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| News Media | ||
| BBC News Online | ||
| The BBC is an internationally-respected news organization based in the United Kingdom that covers major news stories from around the world, including extensive coverage of the United States. This excellent site is a must for Americans who want to see what the rest of the world considers important, both inside and outside our own national boundaries. Links can take readers to sites arranged by international regions and also by topics, such as "Science and Environment," "Business," "Health," and "Technology." ( http://news.bbc.co.uk/ ) | ||
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| Columbia Journalism Review | ||
| According to their web site, "Columbia Journalism Review's mission is to encourage and stimulate excellence in journalism in the service of a free society. It is both a watchdog and a friend of the press in all its forms, from newspapers to magazines to radio, television, and the Web. Founded in 1961 under the auspices of Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, CJR examines day-to-day press performance as well as the forces that affect that performance." Their website is a thorough source for well-written, well-documented articles about journalism, the media, and news. It is a must-have site for anyone interested in the future of journalism and the news. ( http://www.cjr.org/ ) | ||
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| Current TV | ||
| Current is a cable news television network that is decidedly different from all others. The television network, like this website, is primarily created by viewers. The site is a news aggregate like many others out there, containing links to stories to other news agencies, but it also hosts stories created by users and then discussed extensively and voted on. The stories are arranged by vote and popularity. Whether this type of user-generated news is the future of the medium or not is still unknown, but if it is, then Currnet.com is a site to watch. ( http://current.com/ ) | ||
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| FactCheck.org | ||
| Fact-Check is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization whose purpose is to reduce the inaccuracies, confusion, and deliberate deception that confront voters. It monitors statements made by "major U.S. political players" in debates, speeches, interviews, advertisements, and news releases. According to its mission statement, "Our goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding." FactCheck.org is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. ( http://factcheck.org/ ) | ||
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| Frontline | ||
| This is the companion web site to PBS's widely-respected, award-winning news magazine show. Frontline is responsible for some of the best news documentaries ever produced, with (as of this writing) eighty full programs available online. The site also has a summary, transcript, or full video clip of every report they have aired for the past twenty-five years. Even more helpful is its "Teacher Center," which has lesson plans and clips to use in the classroom. ( http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/ ) | ||
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| Link TV | ||
| Link TV is a cable news network that "broadcasts programs that engage, educate and activate viewers to become involved in the world. These programs provide a unique perspective on international news, current events, and diverse cultures, presenting issues not often covered in the U.S. media." This is the network's website, and it is a well organized compilation of short news broadcasts, documentaries, and various cultural programs. ( http://www.linktv.org ) | ||
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| National Public Radio | ||
| NPR is "an internationally acclaimed producer and distributor of noncommercial news, talk, and entertainment programming. A privately supported, not-for-profit membership organization, NPR serves a growing audience of 32.7 million Americans each week in partnership with more than 860 independently operated, noncommercial public radio stations." NPR's web site provides visitors the chance to listen to its programming online, as well as providing transcripts and a searchable database. It produces and distributes over 130 hours of original programming weekly. ( http://www.npr.org/ ) | ||
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| News Alternative | ||
| This website started in March of 2003 at the dawn of the war in Iraq. Its purpose is to combat "agendas, bias and ethnocentrism running through the global media." The site contains links to dozens of mainstream and non-mainstream media outlets. It is a great resource for finding multiple angles on the same story from various media organizations, and it can help users find alternatives to pre-packaged, ratings-driven news stories. ( http://www.news-alternative.org/ ) | ||
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| Newspapers.com | ||
| This site is host to a unique search engine that scours over 10,000 world newspapers. It lets viewers select by country and, for the United States, by state. It even has links to many college and university newspapers. While this search engine does not allow users to find specific articles, it can lead them to the websites of newspapers all over the world. ( http://www.newspapers.com/ ) | ||
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| Nieman Watchdog: Questions the Press Should Ask | ||
