Critics, Analysts, Historians, Columnists, Scientists, Physicians
Noam Chomsky is a professor of linguistics at M.I.T. - and an outspoken critic of all that is unjust and undemocratic. Some of his thoughts may be found at ZNet.��������A few titles:'Deterring Democracy'
'The Chomsky Trilogy : Secrets, Lies and Democracy/
The Prosperous Few and the Restless Many/ What Uncle Sam Really Wants (The Real Story Series)'
'Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media'
'Media Control : The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda'
[Edward S. Herman, Noam Chomsky (Contributor) (The Open Media Pamphlet Series, No 1)]
Dr. Helen Caldicott has been speaking out about nuclear weapons and radioactive contamination for years, along with many other humanitarian issues. A powerful speaker and a clear thinker. Read an excerpt from her book "A Desperate Passion". Visit the "official" Helen Caldicott homepage.
Dr. Caldicott is active in Physicians for Social Responsibility.
Michael Parenti is one of the nation's leading political analysts. His articles are often to be found in Mother Jones magazine, such as this one about what our next president could [should?] do...
Professor Emeritus Howard Zinn of Boston University is in my opinion the nation's leading historian. Read an interview with The Philadelphia Interactive City Paper's Sam Adams. At the University of Pennsylvania you can read an excerpt from his book "A People's History of the United States".
The Union of Concerned Scientists in their own words: "The Union of Concerned Scientists works to ensure that all people have clean air and energy, as well as safe and sufficient food. ...to improve the environment in ways that preserve our health, protect our safety, and enhance the quality of life in our communities. ...for a future that is free from the threats of global warming and nuclear war, and a planet that supports a rich abundance of life."
"Dr. Vandana Shiva is a physicist, ecologist, activist, editor, and author of many books. In India she has established Navdanya, a movement for biodiversity conservation and farmers' rights. She directs the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Natural Resource Policy. Her most recent book is Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge.", says the intro to this interview on a page of In Motion Magazine. Or read this article at Mt. Holyoke College, where she is (was?) a visiting Culpeper Professor of Environmental Studies. Another good interview: Vandana Shiva on McDonald's, Exploitation, and the Global Economy. South End Press will happily sell you her book, Biopiracy: Imperialism?s New Frontier.
Some people are keeping track of the media's deviations from good reporting. One of them is San Francisco Bay Guardian columnist Norman Solomon, who writes the column Media Beat, and whose new book "The Habits of Highly Deceptive Media" is available at Common Courage Press. By way of trying to sell you the book, they will let you read one page of it: http://www.commoncouragepress.com/habitscut.html
Another is David Barsamian of Alternative Radio.
It might be interesting to read about some of these people from the point of view of those being criticized. An organization called Left Watch looks at them from the rightwing point of view. It has a page about David Barsamian. At Left Watch you also can read about these other critics of the corporate media: Noam Chomsky, Mumia Abu Jamal, Rigoberta Menchu, Ralph Nader, Michael Parenti, Paul Robeson, and Holly Sklar. They try very hard to 'debunk', ridicule, and demonize these critics. They do seem to offer them a chance to respond (at least in David Barsamian's case).
But what am I doing? I'm a "lefty", right? So why am I encouraging my readers to read stuff from the right? It's called "bending over backward", I guess. The point here is to get you to know that there are respected thinkers who don't think the media are perfect, and who some of them are. If you read what the right doesn't like about them, who knows? ...if you are encouraged to think about the media and how much truth they tell, and to read more of what I have to say, and more importantly those listed above, I am confident that you will draw an intelligent conclusion; but even if I were not so confident, I would not stoop to trying to build in a bias by giving you only one side. Leave that to the corporate media who are such experts at it.
