Saturday, March 13, 2010

I Applaud Their Effort, But I Fear it is Too Late


Click here for link to audio file of this week's show.


Media Reform has been been a main theme of Tell Somebody from day one. Corporate influence has been tainting media much as it has been tainting political campaigns for a long time already, and the recent Citizens United v FEC decision promises to dramatically increase the effect, even as politicians and journalists alike claim immunity to the disease which obviously infects them. With a sputtering economy, even community radio stations are tempted to sell themselves cheap for crumbs.


On the February 16, 2010 edition of Tell Somebody, I spoke to Professor Robert McChesney about the new book he co-authored with John Nichols, The Death and Life of American Journalism - The Media Revolution That Will Begin the World Again. On February 26th, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges wrote a review of the book where he mostly seemed to agree with the McChesney-Nichols diagnosis of the problems with journalism, but ridiculed their recommended fix that includes government subsidies to support journalism, writing that "As Utopian fantasies go, this is pretty good...It assumes, incorrectly, that people still value and want traditional news. They do not."



Hedges ended his critique of the McChesney and Nichols book thusly:

"They grasp the terrible consequences of a culture disconnected from a world of verifiable fact. They admirably look for solutions to save us from a world where opinions and facts are interchangeable, where lies become true. I applaud their effort, but I fear it is too late."

Martin Luther King Jr. famously reminded us that there is indeed such a thing as "too late",

'Over the bleached bones and jumbled residue of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words: "Too late."' , he said (in a speech widely heard on community radio but virtually censored by the mainstream).

What I know of Hedges from reading a few reviews and hearing a few interviews and speeches on community radio has made me an admirer.

I fear that Hedges might be right, that it is already too late, and that it is a "utopian fantasy" to hope to fix what he and Nichols and McChesney apparently agree is wrong with journalism.

(I can't quite get Sarah Palin's recent tea party question, "how's that hopey changey thing goin fer ya?" out of my head as I write this next..)

But still I can't help but hope that some of McChesney's and Nichols' suggestions might be discussed and some form of them implemented. Hope springs eternal, though even at at the community radio station where I host a public affairs show, half the stakeholders apparently view news and public affairs as an inconvenient distraction, have no knowlege, much less understanding, of what has been said on those shows, and seem to be, albeit perhaps not entirely consciously, falling in love with Ayn Rand even as Alan Greenspan appears finally (too late?) to have fallen out.


All this puts me in mind of the film "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" where they are caught between a cliff and a hard place in South America, about to jump off the cliff to avoid being killed by soldiers or police. (I'm going from 1970's original run memory here, so I hope I've got it right)

Sundance fearfully and hesitantly confesses to Butch that he is reluctant to jump off the cliff into the river far, far, below because he can't swim, and seems surprised and offended when Butch breaks out laughing. When he inquires as to what's so damned funny, Butch replies that it doesn't matter if he can swim, because the fall will probably kill them.

I wish we were in a better situation vis a vis journalism and all the vital things it is currently not covering, but what choice do we have but to take the leap, survive the fall, and, (sorry Sarah) hope we can swim?


The March 9, 2010 edition of Tell Somebody features John Nichols speaking on Media Reform in Kansas City in October, 2008. Link to the audio here.


Tom Klammer
http://www.tellsomebody.us/
mail@tellsomebody.us

Monday, March 8, 2010

KC WMD and CoppInc Links

Richard Tripp and CoppInc will be holding Spring Break 2010 event for the homeless on April 3,2010 at 3244 Main Street in Kansas City, MO and could use your help. Lots more information at www.coppinc.com

There have been some developments related to the proposed new Kansas City WMD plant and the mess left behind at the old plant - here are some links for that:
www.kcnukeswatch.wordpress.com
Nadia Pflaum in The Pitch: Relax by the Glow of the Bannister Federal Complex
Russ Ptacek stories on KCP at NBC Action News
Kansas City Star story by Karen Dillon GSA delay of MO DNR Testing

Also, put "Kansas City Plant" in the 'search this blog' box on this page

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

The Homelessness Marathon



The Homelessness Marathon will air on 90.1 FM KKFI Kansas City Community Radio, streaming at http://www.kkfi.org/, beginning at 6pm Central Tuesday February 22nd through 8am Wednesday morning. This is a national program originating in Detroit, Michigan, with 5 minutes of local content at the top of each hour. Tune in and check it out. For more information go to http://www.homelessnessmarathon.org/ and you can listen to a show I did last year on Tell Somebody here:
Native American Journalism & Homelessness Marathon

And be sure to scroll through TellSomebody.us - The Bob and Ray show is a hot download, and last week's show with Robert McChesney on Saving Journalism just went up.

Robert McChesney on How to Save Journalism


Click >here< for a link to audio of this show, or subscribe to the podcast at the iTunes store for free.
On the February 16, 2010 edition of Tell Somebody, Robert McChesney spoke about The Death and Life of American Journalism, the new book he co-authored with The Nation's John Nichols, where they argue that journalism is a public good necessary to a functioning society and that since the first days of the republic there has been a precedent for government support.
We talk about the broad issue, and I also get to ask him about the relevance of alternative media like community radio.
Links:
This week's show:
How to Save Journalism by John Nichols and Robert W. McChesney in The Nation
Scroll through all the postings and check out all the links at http://www.tellsomebody.us/
Tom Klammer email: mail@tellsomebody.us

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

The Bob and Ray Show Now Online - McChesney on Saving Journalism Up Next



The Bob and Ray Show is now online. The February 9, 2010 edition of Tell Somebody featured Robert Parry and Ray McGovern. Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories for The Associated Press and Newsweek in the 1980's, and, with his sons Sam and Nat Parry, wrote Neck Deep - The Disastrous Presidency of George W. Bush.

