Press
E-Activist here or join Iowans for Better Local TV by sending an email
to feedback@IBLTV.ORG.
Thursday, December 22
Group Delivers Petition To Deny the Broadcast License of KGAN Channel 2
by
Trish Nelson
on Thu 22 Dec 2005 04:00 AM CST
 Group Delivers Petition To Deny the Broadcast License of KGAN Channel 2
Iowans for Better Local Television to hold broadcaster to a higher standard of service
Iowans
for Better Local Television (IBLTV) are gathering at the offices of
KGAN-TV to deliver a copy of their Petition to Deny the License Renewal
to Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The petition requests that
KGAN-TV Channel 2’s application for license renewal not be granted
until a public hearing is held to ascertain whether the broadcaster has
met the “statutory public interest” standard.
Television
station licenses are granted by the FCC for an eight year term. The
deadline for Iowa television stations to apply for license renewal was
October 1, 2005. The public has until December 30, 2005 to file
petitions to deny these renewals, or informal comments to the
FCC. Thus, it will be another eight years before citizens have a
chance to examine the performance of their local stations. According to
IBLTV Co-Chair Trish Nelson, KGAN and its corporate owner, Sinclair
Broadcast Group, have failed to meet the FCC’s programming and
management standards required of all television license holders.
The
petition states that KGAN owner, Sinclair Broadcast Group, appears to
have lied to the FCC, violates the FCC’s ownership rules, has a
technically inadequate signal, fails to meet standards for children’s
programming and does not do an adequate job of reporting local issues.
“Filing
a license challenge against a broadcaster is an enormous effort,”
Nelson said. “We’ve met to work on the petition twice a month for the
past year; we’ve visited KGAN nearly a dozen times; we’ve recorded,
watched and analyzed hundreds of hours of KGAN programming; we’ve read
hundreds of public comments; many of us have even taken vacation time
from our jobs to complete the project by the FCC’s deadline.”
In the
coming months the FCC will review IBLTV’s license challenge and report
back its findings to the group. “If the FCC is ever going to deny a
television station license renewal, this is the case,” IBLTV member
Arron Wing said. “Sinclair, honored by Business Week as one of the
worst managed companies in the country, manages to increase profits,
while its revenues decrease, by engaging in joint operating agreements,
cutting staff, and totally ignoring its statutory and moral obligations
to the community. If the FCC won’t deny a license renewal for one of
the worst television stations, and worst broadcasting companies in the
United States, perhaps there ought to be a congressional hearing on the
FCC’s performance as well.”
Iowans for Better Local TV -
IBLTV.Org
Thank you, Iowa!
10 more signatures needed
to reach 500 by Thursday noon!!
Click here: There is still time to
sign
our petition to the
FCC
Wednesday, December 21
Raising the Issue of Impeachment
by
Caroline Vernon
on Wed 21 Dec 2005 05:14 PM CST
 Raising the Issue
of Impeachment
By John Nichols
thenation.com
All I can say is, it's about time
someone on the Hill demands accountability from the crooks who have
hi-jacked our country! Thank you John Conyers! I can't believe the
Downing Street Memo wasn't enough to reveal their nefarious intentions
early on... to top that, it's now completely obvious (to me) that Bush,
Rove, Cheney and Libby all had a hand in the outing of the CIA
operative, Valerie Plame. When will it end?. The corporate media is
just as culpable for letting them get away with anything and
everything.
At a time when we are seeing an
attack on our civil liberties like never before and cuts are being made
to social programs who help the most vulnerable in our society, I find
it ironic that the radical right has been so concerned with keeping
"under God" in the pledge of allegiance and yet they conveniently
ignore the last sentence; "with liberty and justice for all." What an
oxymoran... Even Orwell would be amazed!
As
President Bush and his aides scramble to explain new revelations
regarding Bush's authorization of spying on the international telephone
calls and emails of Americans, the ranking Democrat on the House
Judiciary Committee, has begun a process that could lead to the
censure, and perhaps the impeachment, of the president and vice
president.
U.S.
