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Wednesday, March 30
Contentious Talk Shows Really Are Hurting America
by
Trish Nelson
on Wed 30 Mar 2005 09:45 PM CST
 Contentious Talk Shows Really Are Hurting America
American Prospect
By Mary Beckman
When The Daily Show's Jon Stewart
told CNN's Crossfire hosts that their form of combative political
commentary was "hurting America," he was on to something. And when
CNN/US President Jonathan Klein agreed and canceled the show, he also
might have sensed what new research is getting at: "In-your-face"
television has the capacity to polarize viewers on political issues and
turn people off of the political process.
What
has changed in the last 50 years has been the way Americans get to know
their candidates. Voters used to gather in town squares and watch
politicians live and in person. Now citizens welcome their favorite
candidates into their homes on television. And during the last decade,
rancorous "debate" shows such as The O'Reilly Factor and Crossfire have
gained in popularity, bringing obnoxious behavior up close and
personal.
When
faced with confrontation in person, people tend to back off to preserve
their personal space. But when conflicts break out on television, the
camera zooms in. Close-ups don't allow us to step back, making the
experience somewhat unnatural. Diana Mutz, a political-science
professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and her colleagues wanted
to know what effect incivility in televised political debates had on
viewers. Their results were published this month in The American
Political Science Review and presented at last month's meeting of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, D.C.
(Click here to read the entire article)
 Help stop media bias in Iowa. Click here to receive action alerts from Rapid Response - Iowa
Monday, March 28
C-Span's Washington Journal Spans to the Right
by
Trish Nelson
on Mon 28 Mar 2005 06:21 AM CST
 Washington Journal Spans to the Right
BigMedia.org – Rocky Mountain Media Watch
by Jason Salzman
C-Span’s daily TV talk show,
Washington Journal, is a valuable alternative to the pathetically
perky, celebrity-studded network morning “news” shows. And it’s a
welcome rest stop from the morning fare of hype and drama on commercial
cable outlets, like Fox and CNN.
Still,
Washington Journal could benefit from a more diverse pool of guests.
The show’s guests are primarily Washington insiders (mainstream
journalists and government officials), while outsiders (e.g., advocacy
organizations and academics) are under-represented.
Guests
from conservative think tanks outnumber guests from progressive ones by
a margin of over three to one (48 percent from conservative think tanks
versus 13 percent from progressive think tanks).
At a
minimum, representation from the widely known right-wing think
tanks—like the American Enterprise Institute and the Heritage
Foundation—should be matched by representation from progressive think
tanks, like the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and Institute
for Policy Studies.
(click here to read the entire article)
If you would like to write C-Span's Washington Journal and let them
know that you want more balance in the views that are represented on their program, send
an E-mail to: journal@c-span.org
Help stop media bias in Iowa. Click here to receive action alerts from Rapid Response - Iowa
Saturday, March 26
Sign the Petition to Fight "Fake News"
by
Trish Nelson
on Sat 26 Mar 2005 11:45 AM CST
Sign the Petition to Fight "Fake News"
The Center for Media and Democracy
by John Stauber
The
Center for Media and Democracy and Free Press have filed a complaint
with the Federal Communications Commission urging an investigation of
the extensive airing of "fake news" by TV broadcasters who take
government and corporate Video News Release (VNR) stories and run them
unlabeled as real journalism. In just one week nearly 40,000 citizens
have signed the petition calling on the FCC, Congress and local
broadcasters to stop fake news.
The
petition seeks to strengthen and enforce laws against government
propaganda and demands "that the Bush administration stop using our tax
dollars to create fake news reports." The Center and Free Press hope to
gather a quarter million signatures and begin organizing citizens
locally to meet with stations in their community to sign agreements to
stop airing all VNRs unless they are clearly labeled and not pawned off
as news.
