Events

Current Activites of FCM and in the past

An Obsession With the News

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Thanks to Fred Whitehead for this. Anybody else waiting for That Headline?

My obsession with the news can be explained by this old Russian joke (which is another way to describe Trump too).

“A man in Moscow goes up to a newsstand and buys a newspaper…He then glances at the front page, then turns aside and tosses the whole newspaper straight into the trash.Next day, he turns up, and does the same thing. Buys it, glances at the front page, throws it in the trash. Next day, same thing.

The newsstand worker is increasingly puzzled, but doesn’t say anything. But eventually, after a couple of weeks of this, he can’t take it. “I’m sorry, friend, but I must ask: why do you buy the paper every day and then just look at the front page and throw it out?”

“Oh, I’m just checking for something.”

“OK, but: what are you checking for?”

“I’m checking for a particular obituary.”

“But sir, you don’t even open the newspaper! The obituaries aren’t even on the front page!”

“Oh, believe me, the one I’m waiting for will be.”

Major Media Company Get Sued for Lying

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An article in the 8/13/22 New York Times by Jeremy Peters in the Business Media section about the Dominion voting machines lawsuit. This could have major implications for what the First Amendment really means in the age of phony claims by the media.

“The case threatens a huge financial and reputational blow to Fox, by far the most powerful conservative media company in the country. But legal scholars say it also has the potential to deliver a powerful verdict on the kind of pervasive and pernicious falsehoods — and the people who spread them — that are undermining the country’s faith in democracy.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/13/business/media/fox-dominion-lawsuit-first-amendment.html

Maga-dog turning on maga-dog? Media mogul biting the hand that fed it?

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In the Caribbean, a maga-dog is a creature that attacks: “What is Maga Dog? 1. Jamaican word for mongrel dog 2. someone who bites the hand that feeds them, from meagre (skinny) dog sorry fi Maga Dog im a go turn around and bite you an’ if you jump out out a frying pan i know you jump inna fire”

Rupert is turning and biting!

From CNN Business – WSJ and NY Post now flipping on Trump!

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/23/media/murdoch-trump-jan-6-new-york-post-wall-street-journal/index.html

Raising Money for Local Journalism

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Friends of Community Media (FCM) will host a bingo fundraiser for a local journalism project at Hamburger Mary’s.  This will support news and public affairs on community radio station KKFI in Kansas City. The event will be held from 4-6 PM on Saturday, 7/2 at Hamburger Mary’s in Midtown Kansas City, MO at 3700 Broadway Blvd.   Lotsa prizes and fun.

Public service announcements will air on KKFI soon:

Saturday, 7/2 4-6 PM, Friends of Community Media (FCM) hosts
a bingo night at Hamburger Mary’s, 3700 Broadway with drag
queens, prizes, and fun to raise money for a local journalism project.
For more information, go to ourfcm.org or “o u r f c m d o t org”. This
message is a public service of KKFI.

Information is available on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/events/421768479958070?ref=newsfeed

Citizens and the Media

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                               Contact:  Tom Crane (816) 561-6288                                                                                                                                       

Kansas City, 5/19/22 – Friends of Community Media (FCM) invites you to participate to learn how to organize a grassroots campaign to improve local news.  

Spencer Graves, president of FCM will make a presentation May 22 (Sunday), at 10 AM at an All Souls
Forum on the “Social Construction of Crime and what we can do about it.”  Media have played an important
role in our perception of crime coverage.  

To attend the free session via Zoom, people may log in to the UU Forum at:
https://allsoulskc.org/allsoulsweekly/uu-forum-weekly/

Graves points out that major media everywhere shape our understanding of everything including crime.  He said, “In the early 1800s the US had more newspapers per capita than any other place or time.  Today we face major problems with political polarization and lack of acess to local media”.  He describes research and recommendations by Robert McChesney for improving this situation.

He said, “The inspiration for what we can do about this situation, can follow the success of http://freepress.net
that got the New Jersey legislature to create and fund the ‘New Jersey Civic Information Consortium’.  To accomplish this, the get the legislature to approve the consortium, town hall listening sessions were held in every county in New Jersey.”

Mr. Graves advocates that we duplicate those efforts here in Missouri.

Information of Friends of Community Media may be found at https://ourfcm.org

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