Representative John Conyers, the Michigan Democrat who was a critical
player in the Watergate and Iran-Contra investigations into
presidential wrongdoing, has introduced a package of resolutions that
would censure President Bush and Vice President Cheney and create a
select committee to investigate the Administration's possible crimes
and make recommendations regarding grounds for impeachment.
The
Conyers resolutions add a significant new twist to the debate about how
to hold the administration to account. Members of Congress have become
increasingly aggressive in the criticism of the White House, with U.S.
Senator Robert Byrd, D-West Virginia, saiying Monday, "Americans have
been stunned at the recent news of the abuses of power by an
overzealous President. It has become apparent that this Administration
has engaged in a consistent and unrelenting pattern of abuse against
our Country's law-abiding citizens, and against our Constitution." Even
Republicans, including Senate Judiciary Committee chair Arlen Specter,
R-Pennsylvania, are talking for the first time about mounting
potentially serious investigations into abuses of power by the
president.
But
Conyers is seeking to do much more than schedule a committee hearing,
or even launch a formal inquiry. He is proposing that the Congress use
all of the powers that are available to it to hold the president and
vice president to account – up to and including the power to impeach
the holders of the nation's most powerful positions and to remove them
from office.
The
first of the three resolutions introduced by Conyers, H.Res.635, asks
that the Congress establish a select committee to investigate whether
members of the administration made moves to invade Iraq before
receiving congressional authorization, manipulated pre-war
intelligence, encouraged the use of torture in Iraq and elsewhere, and
used their positions to retaliate against critics of the war.
The select committee would be asked to make recommendations regarding grounds for possible impeachment of Bush and Cheney.
To read the rest of the article, click here:
Thursday, December 15
SLAUGHTERHOUSE BLUES
by
Molly Regan
on Thu 15 Dec 2005 01:13 PM CST
SLAUGHTERHOUSE BLUES
ON MONDAY, DECEMBER 5TH, I READ THE FOLLOWING TO THE EAST MOLINE,
IL, CITY COUNCIL, MAYOR AND NEARLY 400 OTHERS IN A CROWDED HIGH
SCHOOL AUDITORIUM. WE HAD GATHERED TO VOICE OUR OPINIONS ON A PROPOSED HOG SLAUGHTERHOUSE IN THE EAST MOLINE CITY LIMITS:
LOCATING A HOG SLAUGHTERHOUSE ON A FLOOD PLAIN IS UNCONSCIONABLE. THE
REASONS WHY SHOULD BE OBVIOUS… A FIFTH-GRADER COULD FIGURE IT OUT.
A SLAUGHTERHOUSE IS ONE OF THE WORST TYPES OF INDUSTRIES TO COME TO A
COMMUNITY. THE AIR AROUND A HOG SLAUGHTERHOUSE AND AROUND THE HOG
CONFINEMENTS THAT WILL BE BUILT TO SUPPLY THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE IS
TOXIFIED WITH DEADLY HYDROGEN SULFIDE AND AMMONIA. ACCORDING TO
DR. KAY KILBURN OF THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IN HIS BOOK
“CHEMICAL BRAIN INJURY,” HYDROGEN SULFIDE FROM HOG WASTE KILLS.
PROLONGED EXPOSURE TO IT CAN CAUSE CONVULSIONS, SEIZURES, AND
DEATH. DR. KILBURN IS “THE NATION’S FOREMOST AUTHORITY ON
HYDROGEN SULFIDE AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE HUMAN BODY.” THIS PER A
SEGMENT ON IOWA PUBLIC TV’S ‘MARKET TO MARKET’ WHICH AIRED IN JANUARY,
2003.
HOG CONFINEMENTS WILL INCREASE DRAMATICALLY IN WESTERN ILLINOIS AND
EASTERN IOWA TO ACCOMMODATE THE DEMAND FOR NEARLY 16,000 PIGS A
DAY. THE NEED FOR PIGS TO BE DELIVERED ALIVE IS CRUCIAL TO A
SLAUGHTERHOUSE’S SURVIVAL.
TRUCKING PIGS FROM ONLY ABOUT 50-80 MILES AWAY MEANS MORE WILL LIKELY
LIVE DURING TRANSPORT. SO THE HOG CONFINEMENTS NEED TO BE CLOSE
BY. THE RESULTING EXPLOSION OF HOG CONFINEMENTS IS A BAD IDEA.