Revelations over the past year have finally moved this issue into
public consciousness. This is a corruption now deeply embedded in TV
media and corporate and government propaganda practices. Fake news has
been produced and aired covertly for decades, and is now a business
involving billions of dollars for broadcasters, PR firms and their
clients.
Click here to sign the petition.
Click here to read the entire article.
Click here to receive action alerts from Rapid Response - Iowa
Monday, March 21
Counterpoint Extra: Ted Remington Now Appearing Weekly on Sinclair Action
by
Trish Nelson
on Mon 21 Mar 2005 11:55 AM CST
Counterpoint Extra: Ted Remington Now Appearing Weekly on Sinclair Action
The rational counter to "The Point," "The Counterpoint"
critiques and corrects the daily editorial by Sinclair Broadcasting's corporate
vice president, Mark Hyman, that is broadcast on all Sinclair-owned television
stations across the country.
Congratulations to Ted Remington whose conscientious analysis of Sinclair Broadcasting's "The Point" by Mark Hyman can now also
be found weekly on Sinclair Action. Go Ted!
by
Iowa's Ted Remington
I'm
proud to announce that beginning this week, I am contributing a regular
"Counterpoint" essay for SinclairAction that will appear on their
website. However, I will still maintain [The Counterpoint] blog
independent of SinclairAction or any other organization.
The
Counterpoint feature that appears on SinclairAction will be a "kinder,
gentler" version of what you see [on the Counterpoint]. On a weekly
basis, I'll write a response to a chosen edition of "The Point" from
the previous week and/or comment on general trends in Mark Hyman's
rhetoric. There will be less snide asides from me and more pure fact
checking and analysis. However, the goal is the same - to provide a
balance to "The Point" and to identify and critique Hyman's
simplifications, distortions, and falsehoods.
Like
what you see [on the Counterpoint], the commentary that appears
courtesy of SinclairAction represents my individual point of view, not
the editorial voice of the organization (i.e., I'm not on the
SinclairAction payroll). However, SinclairAction is offering me an
opportunity to contribute to their ongoing efforts to monitor Sinclair
Broadcasting and keep them honest (to the extent that's possible).
I'd like
to thank the good folks at SinclairAction as well as Media Matters for
America for the encouragement and support they've provided!
Click here to view a recent segment of "The Point" where Mark Hyman defames Ted Remington.
Saturday, March 19
Why Left Talk Feels Right
by
Trish Nelson
on Sat 19 Mar 2005 08:18 AM CST
 Why Left Talk Feels Right
Democracy Radio
The talk radio industry's annual
conference this past weekend was the latest indication that Progressive
Talk is the hottest format in radio and Democracy Radio is the hottest
progressive programmer in the country.
There
are now dozens of progressive radio hosts throughout the country, and
they are eager to join up with Democracy Radio for national syndication.
The
pioneer of Progressive Talk, Democracy Radio was created in 2002 to
incubate and launch progressive radio shows nationwide. At the time, no
local station would put a "liberal" host on the air, because no one in
the industry believed that Progressive Talk would work. "The idea is a
noble one, but is doomed to fail," said the program director for the
Sean Hannity Show (Dallas Morning News, 1/5/2004).
So
Democracy Radio went out and developed the seed capital necessary to
put progressive programming on the air. It takes money to pay the
salaries and production costs needed to broadcast a daily radio show.
Democracy Radio covers those costs until a show has enough stations and
enough advertisers to sustain itself.
As the
first progressive programmer in the country, Democracy Radio has been a
stunning success. We appreciate your support and will keep you informed
about our exciting plans for the coming year.
Jennifer Yocham
Democracy Radio
Click here to receive action alerts from Rapid Response - Iowa
Friday, March 4
Your Right to Buy Supplements is at Risk!
by
Linda Thieman
on Fri 04 Mar 2005 11:05 AM CST
  
Your Right to Buy Supplements is at Risk!
Nutritional Health Alliance
Pending Bills in Congress Could Take Away Your Health Care Rights to Buy Vitamins and Herbs
Our Health Freedoms are Under Siege!
