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From: dave@ratmandu.sgi.com (dave "who can do? ratmandu!" ratcliffe) Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc,alt.activism,misc.headlines,alt.conspiracy,ca.politics,ba.politics Subject: Media Resources List Keywords: You have to take your your complaints directly to the media Message-ID: <9106@odin.corp.sgi.com> Date: 19 Jun 90 18:28:14 GMT Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc., Mountain View, CA Lines: 940

In general, the lobbying operations of peace groups focus too much on politicians and not enough on media. They'll spend months trying to get a half hour meeting with a Congressperson about Nicaragua and ignore the fact that every day that Congressperson is reading lies in "The New York Times" or "The Washington Post". That's a little naive. I'd love to see lobbying organizations aim 10-20% of their efforts at the media. Dozens of small, organized grassroots groups who regularly write, call, telegram and petition their local and national media in the ways I've mentioned would be ideal. It doesn't require a lot to have an impact. This kind of lobbying would reinforce the usual kind, since politicians would then see peace leaders actually quoted in newspapers or participating in a debate on Nightline. We continue to ignore the media at our peril, because politicians don't ignore the media--they swear by it. They read the two papers of record and watch the nightly news programs very closely.

TV programmers are often spineless. They believe themselves to be majoritarian, programming "what the viewers want." All private media outlets are, after all, businesses. What they are selling actually, is access to their viewers. They don't sell news and entertainment. They sell advertising time or space. So it is very important for them to attract and keep viewers and readers so that advertisers will want to buy their advertising time or space. That's why programmers are so sensitive to what the viewers say. They need to hear from viewers who are peace oriented, who are angry about these panels, and who suggest new people who should be on these panels.

The first thing is to get beyond this syndrome where people watch the media and grumble about it. It's just not good enough. You have to take your complaints directly to the media. Don't take the media lying down.

-- from an interview with Jeff Cohen, Executive Director of FAIR ---------------------------------------------------------------------

The following is a Media Resources List I recently received from FAIR. It contains a great deal of data about the information industry in our country. It's important to treat the major media the same way one does the politicians--let them hear from you--especially when you disagree with the way they are, or are NOT covering an issue you care about.

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FAIR Resource Lists

A. Recommended Reading B. The Media Business C. Alternative Media D. Media Analysis E. Journalism Organizations F. National News Media

Adapted from "Unreliable Sources: A Guide to Detecting Bias in the News Media" by Martin A. Lee and Norman Soloman

FAIR Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting 130 West 25th Street, New York, NY 10001 212/633-6700

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A: RECOMMENDED READING

Aronson, James. "The Press and the Cold War." Boston: Beacon Press, 1970. Shows key role of media in promoting Cold War stereotypes, myths and hatreds.

Bagdikian, Ben. "The Media Monopoly." Boston: Beacon Press, 1990 (third edition). The classic study of concentrated corporate ownership and its impact on mass media.

Barnouw, Erik. "The Sponsor: Notes On A Modern Potentate." New York: Oxford University Press 1978. Examines the influence of advertising on broadcast media.

Bennett, W. Lance. "News: The Politics of Illusion." New York: Longman, 1988. Explores why, in a society with so much information, people are so confused about politics, and how media practices--not public apathy--are key to this dilemma.

Bray, Howard. "The Pillars of the Post." New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1980. Studies the rise of the Washington Post from the moment Wall Street Tycoon Eugene Meyer bought it at a bankruptcy sale to its present eminence under another tycoon--his daughter Katharine Graham.

Cross, Donna Woolfolk. "Mediaspeak: How Television Makes Up Your Mind." New York: Mentor, 1983. A telling look at TV's wide range of manipulative techniques.

Cockburn, Alexander. "Corruptions of Empire." London: Verso, 1988. A collection of essays by a gifted polemicist and media critic.

Davis, Deborah. "Katharine The Great. Katharine Graham and the Washington Post." Bethesda: National Press, Inc., 1987 (second edition). Biographically details the extent and scope of Katharine Graham's influence.