ASTHMA RATES FOR CHILDREN ARE WORSE FOR THOSE LIVING CLOSE TO THESE
SITES BECAUSE ANTIBIOTICS ARE USED ON MANY HOGS IN CONFINEMENTS.
A REPORT BY DR. JAMES MERCHANT OF THE COLLEGE OF RURAL HEALTH AND
ENVIRONMENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA SUBSTANTIATES THIS.
THE STRESS THE HOGS ENDURE, AND THE SMELL OF THEIR OWN STENCH FROM
LIVING IN CLOSE QUARTERS, CAUSE THEM TO BECOME ILL. THIS IS ONE OF THE
REASONS ANTIBIOTICS ARE NEEDED.
IT IS MY SUGGESTION THAT THIS ISSUE BE TABLED UNTIL SUCH TIME THE
COUNCIL VISITS A MIDWEST HOG SLAUGHTERHOUSE. HAVE ANY OF YOU BEEN
TO ONE OR EVEN TO A HOG CONFINEMENT? IF ALL OF YOU HAVE NOT DONE
THIS, HOW CAN YOU VOTE ON THIS?
TAKE TIME TO DETERMINE FIRSTHAND THE IMPACT ON A COMMUNITY THAT HAS
EXPERIENCED ONE OF THESE. THE SAFETY ISSUES SHOULD ALSO BE OF
GRAVE CONCERN. THIS TYPE OF FACTORY INDUSTRY HAS AN ATROCIOUS
RECORD OF PERMANENT INJURY AND DEATH.
SOME LOCAL WORKERS MAY WANT TO INITIALLY BE EMPLOYED AT A HOG
SLAUGHTERHOUSE, BUT USUALLY ONLY STAY A YEAR OR SO. THIS
INFORMATION IS PROVIDED BY THE GLOBAL RESEARCH ACTION CENTER FOR THE
ENVIRONMENT OR G.R.A.C.E
OFTEN IMMIGRANT AND OR MIGRANT WORKERS ARE DRIVEN TO THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE
TO WORK, AND ARE NOT AWARE THAT THEY CAN SPEAK OUT IF SAFETY IS A
CONCERN. MANY OF THESE WORKERS LIVE IN HOUSES OWNED BY “THE
COMPANY”. OUT OF THEIR WAGES COMES MONEY TO PAY FOR THEIR ‘RENT’
AND FOR THEM BEING DRIVEN TO WORK. ALSO PAYMENT FOR THEIR MEALS AT THE
SLAUGHTERHOUSE IS AUTOMATICALLY DEDUCTED.
IN ONE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, WHEN A FIRE BROKE, 25 PEOPLE DIED BECAUSE THEY
HAD ALL BEEN LOCKED IN DURING WORKING HOURS. DOES THIS SOUND LIKE
A SAFE INDUSTRY?
SO PLEASE VOTE NOT TO BRING THIS DANGEROUS FACTORY TO THE AREA. BRING
INSTEAD A MORE BENEVOLENT BUSINESS: TRY TO ATTRACT A FLAG MAKING
COMPANY, OR A WIND GENERATOR MANUFACTURER, OR A COMPOSTING COMPANY THAT
MAKES INSULATION BRICKS. HUNDREDS OF OTHER TYPES OF BUSINESSES
SHOULD BE CONSIDERED.
THE WASTE ALONE FROM THE HOG CONFINEMENTS THAT MUST SUPPORT THIS
SLAUGHTERHOUSE IS MUCH MORE THAN OUR LAND CAN SUPPORT. THE WATER
IN THE AREA WILL NOT BE FIT FOR USE, AND TOURISM WILL SUFFER AS A
RESULT.
THOSE ATTENDING THE JOHN DEERE CLASSIC WILL SMELL HYDROGEN SULFIDE AND
AMMONIA INSTEAD OF NEWLY MOWED GRASS. THESE SMELLS CARRY. THE DAY
BEFORE THANKSGIVING WHEN THE 40MPH WINDS WERE FROM THE NORTH, THE SMELL
OF MANURE WAS PICKED UP IN THE MIDDLE OF MOLINE.
