Over 2,500 participants gathered recently for the sold out conference in St. Louis, organized by the media reform group Free Press. Free Press Founder Robert McChesney claims the National Conference on Media Reform (NCMR) attendee numbers would have doubled had they not capped registration due to space restrictions.

Conference presenters included Amy Goodman, Naomi Klein, Al Franken, Robert Greenwald, Jim Hightower, George Lakoff, Robert McChesney, Bill Moyers, Phil Donahue, Patti Smith and many more well known figures. Major themes of the conference include the problem with corporate media, celebrating the media reform victories, and gearing up for what many call “the perfect storm.”

The problem with the corporate media

At times speakers seemed to be “preaching to the choir” in discussing the shortcomings of the corporate media. However, this also served to remind participants as to why they are involved in media reform in the first place. Out of “393 interviews by the major news networks leading up to the invasion of Iraq, only four contained anti-war voices,” said Amy Goodman. That is “not a mainstream media — that is an extreme media.” These statements were met with a roar of cheers from the crowded hall where the opening reception was held.

During his address, Norman Solomon founder of the Institute for Public Accuracy reminded us that Phil Donahue’s show on MSNBC was cancelled because it allowed room for anti-war voices during the Iraq War. Solomon quoted a report from MSNBC that stated that Phil Donahue’s show could create a “difficult face for MSNBC in a time of war” and that there was a danger of the show becoming “a home for the liberal antiwar agenda at the same time that our competitors are waving the flag at every opportunity.” Later in his address Solomon provided evidence that the MSNBC incident is far from unique. Solomon’s Institute for Public Accuracy provides progressive policy analysts to media workers. Solomon noted that once the invasion of Iraq began the demand for his analysts dropped across the board in the American media.

He was far from alone in providing damning evidence that the corporate media filter out progressive voices. Jim Hightower noted that, “108 cities have defeated Wal-Mart” and then asked: “why isn’t the big media reporting this?” Hightower knows all about corporate censorship, since in 1995 his weekend program on the ABC Radio Network was pulled after Disney bought ABC. This move wasn’t part of Disney clearing out unprofitable programming, but rather that the show “(made) big companies nervous,” according to respected radio consultant Jon Sinton, who helped launch Hightower’s program.

Naomi Klein, columnist with rabble.ca, talked about media from a more social activist perspective asserting that the mass media is a concrete wall in our mental environment, which blocks the “sunlight that we need to survive and build our movements.” Klein has long advocated for more radical activist-based media systems. Contrary to the media reform mantra repeated by most presenters, Klein contended, “our task here is not to beg for a pass to get past this wallâe¦ it’s not a question of reforming this media; it’s a question of revolutionizing this media.”

Klein unambiguously cast herself as the Canadian who can see the importance of media reform not just for the U.S. but also for the world. As much of the discussion revolved around U.S. politics, it was refreshing to hear her say that the U.S. media system is, “one of the most pressing global issues that we face today, because when American democracy is in crisis the world is in crisis.”

With passionate speakers like these there was no room for doubt in conference attendees as to exactly why they had come to the National Conference on Media Reform.

Celebrating media reform victories

Participants were reminded that media reformers have much to celebrate, starting with an unprecedented level of popular support. As Janine Jackson, from Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting put it, “When we used to talk about media reform people used to tell you to just turn (your TV) off; you don’t hear that so much today.”

One media reform success touted several times over the weekend was the recent decision by the U.S. Congress barring federal agencies from producing video news releases (VNRs) that do not clearly disclose the government as their source. Another was in 2003 when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was forced to roll back plans to further deregulate media ownership after hundreds of thousands of comments were sent to the FCC. This was the heaviest outpouring of public opinion the commission has ever experienced.

Growth of independent media outlets at a time when many corporate outlets are losing audiences was also well celebrated at the conference. Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now! a daily newscast featuring social movements and underreported news, airing on 330 stations in North America, was nearly ubiquitous at the NCMR. Some estimate, as many as three million hear host Amy Goodman’s passionate style of journalism every day.

During the conference independent media organizations were so celebrated that the conference organizers created a space specifically to exhibit them. Over 70 organizations staffed displays for the “Media Democracy Showcase” meet-and-greet.

A proposal for an Independent World Television network generated considerable buzz. Founding Chair Paul Jay, the former executive producer of Newsworldâe(TM)s CounterSpin, announced plans to raise $25 million to start a global television network featuring “serious news and full-spectrum debate.” In the Media Democracy Showcase the IWT display boasted one of the highest attendance levels.

The perfect storm

Many conference speakers, including Federal Communications Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein predict the occurrence of what they call “the perfect storm” in the coming years. This prediction is rooted in the knowledge that in the next few years the FCC and the U.S. Congress will make some very crucial policy decisions regarding Internet content and broadband delivery. These decisions will come at a time when media reform activists, media education organizations and independent media outlets enjoy the largest sphere of influence ever, while the corporate media organizations (especially those involved in telecommunications) are putting an unprecedented amount of energy and resources into lobbying the FCC and Congress. The “perfect storm” refers to the time when these two parallels meet each other head-to-head over the afore-mentioned policy decisions.

This is what Jim Hightower called “an historic moment” and what Robert McChesney referred to as, “a moment of danger and a moment of spectacular opportunity.” Although most recognize that it will be a tough fight, the majority of presenters were not satisfied with the prospect of simply having a voice in this looming debate. Instead, many seemed dedicated to winning it.

Although the fight over media policy will not be easily won, we can take solace in the fact that “The public is beginning to understand how critical healthy media are to a healthy democracy,” said McChesney. “They are recognizing they must get involved if they want a better system.”

U.S. public broadcasting veteran Bill Moyers galvanized the audience in a widely rebroadcast electrifying speech.

“An unconscious people, an indoctrinated people, a people fed only partisan information and opinion that confirm their own bias, a people made morbidly obese in mind and spirit by the junk food of propaganda is less inclined to put up a fight, to ask questions and be sceptical. And just as a democracy can die of too many lies, that kind of orthodoxy can kill us, too.”

Steve Anderson

Steve Anderson

Steve Anderson is the founder and executive director of OpenMedia.ca. OpenMedia.ca is an award-winning Canadian nonprofit organization working to advance and support an open and innovative communications...