William T. Evjue, the founder of this newspaper, was regularly attacked by conservatives -- "Tories" was his preferred term -- for speaking truth to power. Evjue delighted in detailing the attacks in order to illustrate the thinking of those who embraced special interests over democracy.

The Tories are still attacking, and I've taken my share of hits for opposing the war, supporting the Constitution and dissenting in an age of media acquiescence. Like Evjue, I recognize this as a healthy part of discourse. I also recognize that the attacks can be quite amusing.

At the National Conference for Media Reform, which drew more than 3,000 journalists, media critics and activists to Minneapolis during the first week of June, a number of conservative bloggers and Fox News producers showed up to do "hit" pieces on those who would dare to break the corporate stranglehold on the American debate. While most Americans favor diversity, competition and localism in media, the communications conglomerates can still muster defenders for their dominant paradigm.

When Amy Goodman of "Democracy Now" and I addressed hundreds of activists at a pre-conference "Democracy Day" rally organized by Common Cause, Fair Vote, the Minnesota League of Women Voters and other great groups, our free-and-open-to-the-public event was "exposed" by Cliff Kincaid of Accuracy in Media, a corporate-sponsored group with a history of defending the work of Wisconsin Sen. Joe McCarthy.

Needless to say, Kincaid and I do not agree on many issues.

But, in the Evjue tradition, I'll offer his report for readers to assess:

"Barack Obama supporter John Nichols brought 'media reform' activists to their feet on Thursday night with wild and strident attacks on the Bush administration. 'George Bush was not elected,' said Nichols, working himself into a frenzy.

"Nichols is the Washington correspondent for The Nation magazine and a member of the board of the Free Press, the official sponsor of the National Conference for Media Reform.

"Bush and his vice president, Dick Cheney, 'seized' power and launched an 'illegal and immoral war,' Nichols continued.

" 'Send them to the Hague,' shouted out one conference participant, referring to the location of the International Criminal Court. 'After we're done with them,' Nichols countered.

"He urged conference participants to prevent the 'theft of our democracy' in this election year and said we need a 'democracy cocktail,' much like the AIDS cocktail of drugs used to treat AIDS patients, in order to save our 'sick' democracy. He departed the podium with a clenched fist salute.

"The suggestion that the 2008 election might be stolen from Obama seems to be a developing theme of this event. One of the weekend activities is the advance screening of 'Free for All!,' a documentary that 'uncovers startling evidence of varied schemes to steal the national elections in 2000, 2004 and 2006 and explores what we can do to take back our election in 2008.'

"Meanwhile, Amy Goodman of the "Democracy Now" radio and TV program announced that she would soon interview former Bush White House press secretary Scott McClellan, who has turned on the president and has written a book opposing the Iraq war. 'This year can be a turning point,' she told the crowd.

"While the conference is designed in part to create the impression that the 'progressive' media have been discriminated against, Goodman told the crowd that her radio/TV show is on 700 stations and she claimed a bigger audience than Larry King on CNN or the MSNBC cable channel. She urged people to confront the 'corporate media' and challenge the renewal of licenses of radio and TV stations which do not serve the public interest.

"Nichols and Goodman spoke at what was labeled a pre-conference event, part of 'Democracy Day,' at the Hilton Hotel, just a block from where the National Conference for Media Reform officially opens Friday morning."

Now, regular readers of this column know that I'm a bit of a skeptic with regard to the presumptive Democratic nominee for president -- especially on trade policy and constitutional issues -- so the term "Barack Obama supporter" might do me too much honor. And what Kincaid mistakes for "frenzy" and a "clenched fist salute" might just be an old-fashioned Midwestern populist speaking style and my homage to labor and farm activists who shaped the politics of this region. But I don't see much to object about in this report.

I do not think that George Bush and Dick Cheney were legitimately elected in 2000. I do think they have seized powers that were not afforded them in the Constitution. I definitely believe the undeclared war in Iraq is illegal and immoral. And I believe passionately that the time has come to renew our democracy and realize the full promise of the American experiment.

So, for the most part, I'd say that Cliff Kincaid got it right. That does not mean we agree on what to think about any of these issues. But that's the point of a free and pluralistic society. We can look at the same set of facts and come to radically different conclusions, debate those conclusions and let the people decide. Those of us in the media reform movement simply want more facts, more debate and more democracy.