enarcmot

Precedent for Arresting Reporters?

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Article in The Guardian by Paul Karp, 11/126/24

Headline:  “US lawmakers urge Biden to pardon Assange to send ‘clear message’ on media freedom”

Subhea:  “Exclusive: James McGovern and Thomas Massie warn US president they are ‘deeply concerned’ the WikiLeaks founder’s plea deal sets worrying precedent”

“President Joe Biden has been urged to pardon Julian Assange by two US congressmen who warn they are ‘deeply concerned’ the WikiLeaks founder’s guilty plea deal sets a precedent for prosecuting journalists and whistleblowers with espionage offences.”

“. . . ‘ “Put simply, there is a long-standing and well-grounded concern that section 793 [of the Espionage Act], which criminalizes the obtaining, retaining, or disclosing of sensitive information, could be used against journalists and news organizations engaged in their normal activities, particularly those who cover national security topics.’ ”

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/nov/27/joe-biden-urged-to-pardon-julian-assange-congressmen-letter

Actual facts and Social Media Don’t Mix

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Alronso Bedoya in “Treasure of the Sierra Madre”

Article in The Guardian by Dan Milmo 11/26/24

Headline:  “Online influencers need ‘urgent’ fact-checking training, warns Unesco”

Subhead:  “Research shows six in 10 social media content creators do not verify accuracy of information before posting it”

“According to a report by the UN’s educational, scientific and cultural organisation, two-thirds of content creators fail to check the accuracy of their material, making them and their followers vulnerable to misinformation.

“A smartphone user’s finger hovers over icons for various social media apps Social media owners top global survey of misinformation concerns.

“Unesco said its findings, which come from a survey of influencers, underlined the need for media and literacy teaching to help shape their work.

“ ‘The low prevalence of factchecking highlights their vulnerability to misinformation, which can have far-reaching consequences for public discourse and trust in media,’ the report said.”

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/nov/26/online-influencers-need-urgent-fact-checking-training-warns-unesco

Thom Hartman Interviewed by FCM

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Spencer Graves, president of Friends of Community Media,  interviewed prominent liberal talk show host and prolific author Thom Hartman which will air on Tuesday 11/26/24 6-6:30 CST on community radio station KKFI FM 90.1 on the Radio Active public affairs show in Kansas City. . The interview is also available on Wikiversity and will be available on the Pacifica Network.

Mr. Hartman spoke in September at the Grass Roots Radio Conference in New Orleans, attended by a representative of FCM on the topic of promoting democracy on our media platforms.

He has a streaming radio show at https://www.thomhartmann.com/radio/listen-live

Information about Thom Hartman may be found on Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thom_Hartmann

To listen to the interview at 6:00 Central Time you may logon to kkfi.org.  https://kkfi.org/

 

 

 

 

 

Will Media Approach “Truth Social”?

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Jem Baertholomew, 11/25/24

Headline:  “Truth Social and Consequences”

Subhead:  “The political press gears up for an unprecedented story: the social media executive in chief.”

“. . .Trump’s post—or “re-truth,” to use the platform’s lingo—flashed a signal to journalists now entering uncharted territory, as they cover a president-elect who owns a controlling stake in a social media company. Truth Social’s parent . . .  launched its platform in 2022, after Trump’s encouragement of the Capitol insurrection prompted mainstream social media—Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc.—to kick him off. ”

“. . . How seriously journalists should take his 4am posts is another question. “When he became a candidate, it became a more important tool,” Tara Palmeri, senior political correspondent for Puck, told me. “Truth Social is going to remain relevant as long as Trump is around, as much as we might want to turn a blind eye to it,” Sarah Jones, senior writer covering politics for New York’s Intelligencer, said. “I do think it’s worth paying attention to and following

https://www.cjr.org/business_of_news/truth-social-trump-media-how-important-stocks-shares-announcements.php

Media Never Exaggerate, Right?

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Article in Daily Kos by Chitown Kev, 11/24/24

Headline:  “Abbreviated Pundit Roundup: Media Illusions”

“It’s hard to blame them: Even as the counting progressed, Trump’s victory was described as “resounding” by news organizations ranging from the Associated Press to the The Washington Post to the The New York Times to POLITICO. Others offered “commanding win,” “runaway win” and “dominant victory.”

“Say what?