THE BIX WILL BE MORE SMELLY THAN SWEATY. EVEN THE FAIRS AND
OUTDOOR MUSICAL EVENTS WILL BE EFFECTED. A FEW DAYS OF STAGNANT
AIR IN WHICH THERE IS NO AIR MOVEMENT SUCH AS HAPPENED FOR 3 DAYS LAST
FEBRUARY WILL KEEP THE SMELLS FROM MOVING OUT OF THE AREA. THE
AIR QUALITY INDEX WILL BE EXTREMELY HIGH FOR THOSE WITH RESPIRATORY
PROBLEMS.
THE COST TO THE COMMUNITY IN INCREASED PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS 5, 20, 50 YEARS FROM NOW WILL NOT BE WORTH IT.
THERE IS A BULLY IN THE ROOM. IT IS CALLED TRIUMPH. IT IS TIME TO STAND UP TO IT.
VOTE NOT TO APPROVE THIS REQUEST. THANK YOU
.....THEN AFTER MOST OF THE PUBLIC COMMENT TIME, TRIUMPH FOODS
CAME INTO THE ROOM. ITS GOLDEN BOY CHOSEN TO SPEAK WAS CHIEF
EXECUTIVE OFFICER, RICK HOFFMAN. NOT ONLY WAS IT ODD THAT THE
COMPANY OFFICIALS WEREN'T IN THE ROOM FOR MANY OPINIONS ON THEM COMING
TO TOWN, BUT THEY CAME FROM BEHIND A CURTAIN!
MR. HOFFMAN SPENT TIME TELLING US HOW MANY WONDERFUL JOBS THEY WOULD
BRING. BUT THIS COMPANY HAS NO TRACK RECORD. IT WAS CREATED
IN 2003 BY A CONSORTIUM OF PORK PRODUCERS WHICH INCLUDES CHRISTIANSEN
COMPANY. THE ONLY OTHER PLANT THEY'VE BUILT IN ST. JOSEPH, MO.,.
HAS HAD THEIR OPENING DELAYED BECAUSE THERE WAS A FIRE. ONE WORKER
DIED AND 14 WERE INJURED.
SO MANY QUESTIONS ARE LEFT UNANSWERED. THE BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
DISCUSSIONS HAVE GONE ON FOR MONTHS. ONLY THE WEEK AFTER
THANKSGIVING DID THE CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS RECEIVE THE PROPOSED REDEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT.
IT JUST SO HAPPENED THE TWO SPEAKERS FROM GRACE (GLOBAL RESEARCH ACTION
CENTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT) HAD BEEN SLATED FOR OVER 6 WEEKS TO COME TO
THE AREA DECEMBER 3RD.
SO, NOW ONE OF THE COUNCIL MEMBERS OF SILVIS (NEXT TO EAST MOLINE) WANTS
TWO PUBLIC MEETINGS THIS COMING WEEK. THE EAST MOLINE COUNCIL
WILL VOTE AGAIN MONDAY, DECEMBER 19TH WHETHER OR NOT TO RECOMMEND TO
PROCEED WITH THE PROPOSED AGREEMENT.
SO, TIME WILL TELL. THERE ARE ALSO PERMITS WHICH WOULD HAVE TO BE SCRUTINIZED.
ONCE AGAIN, CORPORATE AMERICA TRIES TO PUT A STRANGLEHOLD ON A COMMUNITY. IT AIN'T OVER, TILL IT'S OVER.
