Be The Media

David Mathison interview on NPR affiliate Jefferson Public Radio

BE THE MEDIA author David Mathison will be featured on the Jefferson Exchange program this Friday September 5 at 08:30am PST.

NPR affiliate Jefferson Public Radio broadcasts from southern Oregon to northern California, reaching over 1 million listeners. The station also offers audio streams and podcasts from their web site.

The topic: Indy Media No Longer Fringe Media
In addition to the usual suspects -- major newspaper reporters, network anchors, wire service correspondents -- journalists from another, harder-to-define brand of news media also flocked to the national conventions.

The alternative independent media, from alt weeklies to community radio to podcasters to bloggers, have become an important news source for many Americans.

Can these outlets, which make their political point of view no secret, cover stories in a way other media can't?

We talk with David Mathison of Be the Media about what rules, if any, these journalists are bound to and the role they play in the political news cycle.

Listen to the broadcast and join the discussion here.

David Mathison of BE THE MEDIA on The Ken Hudnall Show tonight (6/24/08)

David Mathison, compiler of BE THE MEDIA, will be interviewed live tonight at 8PM Eastern Time on The Ken Hudnall Show.

You can listen to the interview by tuning your radio to 1650 AM or via the internet at Kenhudnall.com.

This is a live interview and David will be taking calls from listeners. Be sure to have him answer your questions.

A replay of the interview will be posted here soon.

Want to learn how you can become a radio show host?
See Podcasting (chapter 5) and Radio (chapter 6)
Buy an advanced copy of BE THE MEDIA:

David Mathison interviewed by KWMR's Julie Motz

Author, healer, and KWMR radio host of Force and Feeling Julie Motz interviewed David Mathison about his upcoming book, BE THE MEDIA, and community media activism.

Click here or on the banner above to hear the interview. A transcript will be available soon, if you want it. Let me know in the comments...

Like what you hear?
Buy BE THE MEDIA here:

Remove Rush Limbaugh from Armed Forces Radio

I posted this three years ago, in May 2004. Yet Rush is still "entertaining" our troops.

General Wesley Clark may have better luck with Congress, especially since tax dollars are used to fund Armed Forces Radio.

Good luck General Clark.

"Celebrate Independent Media" with Amy Goodman in Marin - Sunday September 17th

I will be speaking for 5 minutes this Sunday at the event below on behalf of Media Action Marin. I am gathering signatures to attach to an FCC comment on media ownership regulations. The comment is here. If you want to sign on to this comment, send me an email here. Comments are due Sept 21st!

Celebrate Independent Media with Amy Goodman!

Amy Goodman of "Democracy Now" will appear in Angelico Hall at Dominican University this Sunday September 17th at 1:00pm.

Amy will be accompanied by her brother, investigative journalist and author David Goodman

They have co-authored a new book, "Static: Government Liars, Media Cheerleaders, and the People Who Fight Back."

Plus:

* David Mathison, Media Action Marin

* Kim Spencer, President, LinkTV

* Live music performances by Shree Dove and Jon Fromer

Visit www.mpjc.org/imc for details and directions. $18 at the door or in advance at Book Passage and Bedrock Music. Students $12.

This event is produced by the Marin Peace and Justice Coalition as a benefit for the Independent Media Guide of Marin.

The guide lists independent sources of information in print, on TV, radio and the Internet. MPJC is distributing 22,000 copies of the Guide throughout Marin.

Click here Download a pdf of the guide to see the online version.

STOP HATE RADIO - Deny KNEW's license renewal!

On 11/8/05, Bill O'Reilly went on Bay Area station KNEW-910AM and used the public airwaves to condone a terrorist strike on San Francisco.

He then suggested Al Qaeda specifically blow up Coit Tower - which is dedicated as a memorial to fallen firefighters.

O'Reilly: "And if Al Qaeda comes in here and blows you up, we're not gonna do anything about it. We're going to say, look, every other place in America is off limits to you, except San Francisco. You wanna blow up the Coit Tower? Go ahead."

O'Reilly's comments were criticized by Mayor Gavin Newsom, Supervisors Daly and Peskin, President of the San Francisco Firefighters Union Local 798 John Hanley, local journalists at KRON, the SF Chronicle, CBS-5 and many community activists.

We need to alert the FCC to Clear Channel/KNEW's pattern of broadcasting anti-American hate speech over the public airwaves. There is a clear and consistent pattern of abuse of the public trust at KNEW910-AM, as seen in this 'Informal Objection' and the related 'Petition to Deny,' submitted to the FCC on November 1, 2005.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) grants radio station licenses to broadcasters for eight year terms. Each radio station must file for renewal with the FCC, during which time listeners may file an Informal Objection against the station's license renewal. These Objections must be filed with the FCC and the station owner before licenses expire in California on December 1, 2005.

TAKE ACTION NOW - DENY KNEW'S LICENSE RENEWAL: Print, sign and mail this Informal Objection to the FCC  and a copy to the Station Owner . Simply print out the form letters, fill out your name at the top, sign at the bottom and send to the addresses provided BEFORE November 30, 2005.