Ray McGovern, frequent guest on Tell Somebody, was an Army intelligence officer and then a CIA analyst for 30 years. He co-founded Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity in January, 2003 and works with Tell the Word, the publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in inner-city Washington DC. You can find Ray's commentaries at Parry's site, http://www.consortiumnews.com/.

Check out the audio to hear Robert Parry talking about a dinner he attended in Washington in 1987 with Congressman Dick Cheney and General Brent Scowcroft, and Ray McGovern discusses Ambassador Eikenberry's advice on Afghanistan. Click *here* for a link to the audio, or subscribe to the podcast, for free, at the iTunes store.
*************
Next up on Tell Somebody, Professor Robert McChesney returns to talk about the new book he wrote with John Nichols, The Death and Life of American Journalism.

Tune in to Tell Somebody every Tuesday at 6pm Central Time on 90.1 FM KKFI, Kansas City Community Radio, streaming live around the world at http://www.kkfi.org/.
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some links:

http://fightincockflyer.blogspot.com
http://nortonvillesun.blogspot.com
http://discomfit.blogspot.com/

http://kcnukeswatch.wordpress.com/
http://homelessnessmarathon.org/
http://www.freepress.net/
http://www.savetheinternet.com/
http://www.stopbigmedia.com/
http://www.newpublicmedia.org/

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Remembering Howard Zinn now online- The Bob & Ray show up next on Tell Somebody

The February 2nd, 2010 edition of Tell Somebody featured a rebroadcast of Howard Zinn's 2008 appearance on KKFI. That show is now available for download: click **here** for a link to an mp3 or subscribe to the podcast for free at the iTunes store.

Howard Zinn 1922 -2010

The February 9 edition of the show will feature the Bob and Ray show. Former CIA analyst and Presidential daily briefer Ray McGovern returns to Tell Somebody, and this time he brings Robert Parry with him. Robert Parry has covered Washington for more than three decades and led the way in exposing the Iran-Contra scandal in the 1980's. Ray McGovern has been publishing his articles on Parry's http://www.consortiumnews.com/ for several years and now Bob and Ray have teamed up as a powerful speaking duo. But this Tuesday they'll come to Tell Somebody to help out on KKFI's pledge drive. Tune in at 6pm Central Time this Tuesday on 90.1 FM KKFI, Kansas City Community Radio, or listen to the webstream at http://www.kkfi.org/. (And while you're there, click on the 'donate' button or make a toll-free call during the show at 1-888-931-0901 to support Tell Somebody!)

More on Howard Zinn:
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting noted the FOX-like 'unfair and unbalanced' approach NPR took in marking the passing of Howard Zinn - NPR Finds Right-Wing Crank to Spit on Zinn's Grave.
The FAIR action urges you to contact the NPR ombudsman to ask why All Things Considered brought on a right-wing crank to trash the late Howard Zinn. Read more at
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=4009

Here are a couple links to proposed legislation on payday lending in Missouri:
House Bill No. 1508
House Bill No. 1509

Here are some links to more information on the Kansas City nuclear weapons plant:
http://tellsomebodyradio.blogspot.com/2010/01/kansas-city-mo-city-council-committee.html

http://www.nbcactionnews.com/content/investigative/bannister/story/EPA-Joins-Probe-in-Bannister-Investigation/o_Wjs1CvEE6zuQyz7ecptg.cspx

http://blogs.pitch.com/plog/2010/01/epa_publishes_fact_sheet_on_testing_at_bannister_federal_complex.php
http://www.nukewatch.org/watchblog/?p=135

http://kcnukeswatch.wordpress.com/

And, just because, check these out:
http://www.kcactive.com/
http://fightincockflyer.blogspot.com/

Friday, January 29, 2010

David Barsamian now on line - Next on Tell Somebody - Howard Zinn, Payday Loans in MO, & TBA

The January 27, 2010 edition of Tell Somebody, Alternative Radio's David Barsamian back from India and Nepal plus SCOTUS hyperactivity and unilateral foolishness in Kansas City is now online. Barsamian talks of running into his friend Vandana Shiva at a protest on an overpass in India and shares his thoughts on comments on the Kansas City WMD plant made at a recent KCMO city council committee meeting. Link to a download here:
Next up on Tell Somebody:
As you all must know by now, historian Howard Zinn died last Wednesday, January 27, 2010.
During a KKFI pledge drive in April 2008, Zinn took a little time to come on the phone with Tell Somebody to talk about the (then) brand-new book A People's History of American Empire and about the importance of alternative media like KKFI. I'll be re-playing that conversation this Tuesday at 6pm Central Time on 90.1 FM KKFI.
KKFI will be having another pledge drive starting Thursday, February 4th, once again asking listeners for their money. I know all too well how hard money can be to come by for a lot of us these days, but as you listen to Howard Zinn this Tuesday, I hope you'll give some thought as to why your community radio station needs to be supported by current listeners, and whether you might agree with me that it is perhaps even more important that current listeners help us build a bigger base of support by telling their friends and neighbors who might not know KKFI yet about the one full power FM radio station in town that is actually owned by the community.
The rest of the show is still being worked out, but there will be a report on a public hearing on Payday Loan Reform held Thursday, January 28th by Missouri Representatives John Burnett and Mary Wynne Still.
Tune in to Tell Somebody this Tuesday, 6pm Central Time on 90.1, or stream it live at http://www.kkfi.org/, and don't forget to scroll through http://www.tellsomebody.us/ and http://www.tellsomebody.libsyn.com/ for links to past shows you might have missed.
Tom Klammer