Thursday, December 15, 2005
Free the media!
If you had to give to only only media-oriented organization, the National Security Archive should be at the top of your list.
Reflect on why the media are so bad:
(1) there are very few investigative reporters,
(2) there are fewer and fewer independent news outlets in which investigative reporters can publish,
(3) the bandwidth for the independent outlets is so tiny that most Americans remain ignorant of them,
(4) false information is planted by political operatives and the US Government, and there is very little quality control of what gets published or broadcast. And finally,
(5) it is almost impossible to pry free documents from the government on which to base investigative reporting.
We all know the names of leaders in categories 1-4 For example,
Reporters: Robert Parry, Josh Micah Marshall, Murray Waas
Outlets: DemocracyNow, The Nation, Community Access TV, Center for American Progress
Retail outlets: ICH, Truthout, The Chimp, Atrios, Kos, Bushwatch
Quality control: FAIR, Media Matters
But what about category 5? With the exception of the ACLU and The Center for Constitutional Rights, do people know who gets those documents the taxpayers paid for into their hands?
The National Security Archive is central, crucial and least known to the public. As Bill Moyers said, in a speech laying bare to the foundations the corruption of the right-wing media establishment:
Your organization has become indispensable to journalists, scholars, and any other citizen who believes the USA belongs to the people and not to the government.
Read the speech. Give the money.
National Security Archive Fund Inc
2130 H St NW
Ste 701
Washington,DC 20037
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