STOP HATE RADIO: Deny Clear Channel's radio license renewals: KYLD-94.9FM, KMEL-106.1FM, KSJO-92.3FM and KNEW-910AM

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) grants radio station licenses to broadcasters for eight year terms. California radio station licenses expire on December 1, 2005. Each radio station must file for renewal with the FCC.

Listeners may file a Petition to Deny or an Informal Objection against the station's license renewal.

To file a Petition to Deny, the person must be a 'party in interest,' meaning they must have more than a passing interest in the station. The petition must be supported by an affidavit, and must be mailed to both the FCC and the radio station one month prior to the license expiration date.

With the generous help from the Law Offices of Alan Korn, SF Bay area media advocates Media Alliance and the Youth Media Council filed 'Petitions to Deny' license renewals for the following Clear Channel radio stations (click to see a PDF of the petitions):

• KYLD-94.9FM and KMEL-106.1FM (urban format)
• KSJO-92.3FM (Spanish format)
• KNEW-910AM (talk format)

Informal Objections are easier - anyone can oppose the grant of a radio station's license renewal application by filing an Informal Objection, and they can be filed anytime prior to staff action on the license renewal application.

I filed an Informal Objection to the license renewal for KNEW-910AM radio here (below)

Informal Objection to Clear Channel license renewal: KNEW-910AM

Federal Communications Commission
Office of the Secretary
445 12th Street SW
Washington, DC 20554
ATTN: Audio Division, License Renewal Processing Team - Mail Stop 1800B

October 31, 2005
 
I hereby submit this Informal Objection to the Application for Renewal of the radio license for KNEW-910AM, an Oakland, California radio station licensed to AMFM Broadcasting Licenses, LLC, a division of Clear Channel Communications.

The evidence presented in this Informal Objection will demonstrate that Clear Channel’s KNEW-910AM does not serve the public interest, convenience and necessity, that it has violated the Federal Communications Act, and, taken with evidence from a ‘Petition to Deny’ submitted by Media Alliance and the Youth Media Council, proves that, taken together, KNEW’s actions constitute a pattern of abuse.

Further, the actions of Michael Weiner, host of the program “The Savage Nation,” has exhibited a lack of the character traits of morality, honesty, truthfulness and reliability, and is therefore unfit to serve as a representative of a broadcast licensee. KNEW, Michael Weiner and Clear Channel have shown a willful disregard for its listening audience, and they have failed to operate the station in a manner that serves the public interest in the communities they purport to represent.

See the full Informal Objection letter to the FCC here, and Appendix A (below) for the audio broadcasts and transcripts.

Objection to Clear Channel license renewal: KNEW-910AM (Appendix A - audio clips and transcripts)

APPENDIX A: Audio & transcripts from Michael Weiner's KNEW-910AM broadcasts.

While you are listening, read along with the Informal Objection letter to the FCC.

Monday September 27, 2004:

1. Many will be listening to the debate on the radio (0:47)  Transcript

2. Who sounds better on the radio, Kerry or Bush? (0:39)  Transcript

Wednesday, September 29, 2004:
3. I can say anything I want (0:11)  Transcript
4. I won't interrupt any of the discussion (0:22)  Transcript
5. I promise to let you listen (0:38)  Transcript

Thursday September 30, 2004:

6. I don't mean look like an idiot (1:02)  Transcript

7. I promise to not talk over Bush or Kerry (0:16)  Transcript

8. KNEW - The only station with coverage of the debate (0:10)  Transcript

9. The baggy-eyed Bolshevik and the Republican pig (0:20)  Transcript

10. US Presidential debate 2004 (5:40)  Transcript

11. I said I wouldn't talk over them (0:20)  Transcript

Tuesday October 5, 2004:
12. Some stations have the guts to carry it, some do not (0:46) Transcript
13. Some stations are afraid of my coverage (0:46)  Transcript
14. US Vice Presidential debate 2004 (4:24)  Transcript

'Petition To Deny' Clear Channel radio station license renewals: KYLD 94.9FM and KMEL 106.1FM

According to testimony in the Petition to Deny KYLD and KMEL's radio station licenses, KYLD hired DJ Rick Delgado, even after he was fired by New York City's Hot 97 for airing The Tsunami Song, which mocked the victims of the 2004 Tsunami that caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of South Asians.

Song lyrics included the following:

And all at once you can hear the screaming chinks
And no one was saved from the wave
There were Africans drowning, little Chinamen swept away
You can hear God laughing, 'Swim you bitches, swim'

The petition states that KMEL excludes local artists and musicians, the voices of youth organizers and people of color. KMEL refuses to air public service announcements from community groups.

It also details many illegal and unethical stunts performed by DJs and programmers, some of which resulted in fines and jail time - one of the DJ's was sentenced to 45 days in San Mateo County jail. One KYLD DJ called a woman's home and impersonated a Kaiser Permanante Hospital doctor. While on the air, the DJ accused the woman of abusing her daughter since she was a little girl. This led to a lawsuit that was later settled for an undisclosed sum.