Diamond, Sara. "Spiritual Warfare: The Politics of the Christian Right." Boston: South End Press, 1989. Analyzes televangelists and right-wing religious broadcast media.

Entman, Robert M. "Democracy Without Citizens: Media and the Decay of American Politics." New York: Oxford University Press, 1989. A deft academic examination of how institutional patterns deprive us of a "free press."

Gans, Herbert. "Deciding What's News." New York: Vintage, 1980. A sociologist takes apart the functional criteria for what qualifies as "news."

Gitlin, Todd. "The Whole World Is Watching: Mass Media in the Making and Unmaking of the New Left." Berkeley: University of California Press, 1980. A study of how mass media catalyzed and eventually undermined the New Left movement of the 1960s.

Hallin, Daniel C. "Uncensored War." New York: Oxford University Press, 1986. The definitive history of the media's role in the escalation and demise of the U.S. war in Vietnam.

Herman, Edward S. and Brodhead, Frank. "The Rise and Fall of the Bulgarian Connection." New York: Sheridan Square Publications, 1986. A case study of "free world" disinformation and the shooting of Pope John Paul II.

Herman, Edward S. and Chomsky, Noam. "Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media." New York: Pantheon, 1988. A probing expose of biased reporting on human rights and foreign policy issues.

Hertsgaard, Mark. "On Bended Knee: The Press and the Reagan Presidency." New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1988. The definitive work on U.S. media performance during the Reagan era.

Lee, Martin A. and Norman Solomon. "Unreliable Sources: A Guide to Detecting Bias in News Media." New York: Lyle Stuart, 1990. Examines the domination of news media by big government and big business. A vital handbook for seeing through biased coverage of a wide range of domestic and foreign policy issues.

Mander, Jerry. "Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television." New York: William Morrow, 1974. A provocative analysis of the destructive impact of television in our society.

McClain, Leanita. "A Foot In Each World: Essays and Articles." Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1986. A wrenching book about modern racism, written by a young black editor at the Chicago Tribune before her suicide.

Miller, Mark Crispin. "Boxed In: The Culture of TV." Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1988. A witty and astute critique of the television medium in America.

Parenti, Michael. "Inventing Reality: The Politics of the Mass Media." New York: St. Martin's, 1986. A concise and insightful analysis of U.S. news media bias.

Peck, Abe. "Uncovering the Sixties: The Life and Times of the Underground Press." New York: Pantheon, 1985. A history of the role of the underground press in the 1960s, and its continuing legacy.

Rapping, Elayne. "The Looking Glass World of Nonfiction TV." Boston: South End Press, 1987. How mass culture--news, sports, commercials, games show--promotes the ideological bias of media owners.

Schiller, Herbert I. "Culture, Inc.: The Corporate Takeover of Public Expression." New York: Oxford University Press, 1989. Analyzes the corporate structure of mass communications and how it constrains expression in a wide range of news and entertainment media. See also Schiller's The Mind Managers, Beacon Press, 1973.

Seldes, George. "Witness to a Century." New York: Ballantine, 1987. The dean of American media criticism reflects on eight decades of journalism.

Shaheen, Jack. "The TV Arab." Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1984. A probing study of racial stereotyping in news and entertainment.

Stone, I.F. "The Haunted Fifties, In a Time of Torment, and Polemics and Prophesies." Boston: Little, Brown, 1989. Three-volume series of edited writings from an eminent media critic.

Washburn, Patrick S. "A Question of Sedition: The Federal Government's Investigation of the Black Press During World War II." New York: Oxford University Press, 1987. Documents official steps against the black press, including FBI efforts to stigmatize black reporters who protested discrimination.

