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Artists and the Arts have far more than "a relationship" with the media. They are dependent upon the media. From the days when plays and musicals, concerts and recitals, lived and died in newspaper reviews; through the era when radio airplay drove record sales; to the arrival of MTV and its country clones; to the myriad aspects of digital distribution, today's media in all its forms continues to be essential.
Through the pandemic when live performances on the web were what kept artists in front of audiences, paradigms shifted in the ways used to do that. Yet we still look to "Rolling Stone," to "Paste," to "No Depression" and "Sing Out," to "FolkWorks" and the Guide, and we still listen to "Folkscene" and "Folk Alley" for news of who is touring or in the studio and what new music can be heard.
Of course we are, to this point, talking about niche publications and broadcasts. But, big or small, we need to view these in the context of the whole.
Corporatization is seizing control of everything. Hedge funds and bored billionaires own newspapers. Diversified corporations buy networks to gain megaphone, technical expertise, and ultimately total control of how their message is delivered and their image portrayed.
Digital platforms, like this one used by the Guide, have their publishing protocols changed by web megagiants (in our case, hegemonistic Google) so they can maximize profitability for their board rooms while limiting the amount of content that can be seen by readers in any one edition. For them, more traffic back to the site equals more profit for the platform owners -- even though the content provider cannot make daily posts because we all need to make a living doing something else.
Through it all, Artists pay fees to be included in digital music services that often provide no revenue stream in return. Yet rejecting "the chance to be heard there" drives most artists to submit their credit card number and be obligated for monthly fees.
Meanwhile, the nature of "The Media" is being reinvented right before our eyes. Digital streaming services pay millions for new video series content that had always been the purview of the broadcast and cable networks.
Even news channels join the broadcast networks to move ,more and more, away from reporting events, and to instead engage in shameless promotion of the larger corporation's other divisions -- and lobbying "needs" for legislation in their interests.
Because everything is connected to everything else, and new trends are changing everything in ways that are alarming and risk the fundamental credibility of things you accept as news -- and rely on as looking out for your best interests -- we are devoting this edition to a look at the state of the media.
Let's get started.
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What wisdom, Mr. Rousseau? Quite likely, none. But when it comes to reliable information needed to craft, forge, temper and apply wisdom...
• Monday marks the three-year anniversary of the murderous assault on the newsroom of the Capital Gazette, a local newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland. Five murdered, two wounded. The day brings dedication of the "Guardians of the First Amendment" memorial near the City Dock in Annapolis, with local dignitaries on hand for the unveiling.
• The pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, the last stand for a free press in Hong Kong since the mainland communist Chinese takeover, published its final edition last week, after 26 years.
• In the U.S., a tiny handful of corporate entities now control over 90 percent of American news outlets.
The first two points speak for themselves. The third is insidious beyond the obvious. One way that's a problem? The principal sponsors of every TV newscast and all cable news channels are Big Pharma -- even as traumatized military veterans of multiple combat deployments are prescribed addictive drugs.
Meanwhile, good journalism in the public interest IS out there. But it must contend not only with the carefully designed distraction of monied interests, but with random bullshit growing faster than the oceanic gyre of floating plastic trash.
Consequently, in a time when so much advertising is needed to stay in the newspaper business that there is an ever-smaller "news hole" remaining for news? Time and resources get diverted from reporting, as it does from broadcast news time, because de-bunking mass disseminations of wildly inaccurate crap is now as much a daily necessity as expending resources on physical security for the newsroom.
Most media reported what Barr said. Certain outlets either ignored it or cast aspersions as they reported it, catering to the altered state of their core viewers.
Which is but one illustration that not everything claiming First Amendment protection is noble, or accurate, or trustworthy. Yellow Journalism brought us everything from the Asian Exclusion Act to the Spanish-American War to McCarthyism. Now it is greasing the wheels for state laws that will restrict voting in time for the 2022 midterms.
Last week, Pearson Sharp, a "news" anchor on the wacko OAN used his broadcast to call for "death by mass executions" of those who disagree with Trump's election lies, and the mass executions of Democrats in general. It was widely reported as flash-in-the-pan news. It deserves far more serious concern. (https://www.thedailybeast.com/oan-goes-full-fascist-pearson-sharp-calls-for-mass-executions-over-election-fraud)
It impacts. Particularly among those who get all their information from extremist media and the echo chamber that social media constructs around their known likes. Two weeks ago I encountered a self-professed conservative who advocates shooting all the homeless people, "Until the rest of them get the message and stop that shit. That'll tell 'em to get a job. I'm tired of looking at them!" he said. Thing is, he isn't just one person who thinks that way, and social media aggregates, sometimes congregates, individuals into groups with similar ideas.
So how the hell do you reconcile all that with Rousseau's call, 300 years ago, for kindness as the ultimate expression of wisdom?
Much closer to our own time, the late Glenn Campbell sang a trademark song written by Curt Sapaugh and Bobby Austin. It peaked at # 1 on the Hot Adult Contemporary chart and was a # 2 hit Country single. It's been performed by symphonies, recorded by numerous musicians and bands, and was even sung by the characters on "Sesame Street." And it desperately needs to come back:
If you see your brother standing by the road
With a heavy load from the seeds he's sowed
And if you see your sister falling by the way
Just stop and say "You're going the wrong way"
You got to try a little kindness, yes show a little kindness
Just shine your light for everyone to see
And if you try a little kindness then you'll overlook the blindness
Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets
Don't walk around the down and out
Lend a helping hand instead of doubt
And the kindness that you show every day
Will help someone along their way
You got to try a little kindness, yes show a little kindness
Just shine your light for everyone to see
And if you try a little kindness, then you'll overlook the blindness
Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets
You got to try a little kindness, yes show a little kindness
Just shine your light for everyone to see
And if you try a little kindness then you'll overlook the blindness
Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets
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Media, News, Propaganda, Lies on Social Media, and Demanding Truth
We have explored these entangled topics many times, along with the consequences of an entire society that is too easily (a) addicted to sharing sensationalist stupid sh*t, (b) is quick to believe the unverified, and (c) therefore makes itself subject to being stampeded like mooing cattle. (You may be getting fed and fattened, but do you know where that chute leads?)