| The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University was founded in 1938 "to promote and elevate the standards of journalism in the United States." Its website states, "Great questions are a key to great journalism. But often, in the press of deadlines, the flood of raw information, manipulated news, deliberate misinformation and just plain junk, great questions are hard to develop. Reporters and editors need to know what's happening, why it happened, who's involved, who's affected and what happens next. . . ." This site suggests penetrating, critical questions a responsible press should ask about national and international issues and provides commentary, discussions, interviews, and links to articles. ( http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm ) | ||
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| Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism | ||
| This site is the storehouse of research and polls conducted by the Pew Research Center in the field of journalism. It includes the Pew Research Center's data library, reports and commentaries, and weekly content analysis of the news. A very useful part of this site is their "State of the News Media." This is their annual report on the state of the news media. It is updated every year and archives past years' reports. This report covers a wide range of issues, including the top stories of the past year, the state of online news, cable news, print media, and ethnic news, and is the second URL listed. http://journalism.org/ ( http://www.stateofthemedia.org/2009/index.htm ) | ||
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| Project Censored | ||
| Founded in 1976, Project Censored is a media research program housed at Sonoma State University, working to reveal what the Project considers the most censored news stories in the United States (as determined by a panel of judges that includes such respected figures as Noam Chomsky, Mike Wallace, and Howard Zinn). "Project Censored's principle objective is training of SSU students in media research and First Amendment issues and the advocacy for, and protection of, free press rights in the United States. Project Censored has trained over 1,500 students in investigative research in the past three decades." Of particular interest are the links to the top twenty-five most censored news stories since 1976. ( http://www.projectcensored.org/ ) | ||
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| The Political News and Commentary Spectrum The links below show some of the more popular sites on the left and right wings of the political spectrum. These links can be helpful in research, especially if used to illustrate the differences in the approach to and coverage of major stories. Left-Wing News and Commentary Sites | ||
| AirAmericaRadio.com | ||
( http://airamerica.com/ ) | ||
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| AlterNet | ||
( http://www.alternet.org/ ) | ||
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| CommonDreams.org | ||
( http://www.commondreams.org/ ) | ||
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| FAIR | ||
( http://www.fair.org ) | ||
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| Media Matters.org | ||
( http://mediamatters.org/ ) | ||
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| Mother Jones | ||
( http://www.motherjones.com/ ) | ||
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| The Nation | ||
( http://www.thenation.com/ ) | ||
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| The Progressive | ||
( http://www.progressive.org/ ) | ||
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| TomPaine.com | ||
( http://www.TomPaine.com/ ) | ||
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| TruthOut | ||
( http://www.truthout.org/ ) | ||
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| Right-Wing News and Commentary Sites | ||
| The American Conservative | ||
( http://www.amconmag.com/ ) | ||
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| The American Spectator | ||
( http://spectator.org/ ) | ||
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| The Drudge Report | ||
( http://www.drudgereport.com/ ) | ||
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| Fox News | ||
( http://www.foxnews.com/ ) | ||
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| The National Review | ||
( http://www.nationalreview.com/ ) | ||
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| The New York Post | ||
( http://www.nypost.com/ ) | ||
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| The Wall Street Journal | ||
( http://online.wsj.com/public/page/opinion.html ) | ||
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| The Washington Times | ||
( http://www.washingtontimes.com/ ) | ||
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| The Weekly Standard | ||
( http://www.weeklystandard.com/ ) | ||
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| WorldNetDaily.com | ||
( http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news ) | ||
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Political and News Satire Sites The Cagle Post offers commentary and satirical political cartoons from both sides of the political spectrum, and the other links are to some of the most popular satire sites on the web. Ironically, many of these sites are visited by people who want "real news," since their coverage is sometimes more biting and accurate than major news organizations. | ||
| The Cagle Post | ||
( http://www.caglepost.com/ ) | ||
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| Colbert Nation | ||
( http://www.colbertnation.com/ ) | ||
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| The Daily Show with Jon Stewart | ||
