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Cogjm.Vol-3 Num-6.Pdf (2.267Mb) ORWELL ROLLS IN HIS GRAVE State of – DVD REVIEW – NUMBER OF rwell Rolls in his Grave,” written and CONSECUTIVE YEARS Disunion directed by Robert Kane Pappas, is Oan independent media expose’ on that China has jailed BE THE MEDIA more reporters than any the power, process, and abuse of the mainstream NUMBER OF media. The fi lm looks at the media landscape other nation: 6 RADIO STATIONS OCTOBER 2005 VOL. 3 NO. 6 through the rubric of George Orwell’s 1984 and owned by Clear Animal Farm. PERCENT OF ASIAN Channel nationwide: Covering an impressively large breadth 1426 of political issues, “Orwell Rolls in His AMERICANS Grave” expressively demonstrates the intricate whose primary source of news is not in NUMBER OF INDY connections between the media and the powerful, MEDIA CENTERS and their effects on journalism in a democratic English: MEDIA ISSUE 25 worldwide: HIGHTOWER: ALTERNATIVE system. In example after example, the movie 135 lays out the philosophy and actions that have AMERICAN MUSIC VIDEO ROCKS PERCENT enfeebled the mainstream media. The movie PERCENT follows such issues as the Iran-Contra scandal, of Arab Americans AGITATOR INTERNET whose primary source of the voting public the 2000 elections, and the war on terror. that ʻregularlyʼ get their n October 8th, Jim Hightower was the ess than a week after Hurricane Katrina With interviews from producers of such of news is not in keynote speaker at Western Colorado hit the gulf coast, a hip hop song by English: news from Talk Radio: news outlets as ABC, CNN, and 60 Minutes, 20 OCongress’s annual meeting. Hightower, LLegendary K.O began circulating on the “Orwell Rolls in His Grave” offers up the story 40 a Texan progressive, is a force in the alternative internet. By the week’s end the song, “George you will never see on the evening news—how our NUMBER OF YEARS media world. His daily two minute radio spot, Bush Don’t Like Black People,” had been media has been abused to serve a corporate elite. NUMBER OF Hightower Radio, reaches millions of people downloaded hundreds of thousands of times. The SUSPECTS that Project Censored has published the 20 daily on a network of community radio stations. immediacy of the lyrics, which vividly describe “What you want in a media system killed or captured that His monthly political newsletter, The Hightower the chaos in New Orleans, is a re-mix of Kanye were reported by the most censored stories is an ostensible diversity of the year: Lowdown, is the most popular political newsletter West’s hit song “Gold Digger.” that conceals an actual conformity.” US media to be in country with more than 125,000 subscribers. Al-Qaedaʼs number 29 – Joseph Goebbels, Minister of Propaganda, He is also a best-selling author. The Red Pill was Five days in this motherfuckin’ attic, Nazi Germany – three man: able to sit down with Jim Hightower and ask him 4 NUMBER OF PRESS Can’t use the cell-phone I keep gettin’ static CONFERENCES a few questions about his career in alternative “ MSC A Voice of Reason will be presenting where President Bush media and the importance of alternative media in ...other day the helicopters got a free screening at the Saccomanno Lecture Hall MINIMUM NUMBER this country today. my neighbors off the roof of times the music accused a journalist of at 7:30pm on Wednesday, October 26th. There asking a Hightower was raised and went to school that was cool, cause they said will be a community discussion after the fi lm on video “George Bush in Texas, where he studied Political Science, Donʼt Like Black “trick question”: their comin’ back for us too ramifi cations and possible mediation of today’s 11 English, and Marketing. For eleven years, he rampant media problems. • People” has been worked on various political causes in Washington that was three days ago, downloaded: • D.C and New York City. During that time, he I don’t see no rescue. DOCUMENTARIES FOR CHANGE 500,000 gained valuable political experience and published ” Wednesday, October 26, 2005 • 7:30PM a number of articles. “I came to alternative Orwell Rolls In His Grave media almost out of necessity.” Hightower said. Not long after the song was released, radical Saccomanno Lecture Hall CALL TO ACTION In ’76 Hightower returned to Texas to become fi lm maker Franklin Lopez was at a BBQ talking The Red Pill is looking for volunteers: graphic designers, the editor of The Texas Observer, one of the about Katrina when a friend turned him on to writers, poets, cartoonists, artists, and photographers are pioneering papers of the modern alternative LOPEZ ON NEXT PAGE needed. Get your work published now. Help distribute media