Guess what…it turns out that Americans aren’t stupid after all. Well, some of us knew that already, but just recently it’s become harder and harder to believe it and our own media in the UK isn’t exactly going out of its way to help matters. Anyway, I’ve been listening to a lot of material recently that contrasts the Corporate Media in the USA with the independent alternative(s). All fascinating stuff and the fact that we never hear from the indies on the BBC is possibly as revealing about our own mainstream media as it is about the shit that is served up to Joe & Josie Public in the States on a daily basis.
Amy Goodman is a name that crops up a lot and this film is a good introduction to both her and the debate about the US corporate media. It’s about 30 minutes long, but it’s well worth watching and it might be the first step towards restoring your faith in Americans. here’s the blurb:
Part scathing critique, part call to action, “Independent Media In A Time Of War” is a hard-hitting new documentary by the Hudson Mohawk Independent Media Center (www.hm.indymedia.org). This film is composed of a speech given by Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now! illustrated by clips of mainstream media juxtaposed with rare footage from independent reporters in Iraq. The documentary argues that dialogue is vital to a healthy democracy. “Independent media has a crucial responsibility to go to where the silence is,” says Amy Goodman, “to represent the diverse voices of people engaged in dissent.” She makes a compelling argument that the commercial news media have failed to represent the “true face of war.”
I’d never heard of the freakshow that is Bill O’Reilly until I sat, open-mouthed one evening a few months back in front of the documentary film Outfoxed about the Fox News network. Then just this evening I found out about Phil Donahue’s sacking via another YouTube clip where Amy Goodman (from Democracy Now!) has a go at some MSNBC anchor about Donahue’s sacking, over his anti-war stance etc. Old news in the States I’m sure, but I’d not picked up on it at the time being all the way over here across The Pond. ANYWAY, Donahue eventually ends up on O’Reilly’s show on Fox and gives as good as he gets. After watching Outfoxed and seeing O’Reilly bully his way through a load of interviews it’s really great to see him being given a pasting by Donahue.
If, like me, you’re an old git who’s maybe a little out of touch with the hardcore scene around the world, but you want to find out what Da Kidz are flipping over, what’s worth buying/downloading/stealing/copying/name-dropping etc. you’d do a whole lot worse than popping over to Daniel Lupton’s excellent website, Dead Metaphor, for your short cut to the inside track. Daniel used to run the influential Deep Fry Bonanza webzine, but ditched it when it started taking over his life and he realized he was reviewing stuff he didn’t care about anymore. Dead Metaphor is smaller scale, but always has some good writing and music to listen to.
[Disclosure] I like Daniel’s output and think he’s an amazing person almost entirely for two reasons:
He turned me onto Tear It Up.
He really liked the K-Line album
….hey, no-one said I wasn’t vain J
So, if you’ve got some time, go to punk school and see who’s hot in 2007.