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B: THE MEDIA BUSINESS

The world's ten biggest media companies:

1. Time Warner 2. Bertelsmann, A.G. (West Germany) 3. CapCities/ABC 4. Thomson (Canada) 5. News Corporation Ltd. (Murdoch) 6. Hachette (France) 7. Gannett Company 8. Knight-Ridder Inc. 9. Pearson PLC (Great Britain) 10. Maxwell Communication Corp. (Great Britain)

[Source: "MacLean's" 7-17-89]

The 23 dominant corporations that control most of the U.S. media (newspapers, magazines, books, television, and motion pictures, in alphabetical order):

Bertelsmann, AG. (books) Capital Cities/ABC (newspapers, broadcasting) Cox Communications (newspapers) CBS (broadcasting) Buena Vista Films (Disney; motion pictures) Dow Jones (newspapers) Gannett (newspapers) General Electric (television) Paramount Communications (books, motion pictures) Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (books) Hearst (newspapers, magazines) Ingersoll (newspapers) International Thomson (newspapers) Knight-Ridder (newspapers) Media News Group (newspapers) Newhouse (newspapers, books) News Corporation Ltd. (newspapers, magazines, motion pictures) New York Times (newspapers) Reader's Digest Association (books, magazines) Scripps-Howard (newspapers) Time Warner (magazines, books, motion pictures) Times Mirror (newspapers) Tribune Company (magazines)

[Source: "The Media Monopoly", Ben Bagdikian]

The fourteen companies that dominate the daily newspaper industry:

1. Gannett Company--"USA Today" and 87 other dailies. 2. Knight-Ridder, Inc.--"Philadelphia Inquirer", "Miami Herald" and 27 others. 3. Newhouse Newspapers--"Staten Island Advance", "Portland Oregonian", and 24 others. 4. Tribune Company--"Chicago Tribune", "New York Daily News" and 7 others. 5. Times Mirror--"Los Angeles Times", "Newsday" and six others. 6. Dow Jones & Co.--"Wall Street Journal" and 22 Ottaway newspapers. 7. International Thomson--120 dailies (mainly in Canada). 8. New York Times Company--"New York Times" and 26 others. 9. Scripps-Howard Newspapers--"Denver Rocky Mountain News" and 22 others. 10. Hearst--"San Francisco Examiner" and 13 others. 11. Cox--"Atlanta Journal and Constitution" and 19 others. 12. News Corp. Ltd--"Boston Herald" and 2 others. 13. Media News Group--"Dallas Times Herald" and 17 others. 14. Ingersoll Newspapers--"New Haven Register" and 36 others.

The three dominant corporations in the magazine business:

1. Time Warner--"Time", "People", "Sports Illustrated", "Fortune", etc. 2. News Corp.--"TV Guide", "Seventeen", New York", "Premiere", etc. 3. Hearst--"Good Housekeeping", "Cosmopolitan", "Esquire", etc.

The six companies that dominate book publishing:

1. Paramount Communications--Simon & Schuster, Pocket Books, etc. 2. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich 3. Time Warner--Little, Brown, Warner Books, Book-of-the-Month Club 4. Bertelsmann, A G.--Doubleday, Bantam, Dell, etc. 5. Reader's Digest Association 6. Newhouse--Random House, Ballantine, etc.

The four firms that dominate the motion picture industry:

1. Buena Vista--Disney 2. Paramount Communications--Paramount Pictures 3. Murdoch--20th Century Fox 4. Time Warner--Warner Brothers

[Source: "The Media Monopoly", Ben Bagdikian]

The 15 top network television advertisers (January through June 1989):

1. General Motors 2. Philip Morris Companies, Inc. 3. Proctor & Gamble Co. 4. Kellogg Co. 5. McDonald's Corp. 6. Ford Motor Co. 7. Unilever N.V. 8. Johnson & Johnson 9. Pepsico, Inc. 10. Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. 11. Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. 12. American Home Products Corp. 13. Chrysler Corp. 14. Sears Roebuck & Co. 15. Coca Cola, Co.

