Fans protest in front of Fox Studios in Century City, Los Angeles. Source: flickr.com/photos/nohodamon/ and flickr.com/photos/asparagirl/

The United States is a TV nation. On average, Americans watch about five-hours of TV everyday and each household owns two or more televisions. Passive? Lazy? That’s the general reputation. But that image was turned upside down in 2007 when TV writers went on strike… and the couch potatoes got active.

On this edition, we look back at the writers’ strike, and see how the largest political force in the country, television watchers, helped bring the networks to their knees.

Featuring:

Jeff Braverman, Nuts Online owner; Kevin Brown, “Roswell” producer; Carlton Cuse, “Lost” producer; Matthew Federman, Jericho writer; Amy Norman, Fans4Writers Food for Thought coordinator; Karen J. Wellenkamp, Fans4Writers co-webmaster.

Executive Producer/Host: Tena Rubio
Producer: Andrew Stelzer
Contributing Producer: Drew Himmelstein
Executive Director: Lisa Rudman
Associate Director: Khanh Pham
Production Coordinator: Elena Botkin-Levy
Interns: Asma Mohseni, and Patti Restaino

For more information:

Writers Guild of America, West

Writers Guild of America, East

United Hollywood

Nuts Online - Linden, NJ

Jericho Junction

JeriTopia

Jericho Central

Save Jericho Again

Whedonesque

Music:

Talking Heads – Found a Job
Pete Seeger – Union Maid

Live From Main Street host Laura Flanders.

Live from Main Street takes us to the streets of Minneapolis, Minnesota where we explore what it takes to get heard this election year in the era of big media and diminished civil liberties. Hosted by popular journalist-radio personality Laura Flanders, produced by The Media Consortium and adapted for radio by Making Contact.

Event will feature:

Malkia Cyril, The Center for Media Justice director; Colleen Rowley, FBI Whistle Blower and 2006 Congressional Candidate; Joel Kramer, The Minneapolis Post founder; Paul Schmelzer, Minnesota Monitor managing editor; Marlina Gonzalez, Unconvention and Intermedia Arts program director; Amalia Anderson, program director for the Main Street Project; Bruce Nestor, Minnesota National Lawyer’s Guild; Chuck Olsen, the Uptake; and more national and local leaders.

Live From Main Street is a tour of the U.S. in election year 2008, hosted by Grit TV’s Laura Flanders and produced by The Media Consortium and adapted for radio by National Radio Project.

Bonus Audio:

Want to hear the whole 90-minute Live from Main Street event? Listen here to the uncut program from Minneapolis, MN!

Part 1: Introducing Live from Main Street; Video clip: The Uptake with Chuck Olsen; (25 minutes) - Download/listen

Part 2: First panel including: Colleen Rowley, FBI Whistle Blower and 2006 Congressional Candidate; Marlina Gonzalez, Unconvention and Intermedia Arts program director; and more national and local leaders; Bruce Nestor, Minnesota National Lawyer’s Guild; Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!; (16 minutes) -Download/listen

Part 3: First panel continued; John Nichols, The Nation Magazine; Video from the American News Project: dogging Fox; (13 minutes)
- Download/listen

Part 4: Second panel: how is independent media looking at new challenges and giving voice to ordinary people. Including: Malkia Cyril, The Center for Media Justice director; Joel Kramer, The Minneapolis Post founder; Paul Schmelzer, Minnesota Independent managing editor; Amalia Anderson, program director for the Main Street Project; (23 minutes) - Download/listen

Part 5: Q&A with panelists (11 minutes) - Download/listen

Live From Main Street Crew:
Host: Laura Flanders, Grit TV
Co-host: Al McFarlane, Insight News
Produced by: The Media Consortium
Technical Assistant:

Victims of US air strike, Balad, March 2006. Source: www.dahrjamailiraq.com

A severe lack of unembedded reporting on the Iraq war has resulted in a corresponding lack of information about the realities of this war. What truths go unreported? Will the Bush administration attack Iran? What will the increased militarization in Pakistan mean for the Middle East? How will the United States government and the people respond?

On this edition, independent journalists David Barsamian and Dahr Jamail tackle Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and our relationship to each of these countries. Hear their provocative conversation from a live-audience recording event in San Francisco; a benefit for Making Contact.

Featuring:

David Barsamian and Dahr Jamail, book authors and independent journalists.

Music: “Fly Away” Omar Faruk Tekbilek, “Long Wait” Omar Faruk Tekbilek

Senior Producer/Host: Tena Rubio
Associate Producer: Puck Lo
Interns: Samson Reiny, Joaquin Palomino and Elena Botkin-Levy

This show was produced by Elena Botkin-Levy as part of Making Contact’s internship program.

