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Special Programs
Special Program Schedule Week One: The Ad and the Ego Week Two: Toxic Sludge is Good For You Week Three: What A Girl Wants Globalization and the Media Week Four: Guerrilla Video Primer
BECOME THE MEDIA
A Special Four Part Series in September 2003 on Media and Democracy. *Thomas Jefferson once said that "Information is the currency of democracy." In fact, the only business protected by the U.S. Constitution is the Press. The reason is simple; only a strong, free press can tell us how those with power are using it. And only if we are informed can we protect ourselves from abuses of power. But what happens when the press is owned by the powerful? Today, six global corporations dominate all print, broadcast and entertainment media in the U.S. Free Speech TV presents a special four part series that unpacks the connection between media and democracy. In each program, FSTV examines how corporations use media to increase their economic and political power, and exposes how media impacts our daily lives. Tune in and learn how to decode media messages, and how you can move from passive recipient to active participant.
Week One September 1 - 7, 2003, The Ad and the Ego, 55 min. PG-13 The Ad and the Ego traces the development of advertising from its descriptive 19th century origins through today's high-tech manipulation of powerful symbols and imagery. The average American is exposed to over 1500 ads every day. But, like the air we breathe, we pay little attention to it. By using the style, techniques and images of modern advertising, the film skillfully mirrors the neural network of ads that connect us as a society, educating us about who we are and who we should be. The film goes beyond deconstructing individual advertisements to reveal the economic and political dimensions of living in an advertising infused environment. In our "new world order" of diminishing resources and devastating pollution, this film makes the critical connections between the rise of consumerism, environmental degradation and our blind commitment to economic growth at any cost. It forcefully demonstrates the link between our debased public discourse and a media culture that defines freedom as consumer choice rather than democratic participation. Broadcast Dates and Times (All times Eastern)
September 1, 2003 - Monday @ 05:00; 09:00; 13:00; 18:00
September 3, 2003 - Wednesday @ 05:00
September 5, 2003 - Friday @ 05:00; 09:00; 13:00
September 6, 2003 - Sat @ 08:00, 13:00, 18:00
September 7, 2003 - Sun @ 05:00, 09:00,12:00, 19:00, 22:00
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Week Two September 8 - 14, 2003, Toxic Sludge is Good For You, 45min. PG While advertising is the visible component of the corporate system, perhaps even more important and pervasive is its invisible partner, the public relations industry. This video illuminates this hidden sphere of our culture and examines the way in which the management of "the public mind" has become central to how our democracy is controlled by political and economic elites. "Toxic Sludge is Good for You" Illustrates how much of what we think of as independent, unbiased news and information has its origins in the boardrooms of public relations companies. PR critics include PR Watch founder John Stauber and media scholars Mark Crispin Miller and Stuart Ewen. "Toxic Sludge is Good for You" tracks the development of the PR industry from early efforts to win popular American support for World War I to the role of crisis management in controlling the damage to corporate image. The video analyzes the tools public relations professionals use to shift our perceptions including a look at the coordinated PR campaign to slip genetically engineered food past public scrutiny. "Toxic Sludge is Good for You" urges viewers to question the experts and follow the money back to the public relations industry so as to challenge its hold on democracy Broadcast Dates and Times (All times Eastern)
September 8, 2003 - Monday @ 05:00; 09:00; 13:00; 18:00
September 10, 2003 - Wednesday @ 05:00
September 12, 2003 - Friday @ 05:00; 09:00; 13:00
September 13, 2003 - Sat @ 08:00, 13:00, 18:00
September 14, 2003 - Sun @ 05:00, 09:00,12:00, 19:00, 22:00
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Week ThreeSeptember 15 - 21, 2003 What A Girl Wants, 30 min. PG Eleven girls aged 8 to 16 from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds and two classrooms of middle and high school students were interviewed about their views on media culture and its impact on their lives. Their insightful and provocative responses provide the central theme of the film, a half-hour examination of how the media presents girls. Juxtaposing footage culled from a typical week of TV broadcasting with original interviews, What a Girl Wants will provoke debate and, ideally, act as a catalyst for change in media content. Globalization and the Media, 21 min. PG Undercurrents explore how the media is involved in shaping public opinion during the War on Terrorism and Globalisation. We offer a wide range of viewpoints from broadcasters, journalists, computer hackers, media activists, and news editors. Travelling from Nigeria to Britain to Italy we report on the violent suppression of the alternative media. Also discover how new technology, such as the internet and camcorders, is challenging the role of the traditional news gatherer. Broadcast Dates and Times (All times Eastern)
September 15, 2003 - Monday @ 05:00; 09:00; 13:00; 18:00
September 17, 2003 - Wednesday @ 05:00
September 19, 2003 - Friday @ 05:00; 09:00; 13:00
September 20, 2003 - Sat @ 08:00, 13:00, 18:00
September 21, 2003 - Sun @ 05:00, 09:00,12:00, 19:00, 22:00
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Week Four September 22 - 28, 2003, Guerrilla Video Primer, 60 min. PG Guerrilla Video Primer provides an informative "insider" look into the world of radical alternative video journalism. From local events to the largest direct actions of our time--this tutorial is our effort to better train and expand the growing pool of guerrilla journalists. (Sound track by Chumbawamba and Onomatopoeia). Broadcast Dates and Times (All times Eastern)
September 22, 2003 - Monday @ 05:00; 09:00; 13:00; 18:00
September 24, 2003 - Wednesday @ 05:00
September 26, 2003 - Friday @ 05:00; 09:00; 13:00
September 27, 2003 - Sat @ 08:00, 13:00, 18:00
September 28, 2003 - Sun @ 05:00, 09:00,12:00, 19:00, 22:00
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ON FREE SPEECH TV - DISH NETWORK CHANNEL 9415SEE BELOW FOR SERIES DESCRIPTION AND DOWNLINK DATES AND TIMES
* Titles in this series are subject to change.
"The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth becomes the greatest enemy of the state."
- Dr. Joseph M. Goebbels - Hitler's propaganda minister
