Stories from 2003-06-02

"This is a sad day for me, and I think for the country. I'm afraid a dark storm cloud is now looming over the future of the American media. This is the most sweeping and destructive rollback of consumer protection rules in the history of American broadcasting." [more]

"[T]he Muslim Youth Society championed a campaign to raise the awareness of Iraqis to the threats of drugs and 'erase all traces of occupation that destroyed the cohesiveness of the Iraqi society.' " [more]

"Commenters addressed the need to require more independent programming on our airwaves so that a few conglomerates do not act anti-competitively to control all of the creative entertainment that we see. These proposals should have received the serious attention they deserve in this decision. Over the past decade, we have witnessed a substantial increase in the amount of programming owned by the networks. Where once independent production accounted for much of what we saw, we now have huge vertically-integrated conglomerates that own the vast majority of the programming they deliver." [more]

"As expected, the commission said a single company could now own television stations that reach 45 percent of American households, up from 35 percent. The major networks wanted the cap eliminated entirely." [more]

"By making use of inclusive structures that allowed diverse individuals to collectively reclaim social and political space, the direct action wing of the anti-globalization movement had forged a desire for self-organization. Even after the anti-capitalist movement's promise seemed to be eclipsed by a draconian 'war on terror' and a top-down antiwar movement in response, the decentralist sensibility was not forgotten." [more]

"The U.S. occupation authority has decided to handpick between 25 and 30 Iraqis to serve on an interim political council to advise U.S. officials on day-to-day governance issues rather than convene a large assembly where Iraqi delegates would debate the form and membership of their transitional administration, a senior U.S. official said today." [more]