House Votes to Ban Pentagon Propaganda: Networks Still Silent

Huffington Post, May 24, 2008
By Josh Silver

You probably didn't hear about the House voting to ban Pentagon propaganda last Thursday -- since the television networks have once again conveniently failed to cover the story.

But in a surprise move, a 2009 defense policy bill passed with an amendment, sponsored by Rep. Paul Hodes (D-N.H.), that outlaws the Defense Department from engaging in "a concerted effort to propagandize" the American people. The measure would also force an investigation by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) into efforts to plant positive news stories about the war in U.S. media.

An April 20 front-page New York Times article first reported how the Pentagon cultivated and coached more than 75 former military officers who became regulars on Fox News, CNN, the broadcast networks, and even NPR. One week later, the Pentagon announced that it would suspend the "briefing" program pending an internal review, which is continuing. On May 13, watchdog Media Matters documented that analysts in the Pentagon's program appeared or were quoted in major outlets more than 4,500 times.

For the complete story click here.

Guarantee net neutrality

Posted by Star-Ledger editorial board May 26, 2008 10:30PM

The information superhighway that is the internet has been an equal opportunity route. A local shop's web page isn't shunted into the slow lane while Mega Corporation's blows by in the express. Each is entitled to use the same path at the same speed.

Federal legislation is needed to ensure internet providers, primarily phone and cable companies, don't undermine that equality. There is a danger that internet providers will charge extra for faster transmission of websites or services, leaving those unwilling or unable to pay to lag behind. There also is a danger that providers might block sites or services because of content.

Internet providers say they would never do such things. They say that even if one company did, competition would ensure "net neutrality," as the wonkish call it.

For complete editoral, click here.

The Most Savage Shock Jock of Them All

By Rory O'Connor and Aaron Cutler, AlterNet Books. Posted May 23, 2008.

An excerpt from AlterNet's newest book, Shock Jocks: Hate Speech & Talk Radio.

Who is Michael Savage? On its surface the question seems obvious: he's a 66-year-old nationally syndicated conservative talk radio host whose program, The Savage Nation, airs five days a week from its home base of KNEW in San Francisco. He's the founder of the Paul Revere Society, which, according to its mission statement, aims to "take back our borders, our language, and our traditional culture from the liberal left corroding our great nation." He's a former MSNBC cable television talk host who was fired after four months on the job after he told a phone caller, "You should only get AIDS and die, you pig." He's also the third most popular radio talk show host in America, whose weekly audience of more than eight million listeners is surpassed only by Limbaugh and Hannity.