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Politics : DON'T START THE WAR -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ed Huang who wrote (2941)	1/21/2003 8:34:35 PM
From: Raymond Duray	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 25898

Re: What's nice about the article is the vivid description of how media works from an honest insider This past year a friend and I attempted to inundate the inbox of a mutual acquaintance, who happened to be the President of the American Society of Professional Journalists with a series of scintillating investigative reports from the likes of Truthout, Buzzflash, Counterpunch, Common Dreams, etc. We sent dozens of these hot leads for good investigative journalism. We got one consistent reaction. Each and every useful story we sent was disregarded. None were convenient to the powers that be. What did this journalist/whore publish in lieu of the truth? A series of sex-soaked gossip columns about a State Governor and a failed two-year old affair he'd had with a lobbyist. That is the level of whoring we've sunk to in this world. Journalism is dead, except for the rare instance of a really brave soul like Greg Palast. His latest salvo is rocking some particularly pretentious boats: gregpalast.com Greg Palast: Beat the Press Saturday, March 1, 2003 Interview by Bruce David For those of us who've long suspected that our democracy is up for sale to the highest bidder, award-winning investigative journalist Greg Palast has uncovered disturbing evidence confirming as much. Palast's exposés of the theft of the 2000 election, the financial ties between the Bush and the Bin Laden families, and how these connections kept the FBI from perhaps preventing the horrific events of 9/11 have thrown fear into the hearts of media pundits. There has been a near-complete news blackout of the explosive findings documented in Palast's book, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy. First released in England, where he reports for the BBC and The Guardian, Palast's collection of writings is finally being published in America by Penguin/Plume books with 40% new material. In (this)interview, the author discloses the truth on high crimes in high places that the mainstream media is afraid to touch.

To: Ed Huang who wrote (2941)	1/21/2003 9:17:53 PM
From: PartyTime	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25898

Ed, I noted in an earlier post that I once organized and directed a drug policy conference co-sponsored by the Harvard Medical School and the Harvard Law School. At the time, I was under the employ of the Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts. In the midst of organizing this conference I learned there was a major media event being held at Harvard, and one where the entirety of America's media heavyweights (owners, publishers, prized reporters, etc.) would be present. It was the awarding of the The Goldsmith Career Award For Excellence In Journalism, presented by the Joan Shorenstein Barone Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. 60 Minutes producer Bob Hewitt and Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward each shared this prize and were the very first recipients of the award. [NOTE: Scroll to bottom.] ksg.harvard.edu So what does this have to do with the war in Iraq? Well, my point goes to the media and who makes up the American media. I actually had attended this very gala event, hoping to drum up support and awareness for the conference I was organizing. Woodward and Hewitt got their prizes, gave speeches and we all watched the very first episode of 60 minutes. Next, came question and answer time and I was quick to my feet, becoming the second in line at the microphone. My intent was to ask a question about why the media didn't provide sufficient investigative attention to the drug war, and how it failed our society and why a harm reduction model instead of a criminal model couldn't take its place. The first questioner put things off on a lousy start as he immediately accused Woodward of being part of CIA covert operations. Ya gotta love Cambridge, folks--lol! But while I was listening to that exchange I looked very astutely at an audience which included Mrs. Edward R. Murrow, many of the faces we daily see on television news programs and, of course, the owners themselves. Below is an interesting link: cjr.org There was only one elderly black woman present, the rest of the audience was entirely white. Very, very white. Thus, I ditched my drug-related question and instead asked why everyone in the audience was white. You should have seen them all looking at each other throughout the room. They knew. By the way, I didn't get an answer to my question as it didn't go over well what with the previous CIA accusation and the moderator, Marvin Kalb, stepped in to redirect and on they went to questions that wouldn't change anything in the world at all. I left.