TO CHECK ON THE GRACE FACTORY FARM PROJECT, GO TO WWW.FACTORYFARM.ORG
ALSO, VIEW IOWA FARMERS UNION WWW.IAFU.ORG BECAUSE THEY HAVE
ASKED FOR A MORATORIUM ON CAFO'S (CONCENTRATED ANIMAL FEEDING
OPERATIONS)
AND DON'T FORGET...CPR...CONSERVE/PARTICIPATE/RECYCLE
Wednesday, December 14
The Nuclear Truth and the Party of Arrogance
by
Caroline Vernon
on Wed 14 Dec 2005 05:12 PM CST
 The Nuclear Truth and The Party of Arrogance
by Anthony Wade
http://www.opednews.com
In
these most precarious times, it seems to me that it's about time that
our leadership rises to the challenges that are before us all, and
FIGHT for the principles
that we hold dear. So what if we lose the battle from time to time...
it is far greater to have tried and failed than to have never tried at
all. Fear in and of itself is paralyzing. I say, get over it and get on
with it. It's time to fight the good fight and that means never
compromising on principle. It's time for our leadership to stand up and
be counted! We're waiting...
The bible says that the truth will set you free. While that truth is the Word
of God, in general this rule applies everywhere. The problem is that most people
are afraid of the truth or have a problem identifying it in an age where media
is bought and sold and the truth is massaged and packaged to be sold to you by
people who don’t believe what they are saying to you, as they say it.
Awhile back the Democrats seemed to find their moxie by threatening to
finally pretend they had rights too and were poised to block several judicial
nominees appointed by the Bush administration. One of these justices who
eventually would be confirmed had an Appeals Court record of 177-0 in siding
with corporations versus human beings. Nonetheless, before the spinal
transfusion was complete, the Democrats caved in to a horrendous deal to prevent
what had been dubbed the “nuclear option.” This option consists of the
Republicans doing away with the Senate tradition of the filibuster. The truth is
that the offer delaying the so called "nuclear option" was disingenuous from the
beginning. The Senators involved knew very well that any future filibuster
directed at any significant nominee would result in the nuclear option threat
being renewed instantaneously, as we now see with Samuel Alito.
The truth is the Democrats sold their party and constituents out when they
cut this deal and now are faced with the exact scenario they had back then, only
with more judges already confirmed who will undermine individual rights and
freedoms to the benefit of corporate America. The truth is though that they can
stem the tide now again if they can just find the spine they lost five years
ago. The solution is the same as it was the first time:
Let them go nuclear.
That is right; the truth is that it is at best and empty threat and at worst
the stupidest move the Republican Party could possibly make. Here is why. The
level of distrust for the GOP is at an all time high while the overall
dissatisfaction with the Republican Party is at an all time low, under 40%.
America is finally catching on that while corruption and problems may exist in
both parties, only one is in control. The Republicans tried to say the Democrats
are obstructionists, but people realize that they have no real power to stop
anything except by way of the filibuster they have yet to exercise. No, the
smoke and mirrors that has been the Republican Party is no longer blinding
Americans. The truth has finally started to penetrate the American flag they
wrapped themselves in.
It is not just Bush and the failed war. It is not just that we have to deal
with an administration that falsifies casualty rates and uses propaganda to
further its ends in Iraq. It is not just that the Vice President who received
five deferments when it was his turn to fight for this country telling John
McCain he is wrong on torture. It is not just the absurd notion that the economy
is somehow improving while the poverty rate increases and health care is
inaccessible to most. It is not just that Bush believes that the governing
document this nation was founded on is just a “g*dammed piece of paper. It is
not just that New Orleans has been abandoned and left to die as a city. It is
the complete and unbridled arrogance that this party governs with.
It is the arrogance that thinks you can accept millions in bribes including a
yacht and a Rolls Royce to hand out government contracts loaded with YOUR money.
It is arrogance that thinks we cannot see Bill Frist is lying when he says he
can not recall how much stock he owned now that he is under investigation for
insider trading. It is arrogance that thinks we will believe the morally
bankrupt Tom Delay, three-times sanctioned by his own party, when he says he is
a victim because he is now under indictment. It is arrogance that thinks we will
believe that organized torture is acceptable and that only a handful of bad
apples are responsible for it. It is arrogance that thinks nothing of putting a
political crony in a life saving position such as head of FEMA and then tell him
in front of the nation that he is doing a “heck of a job” as chaos reigns. That
is not loyalty; it is stupidity in its grandest terms. It is the arrogance that
comes from absolute power.
