Announcing Blogothon, New Book By Your News Dissector, Hack Attack on Twitter?, Civil War In Syria?
May 9th, 2012 - by: Danny
Today at 11 AM: Manhattan Neighborhood Network, NYC–Rebroadcast of 2010 conversation with Harold Channer. New Book Now From Cosimo Books Commentaries, Analysis, Rants, Dissections
Cosimo Books Now Launching My New Book, BLOGOTHON: Readers: Help me Get Reviews and Interviews To Promote It It If You Can
On one day, he’s mentioned in a New York Times story on the Boston Radio Station where he was once an innovative news anchor. The next day, his columns appeared on Al Jazeera, The Huffington Post and other well- read outline outlets. That same week, one of his 30 documentaries may be screening on TV or at a venue somewhere in the world.
And every day, his 3000 word long NewsDissector blog appears on line at NewsDissector.net. His name is Danny Schechter, known for decades as “The News Dissector.” Now he has two books coming out from Cosimo Books: Blogothon, a collection of his timely reportage and opinion pieces and Occupy: Dissecting Occupy Wall Street, his from the tents reporting on a social movement that is making waves and making news.
He is now available for lively interviews on the state of journalism and the future of blogging, the reasons for the economic crisis, and the future of Occupy Wall Street.
“I am an independent journalist who wears many hats,” Schechter says, “I have worked in the underground and mainstream media in radio, print, and in local, cable and network news. I have been online since 1986, written 14 books, made 30 documentaries and even as a media veteran, I feel like I am just getting started.”
A Cornell and London School of Economics grad, Danny Schechter has become known for award winning investigative reporting – he was an early forecaster of the financial crisis – and trenchant media criticism that focuses less on media bias than what’s left out, omission as well as commission. His work has been recognized with many journalism prizes including Emmys for his TV work and a citation from Hunter College for penning the best blog. He was awarded one of Harvard University’s prestigious Nieman Fellowships in Journalism.
Danny Schechter started blogging with the launch of Mediachannel,org in 2000, (now Mediachannel1.org), a website he founded and edits. Praised by Walter Cronkite, it quickly attracted 1000 media affiliates under the slogan: “As the Media Watch the World, We Watch the Media.”
His writing, columnizing and dissections have been picked up by websites, newspapers and websites worldwide. His blogs won an award in Sri Lanka, and have been published worldwide. On the strength of his work, he is frequently sought out as a respected commentator and pundit on domestic channels, alternative media outlets, and radio and TV shows worldwide –from Australia to Qatar, London to Moscow. He frequently appears on BBC, RT, Al Jazeera, ABC in Australia and Press TV.
“The media shapes the way we think, and often, what we know, “says “The News Dissector” and that’s why its important to reflect on the range and accuracy of media coverage. We have to encourage diversity of opinion.”
AVAILABILITY: Danny Schechter is available for interviews nationwide by telephone, skype or email; in New York City and environs; and travel by arrangement.
Also: Good Luck and well done to my Globalvision partner, Rory O’Connor, who also also has a new book out (and a book event tonight in NYC): “Friends, Followers and the Future: How Social Media are Changing Politics, Threatening Big Brands, and Killing Traditional Media,” published by City Lights.
The News:
Senate to Students: Drop Dead
The Hill: Senate fails to move forward with student loan bill By Daniel Strauss
In a 52-45 vote, the Senate on Tuesday rejected a motion to proceed to legislation that would keep interest rates on federal student loans from doubling.
Sixty votes were needed to move to a debate on the legislation, but Democrats and Republicans were unable to reach a deal to prevent a GOP filibuster.
The failure leaves the Senate with an unclear path going forward on keeping the interest rates from doubling. If Congress does not take action the rate would rise from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent on July 1.
