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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
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