PAI conducted its second snapshot of local news, focusing on WTHR’s 6 p.m. weekday news from February 5-9, 2007. That first full week of February 2007 provided some interesting programming.

Download the June/July 2007 issue The Right of Way, the Public Access of Indianapolis newsletter.  Kathleen Dobie's discussion with Danny "The News Dissector" Schechter is this issue's feature article. Schechter shares his thoughts on media, including public access TV, and the motivation behind his new documentary film, IN DEBT WE TRUST. In "Covering the Media Covering the War," Kathleen reviews Schechter's earlier film, WMD: Weapons of Mass Deception, and Bill Moyer's "Buying the War."

Inspired by attending a conference on propaganda in honor of the upcoming 20th anniversary of Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media, PAI Vice President Nick Hess, wrote "Media Filters in Our Time."

Nick also continues media monitoring with an analysis of WTHR-TV's evening news. Other articles include a profile of new Cable Franchise Board member, Loren Heger; and updates on activities with the FCC and the Indianapolis Cable Franchise Board. (Adobe Reader required.) 

In the fall of 2003, President George W. Bush made public statements to the effect that the "good news about Iraq" is getting filtered out by the national media. The President maintained that to win the hearts and minds of his fellow Americans, "Somehow you just got to go over the heads of the filter and speak directly to the American people." While one could argue

Essential to understanding how the commercial media creates meaning is an analysis of what information is considered important: what information is considered relevant to the greatest number of viewers—in short, what is considered news.

2006 Year in Review and Looking Ahead to 2007

2006 was to be the year of major telecommunications deregulation, and for citizens in Indiana, the push from the Baby Bells to ease their entry into the video services market quickly became reality. It was also the year that we witnessed the largest telecom merger in history with the union of AT&T and BellSouth.

Bill Moyers

Held the weekend before Martin Luther King Day in Memphis, the city where Dr. King’s life was ended by an assassin’s bullet, the underlying theme of the third National Conference on Media Reform harkened to the struggles of the Civil Rights Era. Conference speakers and workshops focused on media justice and the plight of minorities of race, of gender, of economic class, and of media access.

Download the February/March 2007 issue of the Public Access of Indianapolis newsletter, The Right of Way.  The feature article is "Prominent Speakers Draw Inspiration from Civil Rights Movement at Media Reform Conference," by Kathleen Dobie. Other articles include an analysis of WISH-TV's evening news; "Radio Payola: A Youth Perspective;" a profile of new Cable Franchise Board member, Lara Beck; Video Art at the IMA; and an FCC update. (Adobe Reader required.)