John Nichols

Corporate Media Man Gets It Right

Stevie Converse — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 07:58:37 -0700

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.

Conference Links Independent Media to Democracy

Stevie Converse — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 06:08:10 -0700

The National Conference for Media Reform came to Minneapolis June 6-8, attracting more than 3,500 participants from across the nation. The conference, hosted by the advocacy group Free Press, celebrated recent victories in the fight to oppose increasing corporate consolidation in media ownership while at the same time highlighting continuing threats to a free and independent media.

Who'll Unplug Big Media? Stay Tuned

Stevie Converse — Fri, 30 May 2008 08:36:18 -0700

On a Thursday in mid-May, the Senate did something that would have been unimaginable a decade ago. Led by Democrat Byron Dorgan, the senators--Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives--gave Rupert Murdoch and his fellow media moguls the sort of slap that masters of the universe don't expect from mere mortals on Capitol Hill.

Phil Donahue's War

Stevie Converse — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 07:29:47 -0700

During the week that George W. Bush-- with an assist from Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker--began demanding another $100 billion or so for his Iraq War, Phil Donahue began presenting the real face of the conflict.

FCC Votes for Monopoly, Congress Must Vote for Democracy

Stevie Converse — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 05:16:48 -0800

The Federal Communications Commission has, as expected, voted along party lines to approve the demand of Rupert Murdoch and other communications-industry moguls for a loosening of limits on media mono

A Political Fight Brews over FCC Rule Changes

Stevie Converse — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 05:10:45 -0800

No matter what the Federal Communications Commission does today with regard to media ownership — and it is likely to do the wrong thing — members of Congress are ready to push back.

Scott McClellan=John Dean?

Stevie Converse — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 06:50:28 -0800

Scott McClellan's admission that he unintentionally made false statements denying the involvement of Karl Rove and Scooter Libby in the Bush-Cheney administration's plot to discredit former Ambassador

No Treats for FCC Chair and Media Monopolists

Stevie Converse — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 16:49:27 -0700

Federal Communications Commission chair Kevin Martin is doing everything he can to prevent public input that would challenge his rush to have the commission radically rewrite media ownership rules bef

An Assault on Media Diversity and Democracy

Stevie Converse — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 05:44:48 -0700

President Bush is the lamest of lame-duck chief executives, with no moral authority, no legislative majority and no popular domestic or foreign-policy agendas.

Censored Show Proves AT&T's Bad Faith

Stevie Converse — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 06:29:02 -0700

Telecommunications giant AT&T says no one should worry about their aggressive lobbying to eliminate Net neutrality — the First Amendment of the Internet that guarantees equality of access to all

Community, Conference Calls and the Postal Rate Campaign

Stevie Converse — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 05:35:43 -0700

Yesterday afternoon I had one of the most moving experiences in my time here as editor.

Cry Freedom, Murdoch Ahoy

Stevie Converse — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 04:06:05 -0700

No one who enjoys even a passing acquaintance with modern media would accept Rupert Murdoch's promise to preserve the editorial independence of a newspaper.

Don't Fence in the Web!

Stevie Converse — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 05:10:08 -0700

The genius of the Internet, from the distant moment of its inception to the present day, has been its tendency toward openness, freedom and equality.

Violence on TV? The FCC Lacks Answers

Stevie Converse — Thu, 03 May 2007 18:13:14 -0700

Don't kids deserve better than this?

Halberstam Detailed Media Mess

Stevie Converse — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 04:07:42 -0700

Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Halberstam, who died in an automobile accident at age 73, was one of America's most thoughtful critics of media excess and abuse.

Dr. King and the Media

Stevie Converse — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 11:32:51 -0700

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose legacy has been celebrated this weekend in Memphis by National Conference for Media Reform speakers such as Bill Moyers, the Rev.

Corporate Ownership of Media Devalues Democracy

Stevie Converse — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 04:05:53 -0800

In their seminal work, "Manufacturing Consent," Professors Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky observed: "Leaders of the media claim that their news choices rest on unbiased professional and objective crit

Conference Underscores Growing Media Worries

Stevie Converse — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 05:49:20 -0800

More than 3,500 people—including a score or more from TNG-CWA— turned out for the third National Conference for Media Reform, held Jan.

Sarah Olson and the Struggle to Save Journalism

Stevie Converse — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 04:43:58 -0800

American journalism is under assault.

Media Reform Is Top of the US Agenda

Adam Lynn — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 04:17:58 -0800

What do Jane Fonda, Jesse Jackson, US Congressman Ed Markey, and US Federal Communications Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein have in common?