Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader says that the media has trivialized the campaign, pointing to how Joe the Plumber received more press coverage since the third debate than his entire campaign (0:24).
Executive Director of Free Press Josh Silver gives an exclusive interview with Talk Radio News Correspondent Elia Herman about the role of free press, social media and new media, which he says is not substantial enough. Silver says that roughly 45 percent of Americans still do not have access to the internet, and that cable and phone companies control 98 percent of internet access. He concludes by stating Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) support for internet neutrality, and speaks out against the consolidation of media ownership. Conversely, Silver says Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is a “telephone company whore”, and that he does what he can to please these companies without question (6:14).
“The gavel allows you to push issues” according to Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Senator Arlen Specter (R-Penn.) and he added that he missed being the one holding the gavel. (more…)
FBI Director Robert Mueller spoke today at the National Press Club Luncheon on the common goals and responsibilities of both the press and the media to serve the public interest and to seek the truth. He said there is an inherent tension between the government and the media, but that this results in a free society. He said to be successful the FBI needs to be transparent, and that scrutiny from Congress, the public, and the press improves the FBI’s ability to protect the people, and promotes trust in the bureau. (more…)
Ellen Ratner interviews Martin Newland, former editor of The Daily Telegraph, about his new English-language newspaper in the United Arab Emirates, The National. (13:06)
Justices Kennedy and Thomas appeared. Justice Thomas, as he does in oral arguments at the Court, spoke only when directly addressed.
Chairman Serrano (D-NY) opened the hearing by talking about the awkwardness of calling a co-equal branch of government before a committee to ask it to justify its budget request. He also several times joking asked if the Supreme Court could rule whether people born in Puerto Rico were eligible to the presidency (to which Justice Kennedy joking responded that they were certainly eligible to be Supreme Court Justices).
Much of the hearing focused on the Supreme Court building modernization project, which is currently expected to be completed 16 months after the original projected completion date of May 2008. Justice Kennedy, appearing a bit uncomfortable and at one point jokingly saying, “please do I have to talk about this?” discussed the reasons for the overrun and pointed out that the project was still on budget.
Other topics included judicial pay increases (the Justices agreed that it didn’t make sense to pay judges less than a first-year associate), education of young people on American history (Justice Kennedy expressed concern that youth are not taught enough about American history and principles, and “you cannot defend what you cannot know”), and cameras in the courtroom (the Justices agreed they would not help anything and presented risks of personality overtaking issues in coverage).
Justice Thomas of the U.S. Supreme Court, testifying before a House Appropriations Committee hearing on the Supreme Court’s budget request, responds to a question from Congressman Bonner (R-AR), says that he does not see what positive effect cameras in the Supreme Court chambers would have. He says that oral arguments are active enough already, and he cites Anna Nicole Smith’s case in the Court as an example of the danger of personalities becoming more important than the substantive issues. (1:22)
Speaking were:
Arash Sigarchi, an Iranian blogger who had been sentenced to 14 years in prison for espionage and insulting the country’s leaders, speaking through an interpretter
Mohammed Ali, an Iraqi blogger (http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com/)
Tony Badran, a Lebanese blogger (http://beirut2bayside.blogspot.com/)
Arash in his opening statement described how he was forced into blogging by the pervasive censorship of the media in Iran. Publishing anything critical of the government results in beatings, fines, and jail. When Arash began blogging, the government was largely unaware of the Internet, so he was free to publish whatever he wanted. In recent years, though, it has begun monitoring the Internet. Arash said that western funds to promote democracy in Iraq allows the government to brand bloggers and others as mouthpieces of the US, so a better form of aid would be to help people get Internet access. Responding to a question from Paul Wolfowitz about the reach of Voice of America and other media, Arash also said that access to western media is more limited than access to drugs. He also noted that Ahmadinejad is still quite popular, and the general people don’t know about economic sanctions against Iran.
Ali, an Iraqi blogger, said that he had spoken with other bloggers, in both Iraq and Sudan, who had been inspired by him to begin blogging. Arab media outlets are heavily government funded, but blogging allows independent people to express themselves cheaply. Blogging can be difficult, though, because Internet access is scarce.
Tony Badran said that in Lebanon, where Internet access and access to western media are much more common, blogging presents other difficulties. Blogs are being used for propaganda and conspiracy theories by Syria, and it can be difficult to distinguish genuine citizen blogs from Syrian “info ops.”
WGIR’s Angela Anderson talks with Melissa Etheridge about the role of the media in controlling which candidates can get their views out, and she explains her support for Dennis Kucinich. (9:55)