At the same time, responsible journalism is more important than ever before -- because in the world of instant cyber sharing, it isn't simply the need for accurate reporting. Today's responsible journalism must be the arbiter of the facts and the watchdog of accuracy and the canary in the coal mine. There just is no responsible alternative to doing all that, when the BS and baloney are constantly getting disseminated from well-funded, malevolent megaphones. So share a moment for a quick look at what it takes to get real news out there.
It's important to know what and when to question -- especially with the instant gratification of the ever-present "share" button. So, we continue our commitment to "keeping it real" and keeping it in the forefront of critically important awareness and conversation.
We suggest the following...
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"When Public Discourse Devolves Into Dangerous Nonsense"
by Mack Green
"With the addition of social media technology, disinformation spreads at speeds and magnitudes of influence never before experienced in human history."
"'No reasonable person would believe the words that come out of Tucker Carlson’s mouth.'"
"This assertion was made by Carlson’s lawyers, defending him in a slander suit. The judge, a Trump appointee, embraced the claim that Mr. Carlson’s Fox News show is of such a 'tenor' that viewers should realize that he’s not stating facts when discussing topics. She explained in her opinion statement that given Mr. Carlson’s reputation, a reasonable viewer is skeptical about what he says. According to the judge, the case did not meet the essential criterion of malice required for a defamation claim. The judge noted that he is engaging in exaggeration and non-literal commentary. In this sense, Mr. Carlson’s discourse and analysis may be equated with nonsense. And a reasonable audience should know that. Thus, he’s not culpable."
(Green goes on to reveal who else in the media is using the defense that they cannot be held culpable, even when their words incite insurrection. It's a good read.)
You can read that full story HERE
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Julian Assange is still vilified by the U.S. government. Makes no difference whether a Biden or Trump administration is in charge.
If Assange is put on trial for telling the people the truth? The legacy of the Pentagon Papers (which revealed, to the people, the truth about the Vietnam War, and led to the end of that war) will be reversed.
You can believe the ongoing avalanche of BS, or you can become aware that true freedom of the press is at stake. Here's a June 28th online event we recommend.
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Real news can never sleep. Because the purveyors of cynicism never cease trying to brainwash the masses using crap that serves the interests of their masters. Here's a look at producing real news.
Erin O’Mara, President of the print and online magazine, The Nation, says:
"Each story that we publish in The Nation involves an incredible amount of craft, skill, and experience to produce. Our writers can sometimes spend months cultivating sources, interviewing, and reporting before we publish the articles you read in a print issue or online at TheNation.com.
"On average, it costs The Nation about $2,600 to publish just one of the hundreds of articles we publish each month, not to mention the exclusive, investigative pieces that can take months to report and edit. Here’s how that cost breaks down:
(Source: The Nation, 6/25/21)
"Subscriptions cover less than half of what it takes to publish fierce, independent journalism day after day. We rely on the support from donors to help fill that gap.
"Reader support keeps our presses running. It also allows our correspondents to be fearless in their viewpoints and commentary. We simply couldn’t do that without you. As the President of The Nation, I would be so grateful if you would help us cover the cost of what it takes to produce it by donating to The Nation today."
(No, we do not get a cut, nor are we agents for their cause, alone.)
O'Mara's direct appeal, beyond trying to sell you a subscription, is increasingly common -- because it is increasingly necessary.
No longer are newsrooms simply gathering information, evaluating it for news worthiness, processing, fact-checking, determining reach and scope, impact and implications of the stories they want to cover, and determining how to report it fairly. Nowadays, an increasing share of resources are expended on evaluating the veracity (i.e., essential truthfulness) of what others report -- especially when certain outlets are characterized by "information" that simply has no factual basis. And along with that comes the obligation to out the purveyors of BS that otherwise shapes public opinion.
Those are the obvious violations of the public trust. There is also the fact that most media outlets today are part of massive corporate empires who want their "news divisions" to carry water for their other profitmaking activities. That raises questions of selective reporting and whether certain topics or desperately needed investigations are off-limits.
All of that is why we see our role at the Guide not solely as "niche publication" for music, the arts, and artists. We appreciate the value, not just of the niche, but of the perch we occupy, as well. And given that we have, right here on-board, experience and perspective -- having held official White House-issued press credentials; having worked as a political columnist, as well as a working reporter covering government, defense spending, the military, aerospace, space and NASA, and more; AND having been the sole honoree of the 2014 "Music Legend Award" for our arts journalism -- we understand and accept that we, too, share the responsibility for good journalism, and for calling-out those who abuse the public trust.
That might sound lofty, but the sooner everyone gets back to demanding those things as fundamental and universal, the sooner we can function as a society built on truth and trust.
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Well. Here we are, up against those publishing paradigms imposed by Google since it did a Borg assimilation of the platform we use to bring you The Guide online.
So we must wait to do a "Part Deux" for more on this topic.
'Til then, adieu and toodles.
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On mobile devices, click "view web edition" to bring-up the left side bar with navigation tools. That gives you direct access to click your way to all recent editions. It's easy to bring-up month-by-month archives to everything last year, so far this year, and each previous year.
in this new world