ElectionWatch ’04: in-depth analysis of election-year issues
ElectionWatch ’04 was the first Making Contact program of each month, leading up to and beyond the November elections. ElectionWatch ’04 promoted fully informed participation in the democratic process. Each program focused on a single issue, some that the candidates were addressing and some that they were not. ElectionWatch ’04 clarified the connections between the main topic and related issues – links that are often missing from conventional news sources.
ElectionWatch ’04 – The Final Choice
Wednesday, October 27th, 2004
On this edition we take a look at an international mission to observe the U.S. elections, look at the impacts of a decade-long Republican-controlled Congress, and hear about an effort in the hip hop movement to persuade young voters to go to the polls.
ElectionWatch ’04 – Systems Failure (encore edition)
Wednesday, October 13th, 2004
On this edition, we take a look at the disenfranchisement of African Americans in Florida, the debate over electronic voting machines, and Electoral College reform in the state of Colorado.
ElectionWatch ’04 – Swinging the States
Wednesday, October 6th, 2004
On this edition, we hear from former federal employees who jeopardized their careers to expose official wrongdoing and hear about Daniel Ellsberg’s latest whistleblowing activities.
Election Watch ’04: Working Hard for Change
Wednesday, September 1st, 2004
On this edition, we explore the economic anxieties driving voters – such as access to health insurance, affordable childcare, and livable wages.
ElectionWatch ’04 – Systems Failure
Wednesday, August 4th, 2004
On this edition, we take a look at the disenfranchisement of African Americans in Florida, the debate over electronic voting machines, and Electoral College reform in the state of Colorado.
ElectionWatch ’04: All the News That’s Fit to Buy
Wednesday, July 7th, 2004
On this edition, we’ll take a look at how media companies have failed the public interest by influencing the political process and we’ll hear from media critic and author Robert McChesney, who says the media’s complicity with the government impacts the health of democracy in the United States.
ElectionWatch ’04: Progressive Strategies
Wednesday, June 30th, 2004
On this edition, we’ll hear from three such activists: Reverend James Forbes, senior minister of the Riverside Church in New York City; political commentator Jim Hightower, and author and activist Arianna Huffington who all spoke at the Take Back America conference held in Washington D.C. in June 2004.
ElectionWatch ’04: War on Terror
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2004
On this ElectionWatch ’04 edition, we take a look at how communities most impacted by Bush’s war on terror will vote in the upcoming 2004 elections and see how the Patriot Act and the war in Iraq are playing a role in the election year.
ElectionWatch ’04: Hip Hop and Elections
Wednesday, May 5th, 2004
On this ElectionWatch ’04 edition of Making Contact we take a look at how grassroots activists within the hip hop community view the political process, and how they are using hip hop to organize around the November elections and beyond.
ElectionWatch ’04: Taxonomics: Federal Tax Cuts and the Budget Deficit
Wednesday, April 7th, 2004
On this edition of ElectionWatch ’04, we take a look at how Bush’s tax cuts impact the economy, state budgets, and small businesses.
ElectionWatch ’04 – Home Economics: Women and Voting
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2004
On this edition of Making Contact’s ElectionWatch’04- a monthly special from the National Radio Project- we explore the pre-election concerns of a variety of women, including women in labor unions, Latina immigrants and unmarried women as powerful voting blocs.
ElectionWatch ’04 Youth Vote: Mobilizing from the Grassroots
Wednesday, February 4th, 2004
On this edition of Making Contact’s ElectionWatch ’04-a monthly special from the National Radio Project-we conduct a roundtable discussion with young activists and grass-roots organizers about youth voting behavior and efforts to mobilize young people around the 2004 presidential elections.
ElectionWatch ’04 Pushing Medicare: The Health Industry and Public Subsidies for Prescription Drugs
Wednesday, January 7th, 2004
On this edition of Making Contact’s ElectionWatch ’04, a monthly special from the National Radio Project, we take a look at Medicare and prescription drugs.
ElectionWatch ’04 The Texas Two-Step: Bush, Corporate Cash, and Environmental Rollbacks
Wednesday, December 3rd, 2003
On this edition of Making Contact – the second of our monthly ElectionWatch ’04 series- we take a look at how the oil, gas, mining and electric utilities industries have influenced the Bush Administration’s environmental policies and the impact on communities located near industrial facilities.
ElectionWatch ’04: Participation and the Common Good
Wednesday, November 5th, 2003
On this edition of Making Contact we take a look at “democracy in action.” We speak with tenants rights activists in the San Francisco area who are fighting for affordable housing.