movement. The Texas Observer was founded in 1954 The Red Pill in your community, church, and school: as part of a progressive movement in Texas contact us at [email protected]. You can also do your that worked closely with unions and registering part to keep us in print by donating time, paper, fi lm, black voters. “Remember that Texas was a one- copies, and of course money (it doesn’t print itself). party state at the time, so we were battling the Democrats.” Hightower said. After two-and-a-half-years, Hightower took “the only downward career move that one can make from journalism, and ran for Agriculture Commissioner.” Hightower was Texas Ag Commissioner until 1991. The Red Pill is produced by Grand Junction Alternative Hightower Radio started in 1993 and Media, with the aim of publishing stories and ideas that continues to this day. Locally it can be heard the mainstream media won’t cover. It is distributed free, on 99.1 KVNF. His newsletter started in 1998 collects no advertising, and is completely staffed by with the help of Phillip Frazer of the Washington Specter. “There were many nay-sayers,” Hightower volunteers. All materials are copyleft, no rights are reserved. said, “but we paid back the loans in 6 months. PHOTOCOPY AND DISTRIBUTE AT WILL! HIGHTOWER ON NEXT PAGE radical fi lm maker, FRANKLIN LOPEZ [email protected] [email protected] LOPEZLOPEZ FROM LAST PAGE HIGHTOWER FROM LAST PAGE TOP TEN CENSORED STORIES OF 2004 – 2005 the song. “I picked up the The genius of newsletters is that magazines pile- phone at the party and called up and don’t get read. The Lowdown is only a friend, who’s a cable news 4 pages a month, $10 a year, it just took off. It ig business controls the large media outlets. those in need. On the other hand, our government junkie, and had him start became a movement.” On a regular basis, these multi-national initially offered a paltry sum of 15 million dollars in recording Katrina coverage,” Hightower ended the interview with some Bcorporations have their news divisions aid, and used the crisis to add more military bases Lopez said in a phone interview advice for The Red Pill. “Develop and nurture bury or ignore stories that they have interests in. in Southeastern Asia, including the reopening of with The Red Pill. A week later, the video your sense of humor; it will get you places you The American people have sensed for years that the Utapao military base in Thailand and renewed was released on the web. “I’m glad it wouldn’t get without it. And remember, the something was going wrong with our free press, but cooperation with the corrupt Indonesian military. took off. First off, the song was fantastic,” pamphleteers helped start this country, and they’ll are unsure of what exactly has been going on. This Lopez said. Since being released in mid- help save it.” • is where Project Censored comes in. The real oil-for-food scam The right-wingers September, the song has been downloaded Project Censored, out of Sonoma State made a big deal about 10 billion dollars worth 450,000 times from imovies.com alone. “We University(in California), every year, publishes a 6 of oil that had been smuggled out under the UN can’t know how many times the video has been book listing the most under reported or censored Oil for Food program. But what wasn’t in the debate downloaded. So many sites have picked it up,” stories of the year. They have been doing so for the was that the vast majority of the UN ships enforcing Franklin said. The success of the song and video past 29 years, and the list for Project Censored 2006 the embargo were American vessels. Also, that illustrates the power of alternative media. “The is as surreal as any other list they have compiled. corrupt deals between Russian and American oil American attention span is so short that it would Below are the top ten censored stories, with just a companies ensured that 80% of the smuggled oil have forgotten in a couple of weeks what went few brief comments about each of them. Go to their made it to market in the USA. down in New Orleans,” Lopez added. website, www.projectcensored.org to get the full Journalists face unprecedented dangers to Franklin Lopez’s last two short fi lms have stories, with details. You should also pick-up a copy life and livelihood This last year has been the met with a good deal of success. “Why I Love of this well documented, eye-opening book that has 7deadliest year on record for journalists with Shoplifting From Big Corporations” and “Join been on the shelves for about a month. more that 129 media workers killed. 49 of them the Resistance; Fall in Love,” are adapted from were killed in Iraq.
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