( http://www.thedailyshow.com/ ) | ||
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| The Ironic Times | ||
( http://www.ironictimes.com/ ) | ||
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| The Onion | ||
( http://www.theonion.com/ ) | ||
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| List of Films:Documentary Films: | ||
| The Corporation (2003) | ||
| This film, based on the book The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power, by Joel Bakan, explores the history, growth, and expansion of powers and legal rights of the modern corporation. "Taking its status as a legal 'person' to the logical conclusion, the film puts the corporation on the psychiatrist's couch to ask 'What kind of person is it?' The Corporation includes interviews with 40 corporate insiders and critics--including Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein, Milton Friedman, Howard Zinn, Vandana Shiva and Michael Moore." ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379225/ ) | ||
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| Orwell Rolls in his Grave (2003) | ||
| This film takes a close look at the modern media environment and comes to the conclusion that even George Orwell (author of the classic novel 1984 in which the government controls all information and therefore history itself) would "roll in his grave" if he were alive to see what we have become. ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0410407/ ) | ||
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| Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism (2004) | ||
| Filmmaker Robert Greenwald takes a look at the politics and power behind Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. According to the film's official site, http://www.outfoxed.org/, "Outfoxed examines how media empires, led by Rupert Murdoch's Fox News, have been running a "race to the bottom" in television news. This film provides an in-depth look at Fox News and the dangers of ever-enlarging corporations taking control of the public's right to know." ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0418038/ ) | ||
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| Feature Films | ||
| In this dark satire, a corrupt and reactionary folksinger with a folksy, virtuous façade uses his image; the public's appetite for "feel good," simplistic answers to serious and complex issues; and media laziness and superficiality to run for Senate in this film that takes a pseudo-documentary approach. Only one member of the press launches a serious investigation--an African American reporter for a tiny independent paper. He finds evidence that Roberts is financing his campaign through a company that takes public-housing funds to buy planes and smuggle cocaine, but he is too little for big media to pay attention. ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103850/ ) | ||
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| Good Night and Good Luck (2005) | ||
| In the 1950s, America was subjected to the infamous "Red Scare," with its "witch hunts" and the Blacklist. During this period, Senator Joseph McCarthy gained a hold over the minds of much of the American public through his widely publicized and sensationalistic hearings, his use of unidentified (and possibly nonexistent) informers, and his reckless and often unfounded accusations. This award-winning film shows how a handful of brave people in the media, in particular journalist and commentator Edward R. Murrow, helped to combat McCarthy's pernicious influence. ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0433383/plotsummary ) | ||
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| Network (1976) | ||
| This classic film from the seventies was originally intended to satirize the idea of media mergers and information ownership, but it ended up being prophetic in its depictions of shows designed to play to the lowest common denominator and people's basest instincts for sensationalism. ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074958/ ) | ||
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| Sweet Smell of Success (1957) | ||
| This film classic was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." It depicts J.J. Hunsecker, a powerful and ruthless newspaper columnist inspired by real-life New York columnist Walter Winchell, who uses his connections to ruin his sister's relationship with a man he doesn't like. An equally unscrupulous press agent, Sidney Falco, spreads false rumors that the sister's boyfriend is a Communist and a drug user in order to get Hunsecker's help in publicizing his clients. This still-powerful film is more film noir than melodrama. It is also noteworthy for its cinematography, depicting a seamy, sinister night-time New York, as depicted by legendary cinematographer James Wong Howe. ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051036/ ) | ||
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| They Live (1988) | ||
| This film is a science fiction satire that shows how the public is driven to blindly consume and never question authority (in this case by space aliens who live among us invisibly). ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096256/ ) | ||
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| Wag the Dog (1997) | ||
| This black comedy takes a look at exactly how much the American people could be manipulated through the media after the president of the United States is accused of sexual relations with an under-aged girl and fakes a war to distract people from the truth. ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120885/ ) | ||
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