Legislators and the FDA continue their relentless assault.
Why are vitamins under siege?
Natural supplements seem to be warding off attacks from all angles
lately. Of course, the most vicious assault, threatening to revoke our
right to take safe, natural vitamins, is coming from legislators
working to impose adverse event reporting (AER) on nutritional
supplements. If these legislators succeed, you’ll need a prescription to get your daily multivitamin - because all vitamins will be regarded as drugs. Absurd? It gets even more bizarre.
Recent
media reports warning that vitamin E may have side effects have
completely dominated headlines, poisoning the mind of the public.
In truth, legitimate studies have proven that vitamin E is not only
essential for overall health, but possesses amazing cardiovascular
health-enhancing properties.
With
the recent smear campaign against vitamin E, to go along with the
ongoing AER threat against all vitamins, it appears that powerful
forces are successfully orchestrating multi-pronged attacks to prevent
Americans from taking health-enhancing supplements. Their
impending victory, and the subsequent decline of America’s health, will
funnel billions of additional dollars into the pharmaceutical and
health-care industries.
At the
heart of this maelstrom is the Federal Drug Administration (FDA), which
may ultimately have supreme power over all pharmaceutical drugs and
nutritional supplements. But do we really want the FDA controlling our
vitamins?
Dishonest FDA
What on
earth is the FDA doing? The agency’s mission statement reads, in part:
“The FDA is responsible for protecting the public health by assuring
the safety, efficacy, and security of human and veterinary drugs,
biological products...[and] our nation’s food supply...”
This is
the very same FDA that dropped the ball on at least two painkillers,
Vioxx and Celebrex, and countless other synthetic drugs. The same FDA
that banned L-tryptophan, a serotonin-producing amino acid nutritional
supplement that showed incredible promise in treating both anxiety and
depression. The same FDA regulating a food supply that has made obesity
an American epidemic. The very same FDA that is now trying to take away
your vitamins.
The FDA
mission statement continues: “The FDA is also responsible for...helping
the public get the accurate, science-based information they need to use
medicines and foods to improve their health.” So where is the FDA
statement refuting the recent media stories on vitamin E, which were
inaccurate and based on flawed scientific method? Is the FDA protecting
our health or dooming us to sickness?
We the People Demand Vitamins!
Fight back! America is about people having the power. When we see our rights as free Americans compromised, we must fight.
Write to
your U.S. Senators and your U.S. Representative today before it’s too
late! No time to write? You can still join the fight.
Visit www.NHA2004.com
and take advantage of the revolutionary new technology that enables
online visitors to rapidly and easily compose letters, e-mails and
faxes to Congress. Don’t let the FDA take away your vitamins and health
care rights! For health, freedom and liberty, join the NHA today!
The
NHA online technology for letter writing lets YOU CHOOSE between
several openings, text options, and closings. A really nifty
tool! Go here!
Wednesday, March 2
Liberal Talk Radio Growing
by
Trish Nelson
on Wed 02 Mar 2005 06:36 AM CST
 Liberal Talk Radio Growing
Detroit Free Press
(AP) The day before [George W.] Bush's [faux] inauguration, listeners tuning
in to the Detroit sports station WXDX-AM were suddenly greeted by the
sound of braying donkeys. By the time Bush was taking the oath of
office, the radio station had new call letters and a full schedule of
liberal talk shows.
Twenty-two stations owned by Clear Channel
Communications Inc. have switched to a liberal talk format in the
last year.
Those
who track broadcasting trends say there's money to be made in liberal
talk radio. Todd Webster, a consultant for Washington-based liberal
talk show producer Democracy Radio, said Clear Channel is expected to
introduce the left-leaning format on 20 more stations by the end of the
year.
"There is a tremendous appetite out there for progressive talk," he said.
(click here to read the entire story)
click here for Air America Radio
click here for Democracy Radio
Click here to receive action alerts from Rapid Response - Iowa
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