“To coin a phrase, we’ve defined dominance down. After years as a 50-50 country, it seems, even a small win gets talked about like a shellacking. Wriggling into office with a puny plurality and less than half the vote in an essentially two-way race used to be considered pretty weak sauce. ”

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/11/24/2288338/-Abbreviated-Pundit-Roundup-Media-Illusions?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web

Journalists of Valor Rewarded

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CPJ photo

Article by Citizens to Protect Journalists by Staff, 11.22.24

Headline: “CPJ recognizes fearless journalists at 2024 International Press Freedom Awards”

Subhead:  “Press freedom gala, hosted by John Oliver, honors journalists from four continents”

“The 2024 awardees were all honored for their courage in reporting on their communities while experiencing war, prison, government crackdowns, and increasing efforts to criminalize their work.

This year’s awardees were: Shrouq Al Aila, a Palestinian journalist based in Gaza and director of Ain Media; Quimy de León, a Guatemalan journalist and co-founder of Prensa Comunitaria; Samira Sabou; one of Niger’s most prominent investigative journalists, and Alsu Kurmasheva, a U.S.-Russian Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) journalist and editor jailed by Russia in 2023.”

https://cpj.org/2024/11/cpj-recognizes-fearless-journalists-at-2024-international-press-freedom-awards/

 

 

Too Late to Save the Media?

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Article in Common Dreams by Thom Hartmann 11/24/24

Headline: “Will Trump’s Return Coincide With the Death of Progressive Media?”

Subhead:  “We all must support (and share with our friends) those outlets where we find useful news and information. If we fail to do so, America’s media landscape may soon mirror those of the autocratic nations the incoming president so admires.”

“Have you heard that Comcast is planning to sell MSNBC? Is Rupert Murdoch planning to buy it? Will America’s media landscape soon resemble those of Hungary and Russia?

Without the rightwing media juggernaut, Donald Trump probably wouldn’t be president next year and wouldn’t have won in 2016. That said, the progressive media landscape looks like it might be about to get a whole lot worse.

Comcast, which owns NBC and its subsidiaries CNBC and MSNBC (among other media outlets) announced this week that they’ll be spinning off MSNBC (among others) next year.

And the consequences are already showing up. It was reported this week that Rachel Maddow just took a substantial annual pay-cut because of the uncertain future of the network.”

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/progressive-media-trump

Is Banning Internet Speech “Censorship”

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Article in AP by Staff 11/24/24

Headline:  “Australia withdraws a misinformation bill after critics compare it to censorship”

Subhead:  “In Australia legislation to regulate Internet content failed.”

“The bill would have granted the Australian Communications and Media Authority power over digital platforms by approving an enforceable code of conduct or standards for social media companies if self-regulation fell short.”

“This bill would have had the effect of suppressing the free speech of everyday Australians, as platforms would have censored online content to avoid the threat of big fines,” Coleman said said in a statement.

https://apnews.com/article/australia-misinformation-bill-tech-1625518609bcc407c63c9934b6a2a848

Did Almost-Monopoly Media Select Winner

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Article in Daily Kos by Bill Addis, 11/24/24

Headline: “Sinclair Media Helped Trump Win The Election”

Subhead:  “Sinclair is a right wing media company, but different from Fox News.”

“Sinclair’s 185 stations are affiliated with Fox, NBC, ABC, CBS, MyNetworkTV, and the CW. In contrast, NBC, ABC and CBS own only 80 stations between them covering the large markets.

“Sinclair has made their stations run prepackaged video segments and had newsmen read scripts favorable to Trump. Even criticizing mainstream media as fake news, when they’re part of it. Trump has tweeted his support for watching Sinclair over CNN and NBC. Make no mistake about it. Their propaganda was a factor in the election disaster.”

Sinclair Media has had a history of butting head with other media groups like Comcast, DirectTV, Dish, Time Warner, Hulu and others over carriage fees.. . ”

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/11/24/2288390/-Sinclair-Media-Helped-Trump-Win-The-Election?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=latest_community&pm_medium=web

Bleak Media Landscape in U.S.

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Aricle in Daily Kos by Gdevo, 11/23/24

Headline:  “Why The Media Landscape in the United States is hard for Democracy”

“Is the internet & social media been good for our country or society? Our free press has always been a vulnerability, it is an opportunity for nefarious people to inject false and harmful ideas into the public domain, but the truth has mostly won by being right. The old adage ‘You can fool some of the people some of the time…’ is true until possibly today when the massive overpopulation of mis- and dis- information in conservative media may have the ability to fool most of the people most of the time.”

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/11/23/2288187/-Why-The-Media-Landscape-in-the-United-States-is-hard-for-Democracy?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web