[Source: Television Bureau of Advertising]

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C: ALTERNATIVE MEDIA

NATIONAL ALTERNATIVE PRINT MEDIA

"Black Scholar" 485 65th Street Oakland, CA 94609 415/547-6633

"Church and State" Americans United for Separation of Church and State 8120 Tenton Street Silver Spring, MD 20910-4753 301/589-3707

"Covert Action Information Bulletin" Box 50272 Washington, DC 20004

"Guardian" 33 W. 17th Street New York, NY 10011 212/691-0404

"In These Times" 2040 N. Milwaukee Chicago, IL 60647 312/772-0100

"Listen Real Loud" Box MAQR AFSC Nationwide Women's Program 1501 Cherry Street Philadelphia, PA 19102

Midwest Center For Labor Research 3411 W. Diversy, Suite 10 Chicago, IL 60647

"Mother Jones" Foundation for National 1663 Mission Street San Francisco, CA 94103 415/558-8881

"NACLA Report on the Americas" 475 Riverside Drive, Suite 454 New York, NY 10115

"The Nation" 72 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10011 212/242-8400

"National Catholic Reporter" 115 E. Armour Boulevard Kansas City, MO 64111 816/531-0538

"New Directions for Women" 108 West Palisade Avenue Englewood, NJ 07631 201/568-0226

Political Research Associates 678 Massachusetts Avenue, Suite 205 Cambridge, MA 01239 617/661-9313

"The Progressive" 409 E. Main Street Madison, WI 53703 608/257-4626

"Public Citizen" 2000 P. Street, NW, #700 Washington, DC 20036 202/293-9142

"Sojourners" 1321 Otis Street, NE Washington, DC 20017 202/636-3637

"Tikkun" 5100 Leona Street Oakland, CA 94619 415/484-0805

"Utne Reader" The Fawkes Building 1624 Harmon Place Minneapolis, MN 55403 612/338-5040

"Village Voice" 842 Broadway New York, NY 10003 212/475-3300

War Resisters League 339 Lafayette Street New York, NY 10012 212/228-0450

"Zeta" Institute for Social and Cultural Communications 116 St. Botolph Street Boston, MA 02115 617/266-0629

To find out about local newsweeklies in your area, contact:

Association of Alternative Newsweeklies c/o Jane Sullivan Bay Guardian 2700 l9th Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415/255-3100

ALTERNATIVE NEWS SERVICES:

Alternet 2025 Eye Street, NW, #1104 Washington, DC 20006 202/887-0022

College Press Service 2505 W. Second Avenue, Suite 7 Denver, CO 80219 303/936-9930

The Data Center 464 19th Street Oakland, CA 94612 415/835-4692

Insight Features Networking for Democracy 3411 W. Diversey, Suite 5 Chicago, IL 60647

InterPress 400 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10017 212/832-2839

National Student News Service Box 3161 Boston, MA 02101 800/833-NEWS

Pacific News Service 450 Mission Street, Room 506 San Francisco, CA 94105 415/243-4364

NATIONAL ALTERNATIVE BROADCAST MEDIA:

RADIO:

"American Dialogues" Robert Foxworth 8033 Sunset Boulevard, #967 Los Angeles, CA 90046 213/550-3949

"Common Ground" Stanley Foundation 216 Sycamore Street, Suite 500 Muscatine, Iowa 52761 319/264-1500

"Consider the Alternatives" 5808 Greene Street Philadelphia, PA 19144 215/848-4100

National Federation of Community Broadcasters 666 Eleventh Street, NW, Suite 805 Washington, D.C. 20001 202/393-2355

"New Voices" Public Interest Video Network 1642 R Street, NW Washington, DC 20009 202/797-8997

"The Other Americas Radio" Box 85 Santa Barbara, CA 93102 805/569-5381

Pacifica (Program Service) 3729 Cahuenga Boulevard West North Hollywood, CA 91604 818/985-2711

Radio for Peace International Box 10689 Eugene, OR 97440 503/741-1794

"Second Opinion " Erwin Knoll (host) c/o The Progressive 409 E. Main Street Madison, WI 53703 608/257-4626

"Undercurrents" (carries FAlR's weekly radio show) 130 W. 25 Street New York, NY 10001 212/691-7370

