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Alternative Radio for September 19, 2011
1:00 PM - 1:58 PM
[Program Website]
Today's Highlight: Robert McChesney - The Future of Journalism & Democracy
Remember that old song "Love and Marriage?" "Goes together like a horse and carriage. You can't have one without the other." It's kind of that way with journalism and democracy. It's long been axiomatic that a feisty and vibrant press is essential to the healthy functioning of democracy. Journalists are the public's eyes and ears as they monitor the activities of the powerful. Their inquiries, investigations and reporting are vital to what the Founders of the country called an informed citizenry. Jefferson and Madison never thought freedom of the press would be the private preserve of a handful of rich media barons such as Rupert Murdoch. The weakening of watchdog journalism is having negative effects on democracy. What can be done to revitalize the Fourth Estate?
Robert McChesney
Robert McChesney is co-founder of the Free Press, a non-profit organization working to increase public participation in media policy debates. He is professor of communications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Author of numerous books including "Rich Media, Poor Democracy" and "The Problem of the Media," his latest is "The Political Economy of Media."
Alternative Radio is a weekly one-hour public affairs program offered free to all public radio stations in the U.S., Canada, Europe, South Africa, Australia, and on short-wave on Radio for Peace International.
Established in 1986, AR is dedicated to the founding principles of public broadcasting, which urge that programming serve as "a forum for controversy and debate," be diverse and "provide a voice for groups that may otherwise be unheard." The project is entirely independent, sustained solely by individuals who buy transcripts and tapes of programs.
Its "headquarters" is situated to correspond with its position in the mainstream mass media: down an alley, behind a house, on top of a garage in Boulder, Colorado. From this rarefied location, AR's programs manage to reach over 125 radio stations and millions of listeners. AR is part of the non-profit Institute for Social and Cultural Change.
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