For More Information: 

Targeting Iran with Noam Chomsky, Ervand Abrahamian, Nahid Mozaffari

Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in

Occupied Iraq – Chicago, IL

Dahr Jamail’s Mideast Dispatches

Alternative Radi0 – Boulder, CO

“The Growing Iraqi Refugee Crisis,” Making Contact  audio program

“The Iran Agenda,” Making Contact  audio program

Reporters without Borders -Washington DC

We talk with media critic Norman Solomon and hear excerpts from the powerful
documentary, “War Made Easy: How Presidents & Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death.” Narrated by actor Sean Penn, this new film is being shown by peace
activists across the country to help stop the war in Iraq.

Film producers at the Media Education Foundation have adapted Solomon’s book “War Made Easy” into a documentary. Community screenings are also being organized – including a benefit premiere in Oakland for Making Contact.

Norman is the Executive Director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. He is
also one of the founders of National Radio Project which produces Making
Contact. Our executive director, Lisa Rudman, sat down with Norman to
discuss how spin is spun.

Norman Solomon Source: www.coldtype.net/war2.html

Norman Solomon and excerpts from the film.

Guest Host: Sandina Robbins
Mixing Engineer: Puck Lo
Intern: Samson Reiny

For more information:

Norman Solomon

Loretta Alper

Media Education Foundation – Northampton, Massachusetts

From Top: Giuliana Segrena, María Suárez, Sarah Olson. Sources: Reuters, www.wimnonline.org, Sarah Olson

Women are gaining influence as leaders throughout the world, fighting for peace, justice, the environment and civil society. In this program we profile three independent journalists, unbought and unbossed. Women journalist heroines!

This Women’s Desk program is a special collaboration with the Women Rising Radio Project, Lynn Feinerman and Crown Sephira Productions.

Featuring:

Giuliana Sgrena, Italian journalist, kidnapped by Iraqi resistance fighters while on assignment, then shot by US soldiers on her release; María Suárez, founder, FIRE: Feminist International Radio Endeavor of Costa Rica; Sarah Olson, US journalist, broke the story of Army Lieutenant Ehren Watada’s refusal to deploy to Iraq.

Women Rising Producer: Lynn Feinerman
Women Rising Host: Sandina Robbins
Women Rising Engineer: Stephanie Welch

For more information:

María Suárez

Sarah Olson

Giuliana Sgrena

Rev. Barry W. Lynn, director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Source: www.au.org

The evangelical right gets a lot of airtime on cable, radio, television and in the mass media in general. But, a lot of the messages you hear are distilled for a mainstream audience. So what’s really being said behind the scenes? This week, Abby Scher takes us behind the scenes to the “Values Voter Summit” in Washington, DC, where leaders of the Christian right gathered to talk about gay marriage, abortion, and terrorism. With the upcoming elections, evangelical right leaders say there are two wars America is fighting: terrorism and the war for values.

Scher, editor of Public Eye, a publication that monitors the activities and agenda of the Christian right, attended the summit in September 2006, along with dozens of other liberal activists.

Featuring:

Gary Bauer, Americans United to Preserve Marriage; Reverend James Dobson, director, Focus on the Family; Sean Hannity, host, FOX-TV; Jennifer Giroux, Citizens For Community Values; Rev. Harry Jackson, Jr., Hope Christian Church; Dr. Robert Jones, Center for American Values/People for the American Way; Rev. Barry W. Lynn, director, Americans United For the Separation of Church and State; Connie Mackey, vice president, FRC Action;Katherine Ragsdale, Political Research Associates Director; Alan Sears, president, Alliance Defense Fund; Wendy Watson, Restore America.

Senior Producer/Host: Tena Rubio
Freelance Producer: Abby Scher
Mixing Engineer: Phillip Babich
Freelance Associate Producer: Emily Polk
Intern: Alexis McCrimmon

For more information:

Political Research Associates – Somerville, MA

Americans United for Separation of Church and State – Washington, DC

People For the American Way (Center for American Values) - Washington, DC

Alliance Defense Fund – Scottsdale, AZ

Americans United to Preserve Marriage/American Values - Arlington, VA

Citizens For Community Values – Cincinnati, OH

FRC Action – Washington, DC 

Hope Christian Church – Bowie, MD

Restore America - Lake Oswego, OR

Focus on the Family – Colorado Springs, CO

Sgt. Jose Delao (left) and Sgt. Luis Green prospect for new recruits outside a San Leandro, Calif. supermarket. Source: Justin Beck

The United States military has recently been pouring millions of tax dollars into recruitment efforts in an attempt to counteract well-publicized, Iraq war-influenced, recruitment dropoffs.

We’ll examine several of these efforts, including a new military ad campaign aimed not only at teens, but at parents; an inside perspective at how Army recruiters fill the ranks; and counter-recruitment efforts in high schools. We’ll also hear about a student-based effort to help other teens make informed choices.

