Media critics find 'Common Cause'
By Joe Piaseki 03/27/2008
Without the acronym WMD, would American troops even be in Iraq right now? During the run-up to war, mainstream media outlets couldn’t get enough of repeating false Bush administration claims that Iraq was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction and posed a threat to the United States.
Seldom did the mass media question those claims or let the administration’s critics make their cases, instead tending to prop up as “experts” many who had vested interests in the war and the administration.
Meanwhile, many local news outlets have cut back on in-depth political and public interest reporting while slashing newsroom staff, as happened recently at the Los Angeles Times and Pasadena Star-News. With fewer and fewer resources, our local daily — which, like many other papers, is owned by one of an increasingly small number of large corporations — appears to run more and more stories having little to do with Pasadena.
And then there’s the state of local television news, which troubled Eagle Rock advertising consultant Jim Ryan so much that he became an activist with Common Cause, a nonprofit media and government watchdog group. On Saturday, Ryan and Common Cause are hosting a summit at Caltech titled “Local Media, Democracy and Justice.”
The event, which starts at 1 p.m., features a keynote address by Federal Communications Commission member Jonathan Adelstein, who has opposed further media consolidation and favors requiring television networks to carry more public interest programming.
Following Adelstein’s remarks, a panel including Democratic Congresswoman Hilda Solis, Brad Blog founder Brad Friedman, National Hispanic Media Coalition organizer Alex Nogales, USC journalism professor Jonathan Taplin and Pasadena Weekly Editor Kevin Uhrich will discuss whether media shortcomings have actually undermined the workings of American democracy. The panel will be moderated by Tracy Westen, founder and CEO of the LA-based Center for Governmental Studies, and television anchor-turned-radio host Bree Walker will give closing remarks.
In 2006, Ryan helped conduct a study which found that on certain weeks only 8 percent of Los Angeles television news discussed government policies and practices.
“They’d get video footage of a cat falling out of a tree in Indiana. It ran on every station, but what about things happening at City Hall?” asked Ryan.
The summit takes place at Caltech’s Beckman Institute Auditorium, 400 S. Wilson Ave., Pasadena. A reception follows. To register, call (213) 252-4552 or visit www.commoncause.org and click “events.” Tickets are $10 for students, $15 in advance, or $20 at the door, starting at noon.
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