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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 13, 2003)
017628 • Arcade • Novelties • Games iw Releases weekly VMS & DVD 5-day Rentals Over 3,000 DVDs ADA accessible HE & SHE I HE & SHE II ALBANY 290 River Rd , Eugene 720 Garfield, Eugene 1-5 EXIT 233, 3404 Spicer Dr. 688-5411 345-2873 541-812-2522 1166 South A • Springfield • 726-6969 • Open 24-7 (Almost) [iimvsiiNPuv »nii»M John Henry's Broadway Revue Eugene's only live burlesque and variety show Burlesque dancers, go-go dancers, magic, hula hoopers, belly dancers, comedians, drag queens, and much, much, more. . . Interested in performing? Contact info@johnhenrysclub.com or call 345-9315 I niLinv. in«in i'M»s/i Punk Rock Extravaganza with The Spits Capgun Suicide Blasphemous Abnormality PB Army SH1IIW1HY, Hi IP • 111 l»M • SH FRESH! DJ P featured on Z-trip's new album Raging Family (live trip-hop) Dcndr (downbeats) munquy, Heavenly Oceans Bourbon Renewal Nero HllSUHY/IHlHHlIPMMWt The Defocators On the First day*..they were kittens The Last Chapter The Rhythm Pimps I HI NY I lit [INI SUMY • 111 PM • SZ'1 mins I Nil Reggae vs. Hip-Hop DJ Kal El vs. DJ Tekneek UJIUV IHUNSUHV • 111 PM • SH 80's Night //11 Inst Broadmay ut»*xi in itJAJf's H«iAi«ir) • 11 ii i ii i i.ji ihi it ini injsnlub.cnn i Talk radio teaches lessons on corporate control, media If this column seems off-topic (per haps even by my own standards), I apologize in advance. It requires some back story, but I'll try to make it clear for all readers, regardless. On Nov. 4, I made my first (and probably last) appearance on talk ra dio. The show in question was Dan Carlin's "CrossTalk," which airs live everyday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on KUGN 590. Carlin invited me on his show to discuss my Oct. 30 Emerald column, "Media doesn't portray reali ty" and to take some listener phone calls on the air. 1 don't think either of us knew what we were in for. Closely paraphrased, the first words from my mouth as soon as we hit the air were: "The mainstream media is all lies." This was in response to Carlin's question asking what my article was about This was also my first mistake In my column I likened news coverage to a fictional television show in both con tent and production, and my on-air de scription of the article clearly fell short. The gist of Carlin's argument was that we have diversity in news coverage now more than ever. After all, we have a hundred news channels today when we only had five 20 years ago (these figures are obviously rough estimates). So this must equal greater diversity of informa tion, right? Let's call this argument "more is better." The questions I raise based on this position are: 1) How diverse are these broadcasts? and 2) How many companies own these "hun dreds" of channels? The answers to these questions are complex and perhaps worthy of their own columns. But I'll try to be succinct. The first answer is perhaps easier. My short answer would be: Not much. It seems that a working definition of "di versity" might be having prevalent cov erage of information that presents a true alternative to what the mainstream news portrays. Oftentimes this will be news that directly contradicts the inter ests of corporate and government agen das. But in my mind, that's what diver sity is about and that's what we're missing. I tried to discuss these things on Carlin's show, but again, I made mistakes. I assumed I'd have more time than I actually did, and also fewer inter ruptions. Here is one example of what I was trying to talk about on his show, followed by commentary As of this writing "The Iraq Body Count," at www.iraqbodycount.net, lists between 7840 and 9668 civilian deaths "resulting directly from military Aaron Shakra Notebooks of DJ Serpentine actions by the United States of America and its allies in 2003." This number in cludes more than 1,500 civilian deaths in "post-war" occupied Iraq. This information recalls the Michael Franti lyrics that state: "The tears of one mother / Are the same as any other / Drop food on the kids / While you're murderin' their fathers / But don't both er to show it on CNN / Brothers and sis ters don't believe them." Yes, that's basically what this war is about, and it doesn't do anything but propagate a continual, endless cycle of death. Later, in the same song, Franti says: "All bombing is terrorism." This terrorism can't be ended if you're not informed by anything but what you see and hear through corporate channels. On the air, Carlin argued that a "free press" has never existed during wartime. Yes, but even readily avail able information is widely ignored. Why? In my previous column, I said it "makes the plot too sloppy and the characters more than one-dimension al." I'll add that once enough people are actively questioning the validity of the claims made both by the main stream media and the United States government through the mainstream media, the result could be highly un predictable, ranging anywhere from economic collapse to a total over throw of the government. Just like the KUGN in-house advertisements said during one CrossTalk commercial break: "Information is power." (Note that I support all of the aforemen tioned possibilities given that they can happen in a nonviolent context.) Now, to my second question: "How many companies own these 'hundreds' of channels?" According to Thomas W. Hazlett's article, "Economic and Politi cal Consequences of the 1996 Telecom munications Act," the act's sponsors had die goals of increasing competition in both local and long distance tele phone markets, as well as cable mar kets. He also notes, however, that in creased mergers between large telecommunications firms and in creased congressional jurisdiction over the telecommunications industry may have resulted. These are very tricky issues, and I'm not going to act like an authority figure on this kind of stuff. But regardless of the legislation responsible, there is no denying the increased consolidation of media corporations. Another thing that I didn't have the chance to convey on the air was the fact that these powers don't just own news channels; every thing you read, hear and see might very well be controlled by a handful of com panies. The Columbia Journalism Re view maintains an online guide at http://www.cjr.org/tools/owners/ out- - lining what major media companies own. During the show, Carlin and many callers indicated that my age, along with a lack of experience and knowl edge, might have something to do with my perspective. I'll be the first to admit that I'm just beginning to leam about this stuff, and yes, I might be wrong. Still, I don't think my age has anything to do with the issues I'm raising. Also, numerous times on the air I was labeled as having a "leftist" viewpoint. Please, don't put me in that box, either. No matter what the subject, all I wish to do is raise aware ness and hopefully empower people, not further divide them. This is what I'm concerned about, and I only wish to continue talking about these issues if they serve these purposes. Contact the Pulse editor at aaronshakra@dailyemerald.com. His opinions do not necessarily represent those of the Emerald. PULSE BRIEF Sixty photographers to auction work on Sunday On Sunday, 70 photographs will be auctioned at the 26th Photography at Oregon Auction. The works of Brian Lanker, Eugene resident Dan Powell and Portland resident Stu Levy are among 60 prominent photographers contributing their work for the event. "The Photography at Oregon Auc tion is a great opportunity for collec tors eager to learn more about the his tory of the medium, as well as a rare chance to acquire art at a very reason able price," UO Museum of Art Direc tor David Turner said in a press re lease for the event. Proceeds from the event will sup port the UO Museum of Art, current ly under renovation and set to re open next October. Events such as Courtesy This photo of Ken Kesey, taken by Brian Lanker, will be auctioned off on Nov. 16 at Gerlinger Hall. A Ken Kesey symposium will take place at the University from Nov. 14 to 16. the photography auction have been held in alternative locations during the construction process. The auc tion begins at noon at the Alumni Lounge in Gerlinger Hall, at 1468 University St. Bidding will com mence at 1 p.m. — Aaron Shakra Sc ML Tuesday, November 11 Thursday, November 13 10AM - 4PM • EMU All books GIVE ME 51 Run your “for sale” ad (items under $1,000) for 5 days in the ODE Classified Section. If the item(s) doesn't sell, call us at 346-4343 and we’ll run it again for another 5 days free!
