Posted by Bill Densmore
The Media Giraffe Project
ST. LOUIS, Mo., (May 15, 2005) -- Author Bill Moyers served notice on Sunday that, six months after his retirement from the "NOW with Bill Moyers" program, conservative attacks on the Public Broadcasting Service "might compel me back out of the rocking chair and back into the anchor chair."
In a jarringly personal, hour-long recounting [DOWNLOAD MP3 AUDIO] of alleged political interference in PBS by Corporation for Public Broadcasting board Chairman Kenneth Tomlinson, Moyers called the fight to preserve the political independence of PBS "too important . . . too dangerous" not to be addressed. He said it is critical to continue to focus on keeping the press independent of government.
(LINK: Text of Moyers' speech via Democracy NOW! website)
Moyers, former host of the PBS series “NOW with Bill Moyers”, spoke on the final day of the National Conference for Media Reform in St. Louis, a confab of more than 2,000 citizens from 50 states and eight nations. In interviews, attendeeds said they are concerned about what they perceive as lack of coverage of important issues by the nation’s television, newspaper and radio outlets, and policy moves which they fear may restrict public use of the airwaves and the Internet.
"One of the reasons I am in hot water is because I and some of my colleagues didn't play by the rules of the beltway," said Moyers. " . . . The rules of the game leave Washington officials to set the agenda of journalism."
Moyers said, there are still people within mainstream media trying to do a good job. But he said the Internet is the real hope for the future of public information. Said Moyers: "The fight to preserve the web from corporate gatekeepers .... it is a fight that has only just begun."
Quoting from George Orwell, Moyers said a public which lacks information "is less inclined to put up a fight, ask questions and be skeptical."
Earlier, in his closing talk rallying more than 2,000 attendees, event organizer John Nichols of the group Free Press described the event as the beginning of a movement, not just a conference. He was joined at the podium by Chellie Pingree, president of Common Cause, the non-partisan, Washington, D.C., lobby which has made media reform its primary focus.
“ . . . [I]t is about creating a movement,” said Pingree. “It is a battle about our democracy and who will control access to information in this democracy. . . this is a fight about everything we care about, it is a fight we cannot afford to lose. And we’re not going to.”
Free Press organizers urged conference attendees to go home and join local-reform efforts, whether advocating low-power FM stations, community-wireless systems or other projects. They also asked activists to promote a “Media Bill of Rights” unveiled May 9 by a coalition of groups. The document has been endorsed by 115 groups representing 20 million Americans gathered as the Media and Democracy Coalition.
“There are millions of Americans who are furious with the media, but they don’t know what to do,” said Amanda Ballantyne, education director for Free Press. “We need to give those people the tools they need to fight back . . . Big media has the money, but we have the numbers and when we combine we are more powerful than all of Rupert Murdoch’s money and all of Rupert Murdoch’s lobbyist.”
LINKS:
Raw Story website version: http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Former_PBSer_Bill_Moyers_rebukes_criticism_that_network_is_liberal;_Slams_radical_right_Judith__05_15_2005_1029pm.html
Bill Moyers bio: http://provost.syr.edu/lectures/moyers.asp
Media Bill of Rights: http://www.citizensmediarights.org/
CommonCause: http://www.citizensmediarights.org/
http://www.media-alliance.org/medianews/archives/001170.php
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Other conference blog coverage -- HERE.
Link to upcoming STREAMING AUDIO/VIDEO.
Link to Democracy Now! story on community broadband.
Link to Pacifica Foundation's coverage of St. Louis conference.
Link to daily Media Minutes audio reports on the conference -- HERE.
OTHER LINKS:
Institute for Public Accuracy links to available media-reform contacts:
http://www.accuracy.org/newsrelease.php?articleId=1048
MORE COVERAGE: From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. . . .
From MediaChannel's Danny Schecter . . .
From Be the Media blog . . .
Other conference blog coverage -- HERE.
Link to upcoming STREAMING AUDIO/VIDEO.
Link to Democracy Now! story on community broadband.
Link to Pacifica Foundation's coverage of St. Louis conference.
Link to daily Media Minutes audio reports on the conference -- HERE.
OTHER LINKS:
Institute for Public Accuracy links to available media-reform contacts:
http://www.accuracy.org/newsrelease.php?articleId=1048
MORE COVERAGE: From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. . . .
From MediaChannel's Danny Schecter . . .
From Be the Media blog . . .
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