WINGS Women's International News Gathering Service P.O. Box 5307 Kansas City, MO 64131 816/361-7161

TELEVISION AND VIDEO:

Alternative Views Box 7279 Austin, TX 78713 512-477-5148

Empowerment Project 1653 18th Street, Suite 3 Santa Monica, CA 90404 213/828-8807

Global Vision 361 West Broadway New York NY 10013 212/941-0255

Media Network 121 Fulton Street New York NY 10038 212/619-3455

Paper Tiger/Deep Dish 339 Lafayette Street New York NY 10012 212/420-9045

Video Databank 37 S. Wabash Chicago, IL 60603 312-899-5172

The Video Project: Films and Videos for a Safe and Sustainable World 5332 College Avenue, Suite 101 Oakland, CA 94618 415/655-9050

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D: MEDIA ANALYSIS RESOURCES

"Adbusters: A Magazine of Media and Environmental Strategies" The Media Foundation 1243 W. Seventh Avenue Vancouver, British Columbia V6H 1B7 Canada 604/736-9401

"Columbia Journalism Review" 700 Journalism Building Columbia University New York NY 10027 212/854-1811

Communications Consortium 1333 H Street, NW, 11th Floor Washington, DC 20005 202/682-1270

"Deadline" Center for War, Peace and the News Media New York University 1021 Main Building New York NY 10003 212/598-7804

Essential Information P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 202/387-8034

"Extra!" FAIR (Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting) 130 W. 25 Street New York, NY 10001 212/633-6700

GLAAD Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation 80 Varick Street, Suite 3E New York, NY 10013 212/966-1700

"Independent" 625 Broadway, 9th Floor New York NY 10012 212/473-3400

"Lies of Our Times" Institute for Media Analysis 145 W. 4th Street New York, NY 10012 212/254-1061

"Media & Values" Media Action Research Center Center for Media & Values 1962 South Shenandoah Los Angeles, CA 90034 213/559-2944

"Mediafile" Media Alliance Fort Mason Center, Building D290 San Francisco, CA 94123 415/441-2557

Media Watch 1803 Mission Street, #7 Santa Cruz, CA 95060 408/423-6355

Project Censored Communications Studies Program 1801 E. Cotati Ave. Sonoma State University Rohnert Park, CA 94928 707/664-2149

"Propaganda Review" Media Alliance Fort Mason Center, Room D290 San Francisco, CA 94123 415/441-2557

"Quill" 53 W. Jackson Boulevard, Suite 731 Chicago, IL 60604 312/922-7424

"St. Louis Journalism Review" 8380 Olive Boulevard St. Louis, MO 63132 314/991-1699

"Tyndall Report" 135 Rivington Street New York, NY 10022 212/674-8913

"The Democratic Communique'" Union of Democratic Communications P.O. Box 1220 Berkeley, CA 94701 415-596-3589

"Washington Journalism Review" 2233 Wisconsin Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20007 202/333-6800

Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press 3306 Ross P1ace, NW Washington, DC 20008 202/966-7783

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E: JOURNALISM ORGANIZATIONS

American Society of Newspaper Editors P.O. Box 17004 Washington, D.C. 20041 703/648-1144

Article 19 90 Borough High Street London SE1 1LL, United Kingdom 01/403-4822

Black Press Institute 7917 South Exchange Avenue, Suite 205 Chicago, IL 60617 312/375-8200

Center for Investigative Reporting 530 Howard Street San Francisco, CA 94105 415/543-1200

Committee to Protect Journalists 16 E. 42 Street, 3rd floor New York NY 10017 212/983-5355

Fund for Investigative Journalism 1755 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Suite 504 Washington, D.C. 20036 202/462-1844

Journalists Without Borders Antonio Maria Claret 133, First Floor, Door 3 08025 Barcelona, Spain 34/265-5167

National Alliance of Third World Journalists P.O. Box 43208 Washington, DC 20010 202/462-8197