For a free listener packet on military recruitment and counter-recruitment, please call us toll-free at 800-529-5736.

Featuring:

David Sweabe, vice president Mullen Advertising; Cathy Chan, student, Oakland Military Institute; Crystal Adair, academic success coordinator, Oakland Military Institute; Bruce Holaday, superintendent, Oakland Military Institute;Cadet Sergeant Ralph Gomez, student, Oakland Military Institute; Susan Quinlan, volunteer, Youth Empowerment School; Jen Lowe, youth organizer, Code Pink; Ruby Butler, junior, Youth Empowerment School; Zamil Bonner, counter-recruiting campaign volunteer, Youth Empowerment School; Staff Sergeant Jose Delao, recruiter, U.S. Army; Staff Sergeant Luis Green, recruiter, U.S. Army; John Davis, junior, San Leandro High School; Rosa Yost, Safeway employee.

This week’s host: Tena Rubio. Contributing producers: Justin Beck and Sarah Olsen.

For more information:

Mullen Advertising, Inc. – Wenham, MA

Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors - Oakland, CA

The Youth Empowerment School – Oakland, CA

Oakland Military Institute – Oakland, CA

U.S. Army Recruiting

Institute for Public Accuracy - Washington, D.C

Image: Tim Lane, Minneapolis/St. Paul City Pages

A look at how Clear Channel came to be the largest owner of radio stations in North America and the many people fighting against it.

In this edition, we will hear about media monitoring campaigns across the country and legal challenges to Clear Channel stations that are not operating in the public interest. We’ll explore the ties between Clear Channel CEO Larry Mayes, and the Bush family, and we’ll check in on a battle in the company’s hometown of San Antonio.

Featuring:

Malkia Cyril, executive director, Youth Media Council; Taishi Duchicela, media justice advocate, Youth Media Council; Youth Media Council’s Si Se Puede Fellow, Leslie Ruiz; Jeff Perlstein, executive director, Media Alliance; Graciela Sanchez, executive director, Esperanza Peace and Justice Center; Deanne Cuellar, project director, Texas Media Empowerment Project; Austin Lounge Lizards, “The Tower.”

This week’s hosts: Tena Rubio and Emily Polk. Contributing producer: Sarah Grace Turner.

For more information:

Youth Media Council – Oakland, CA

Media Alliance – Oakland, CA

Esperanza Peace and Justice Center – San Antonio, TX

Texas Media Project – San Antonio, TX

To hear the song “The Tower” by Austin Lounge Lizards:
Consumers Union

To hear other songs on our broadcast:

Youth Movement Records – Oakland, CA

Clear Channel Headquarters – San Antonio, TX

Naomi Klein. Source: Matt Fitt

Whether talking about global warming or racial inequality, activists say media reform is part of the solution to the world’s problems. In response to increased concentration of media ownership in recent years, the reform movement is coming up with new ways of fighting for a free and just media system.

On this edition, we’ll hear from activists and journalists speaking at this year’s National Conference on Media Reform in St. Louis, Missouri.

Featuring:

Janine Jackson, Journalist; Naomi Klein, Journalist and Author; Makani Themba-Nixon, Praxis Project; Myoungjoon Kim, MediACT.

This week’s Host: Pauline Bartolone.

For more information:

Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting – New York, New York

Naomi Klein, Journalist and Author of “No Logo” – Toronto, Canada

The Praxis Project – Washington, DC

MediACT – Seoul, South Korea

Other helpful links:

Free Press.net

Free Press.org

Featuring:

Jay Smooth, Hip Hop writer; USavior, Activist and Music Promoter; Jin, Rapper; John Liu, New York City Council Member; Miss Jones and Miss Info, Hot 97 Radio Hosts; Nana Soul, Black Wax Recording Artist and Activist; DJ Kuttin Kandy, ReacHip Hop Co-Founder and Organizer; Radio Rootz Project; McRae Parker, Director of Youth Development and Training, Youth Radio; Thenmozhi Soundararajan Director, Third World Majority; Elana Rosen, Director, Just Think; Malkia Cyril, Director, Youth Media Council; Makani Themba-Nixon, Director, Praxis Project; Mark Lloyd, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress.

Bonus audio:

• Raw interview: Malkia Cyril, Director of Youth Media Council
  Cyril is a founding organizer of the Media Justice Network.
• Raw interview: Dee Davis, Director of Center for Rural Strategies
  CRS successfully stopped a reality TV show that would have negatively portrayed rural low-income people.

For more information:

Youth Media Council - Oakland, CA

Center for American Progress – Washington, D.C.

Other helpful links:

Media Justice

Media Alliance

Youth Radio

Just Think