The truth is that America is starting to catch on and the Republican Party is
starting to worry seriously about the mid-term elections. They are starting to
realize that their fearless leader may not have to run again, but they do. So,
go ahead, go nuclear. Sure Alito will get in, but after that the GOP is going
down for the count. America does not like the arrogant bullies they have become.
They do not approve of the recess appointment of John Bolton. They do not like
walking away from the Geneva Conventions and are concerned about how it may
affect our soldiers. They do not like the fact that we have become the arrogant
bullies of the world. Over 60% of this country finally sees what has happened to
their once proud nation. They sure as hell are not going to like the party of
arrogance doing away with a constitutional mainstay for over 200 years in the
filibuster, the one measure that prevents absolute power from running amok
absolutely. They will certainly remember in 2006 and when the GOP loses control
of one or both houses and no longer has the filibuster to fall back on, they
will understand the enormity of their error.
They will learn that arrogance eventually was their undoing. Arrogance leads
to misunderestimation, which leads to stupidity. You start to think no one will
catch you, or catch on. You start thinking no one will notice when you are
driving your Rolls Royce to your yacht. You start thinking no one will notice
that you are not counting all the casualties. You start thinking no one will
remember that you scrapped 200 years of senate tradition for your own selfish
ends. In the end the truth is all that will set you free and arrogance will only
breed ignorance. Unless they drop this foolish nuclear notion, the Republican
Party one day will be left with that legacy of arrogance, on the outside looking
in at the results of their own stupidity.
Tuesday, December 6
Growing Opposition Frowns on Wal-Mart
by
Caroline Vernon
on Tue 06 Dec 2005 04:00 AM CST
 Growing Opposition Frowns on Wal-Mart
by Stephanie Armour, USA Today
The following article is in yesterday's issue of USA Today and includes a couple comments from yours truly, Caroline Vernon.
When you finish reading this article, "Guess Who's Not Shopping at Wal-Mart This Christmas?"... Guess right and qualify to win! Get clues and details at: wakeupwalmart.com.
WASHINGTON - In a nondescript office blocks from the White House, Paul Blank chats with staffers near the start of another 12-hour workday. The beige walls are plastered with hand-lettered, cardboard signs bearing slogans "Always High Costs. Always" and "Buffy the Wal-Mart Slayer."
The Ragin' Grannies sing their protests against Wal-Mart at a Tucson store on Nov. 13.
By Wal-Mart Watch
Despite his 80-hour workweeks, Blank settles into a chair looking energized.
This is more than a job to him, he explains. It's a crusade.
Blank is the campaign manager for the labor-union-backed
WakeUpWalMart.com. Behind the scenes at the headquarters office, staffers work at a dizzying pace. Their goal: to reform Wal-Mart, the biggest retailer in the world.
"There is a drumbeat every day that's building," says Blank, who previously worked as political director for Howard Dean's presidential campaign. "The question of whether Wal-Mart is good for America is being pushed to the forefront of a national debate."
As the holiday shopping season goes into full swing, Wal-Mart is facing the most formidable opposition to a retailer since the 1930s, when a campaign was waged against Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea (better known as A&P), which subsequently lost its domination of the retail market.
more »
Monday, December 5
This Week in Media - Free Press Campaign
by
Arron Wings
on Mon 05 Dec 2005 11:00 AM CST
This Week in Media
Free Press.net
Free Press Campaign
America’s
leadership is waging a war against the journalistic standards and
practices that underpin not only a free press but our democracy. The
Fourth Estate is withering under an unprecedented White House assault
designed to intimidate, smear and discredit investigative journalism —
and allow the president and his political cronies to lie with impunity.
If left unchecked, this and future administrations will continue to:
* manipulate the media "message" by producing propaganda, putting
journalists on the government payroll and tightly scripting all public
events;
* dismiss all dissenting views in the media as biased and politically motivated;
* undermine public trust in journalism using the right-wing “echo
chamber” to sow hostility toward reporters who challenge the official
line; and
* eliminate access to information making it nearly impossible for
journalists to investigate vast swathes of the federal government.
(click here to read the entire article)
Listen to this week's Media Minutes
Help keep Iowa's press free and independent
|
DFIA Events Calendar
Add Your Event Here
|