National Association of Black Journalists 11600 Sunrise Valley Drive Reston, VA 22091 703-648-1270

National Association of Hispanic Journalists National Press Building, Suite 1193 Washington, D.C. 20045 202/783-6228

National Writers Union 13 Astor Place, Seventh Floor New York, NY 10003 212/254-0279

Newspaper Guild 8611 Second Avenue Silver Spring, MD 20910 301/585-2990

Society of Professional Journalists 53 W. Jackson Boulevard, Suite 731 Chicago, IL 60604 312/922-7424

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F: NATIONAL NEWS MEDIA

Here are some important media addresses and phone numbers that you may want to write, call or telegram your own complaints about imbalanced coverage. You might also want to supplement this list with addresses of your local media.

ABC "World News Tonight" "Face the Nation" 7 West 66th Street CBS News New York, NY 10023 2020 M Street, NW 212/887-4040 Washington, DC 20036 202/457-4321

Associated Press "Good Morning America" 50 Rockefeller Plaza ABC News New York, NY 10020 1965 Broadway National Desk (212/621-1600) New York, NY 10023 Foreign Desk (212/621-1663) 212/496-4800 Washington Bureau (202/828-6400) Larry King Live TV "CBS Evening News" CNN 524 W. 57th Street 111 Massachusetts Avenue, NW New York, NY 10019 Washington, DC 20001 212/975-3693 202/898-7900

"CBS This Morning" Larry King Show--Radio 524 W. 57th Street Mutual Broadcasting New York, NY 10019 1755 So. Jefferson Davis Highway 212/975-2824 Arlington, VA 22202 703/685-2175 "Christian Science Monitor" CSM Publishing Society "Los Angeles Times" One Norway Street Times-Mirror Square Boston, MA 02115 Los Angeles, CA 90053 800/225-7090 800/528-4637

CNN "MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour" One CNN Center P.O. Box 2626 Box 105366 Washington, DC 20013 Atlanta, GA 30348 703/998-2870 404/827-1500 "MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour" CNN WNET-TV Washington Bureau 356 W. 58th Street 111 Massachusetts Avenue, NW New York, NY 10019 Washington, DC 20001 212/560-3113 202/898-7900 "Meet the Press" "Crossfire" NBC News CNN 4001 Nebraska Avenue, NW 111 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20036 Washington, DC 20001 202/885-4200 202/898-7951

"Morning Edition/All Things Considered" "Today" Show National Public Radio NBC News 2025 M Street, NW 30 Rockefeller Plaza Washington, DC 20036 New York, NY 10112 202/822-2000 212/664-4249

"NBC Nightly News" United Press International 30 Rockefeller Plaza 1400 Eye Street, NW New York, NY 10112 Washington, DC 20006 212/644-4971 202/898-8000

"New York Times" "U.S. News & World Report" 229 W. 43rd Street 2400 N Street, NW New York, NY 10036 Washington, DC 20037 212/556-1234 202/955-2000 212/556-7415

"New York Times" "USA Today" Washington Bureau 1000 Wilson Boulevard 1627 Eye Street, NW, 7th Floor Arlington, VA 22229 Washington, DC 20006 703/276-3400 202/862-0300

"Newsweek" "Wall Street Journal" 444 Madison Avenue 200 Liberty Street New York, NY 10022 New York, NY 10281 212/350-4000 212/416-2000

"Nightline" "Washington Post" ABC News 1150 15th Street, NW 47 W. 66th Street Washington, DC 20071 New York, NY 10023 202/344-6000 212/887-4995

"Nightline" "Washington Week In Review" Ted Koppel WETA-TV ABC News P.O. Box 2626 1717 DeSales, NW Washington, DC 20013 Washington, DC 20036 703/998-2626 202/887-7364

"This Week With David Brinkley" ABC News 1717 DeSales, NW Washington, DC 20036 202/887-7777

"Time" magazine Time Warner, Inc. Time & Life Building Rockefeller Center New York, NY 10020 212/522-1212

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