Amy Goodman at UIC

March 10th, 2004 | by aobaoill |

By funferal guest columnist Sabryna Cornish
One of the leading independent media activists in the nation came to UIC last week to talk about the state of the media in the U.S. and its global effects. Award-winning journalist Amy Goodman, host of ‘Democracy Now!,’ a national radio show that provides access and perspectives to people rarely heard through mass media, spoke to about 200 people about the relation of politics, media and social movements.

She began her talk showing a short film ‘Independent Media in a Time of Fear.’ The film began with a warning about the graphic violence contained in it and described the coverage of the war in Iraq, showing Iraqi war casualties, something that Goodman said has been absent from the mainstream media.
Goodman said the news coverage of the war has been one-sided and does not show social aspects to the American public.
Embedded reporters were especially disturbing to Goodman who said that not only should reporters immerse themselves with the troops, but also the civilians being affected by the war. “Reporters should be embedded with Iraqi families, peace activists, those who have not been heard,” she said.
The use of experts on news programs has become common, she said. These experts, such as military ones, are paid by the networks to give their opinions. Goodman said if the news agencies wanted to portray a true picture of the war, they would also employ other experts, such as doctors to talk about the effects of the weapons on people and peace activists to discuss politics.
She criticized the media for using the same operation names employed by the Pentagon to frame their coverage of the war. “You have to ask yourself, if it were state-run media, would it be any different?” she said.
Goodman said that independent media outlets must be allowed thrive if the democracy that built America is to survive. “Our mission is to make dissent commonplace in America,” she said. “Dissent is what makes this country healthy.”
Goodman pointed out that although the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in America were horrific, plenty of other terrorist acts have been going on throughout the world. She rattled off several coups and other attacks that happened in the world and pointed out that the U.S. government has been linked to helping fund some of those attacks. “It is so important that we know the history,” she said.
Independent media questions everyone it comes in contact with and this is what makes it different from the mainstream media outlets. “Indy media asks ‘on what basis are you saying this?'” she said, “The media is what is supposed to keep the government honest. The press is supposed to be challenging those sources, not cozying up to them.”
Goodman encouraged the audience to question media and support independent media stations, such as Pacifica, which is the outlet for Goodman’s show. “It’s so important we occupy different spaces and open up forums for different voices.”

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