Rebuild the Dream Slams Senate GOP Filibuster of Student Debt Relief
Rebuild the Dream CEO Natalie Foster issued the following statement after Senate Republicans blocked a crucial vote which would’ve kept student loan rates from doubling this summer:
“Republicans in the Senate just voted to expedite America’s new financial crisis and ensure that an entire generation of young Americans will graduate one step closer to poverty. Across this country, there are millions of students and graduates working two jobs while struggling to pay off student loans. For many of them the system is rigged. With their vote today, Republicans rejected their own party’s nominee as well as millions of young voters around the country that have been devastated by tuition rates that have tripled while receiving no relief.”
•Fluent: ‘Barrett headed for victory in WI recall primary’
News and Views
•Zimmerman Pleads Not Guilty: ‘George Zimmerman Pleads Not Guilty To Trayvon Martin Murder Charges’
Oh So Predictable Bloomberg News Advice To France
CLIVE CROOK: Francois Hollande must betray his supporters to save them. The socialist program that his supporters are now celebrating in the streets is already defunct. Yet if Hollande “insists on short-term fiscal moderation, whether this is deemed a renegotiation of the fiscal pact or merely a supplement to it, his election might help Europe.”
•Fluent: ‘Hollande circle’s pragmatic socialism’
t/h NP:Watch This Reminder for Our French Fiends: Manifestoon
Daily Beast: S&P Sinks on Greece Turmoil
Standard & Poors hit a two-month low on Tuesday as U.S. investors reacted to turmoil in Greece. The Dow, Nasdaq, and European markets all opened lower on Tuesday as Greece edged closer to being kicked off the euro zone and as voters in Greece and France revolted against harsh austerity policies. On Monday the Greek government failed to form a coalition, leaving formation of a new government in the hands of Alexis Tsipras, the leader of the far-right party that came in second place in Sunday’s elections. German Chancellor Angela Merkel insisted Monday that Greece must comply with the strict terms of the November bailout—leaving many saying that the country could be expelled from the euro.
•Fluent: ‘European Stocks Down on Greek Political Turmoil’ on
CLG: Officials: Al-Qaeda bomber was CIA informant –
‘The man the terrorists were counting on to carry out the attack was actually working for the CIA.’
Last month, U.S. intelligence learned that al-Qaeda’s Yemen branch hoped to launch a spectacular attack using a new, nearly undetectable bomb aboard an airliner bound for America, officials say. But the man the terrorists were counting on to carry out the attack was actually working for the CIA and Saudi intelligence, U.S. and Yemeni officials told The Associated Press on Tuesday. The officials spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the operation
Tom Dispatch: Noam Chomsky on May Day
If you had followed May Day protests in New York City in the mainstream media, you might hardly have noticed that they happened at all. The stories were generally tucked away, minimalist, focused on a few arrests, and spoke of “hundreds” of protesters in the streets, or maybe, if a reporter was feeling especially generous, a vague “thousands.”
THE HILL: Tea Party “Victory:” Mourdock defeats Sen. Lugar in Indiana Republican primary
By Cameron Joseph
Indiana state Treasurer Richard Mourdock defeated Sen. Dick Lugar in Tuesday’s Republican primary in Indiana, ending the career of the longest-serving Republican senator and putting the seat in play for Democrats in the fall.
NBC News projected Mourdock’s victory about 20 minutes after the polls closed. He will face Rep. Joe Donnelly, a centrist Democrat, in the general election.
UN: Can Civil War In Syria Be Prevented? Syria edges closer to civil war
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that the world was “in a race against time to prevent full-scale civil war” in Syria, while the International Committee of the Red Cross said aspects of the 14-month uprising already qualified as localized civil wars. Parliamentary elections Monday were boycotted by opponents of the regime of President Bashar Assad. The Herald Sun (Melbourne)
•AlJazeera: ‘Arms flowing’ between Lebanon and Syria
IPS: Mubarak Still Has His Billions
CAIRO, May 8, 2012 (IPS) – More than a year since president Hosni Mubarak was removed from power, the money he allegedly syphoned from Egypt during his 29-year rule remains beyond the reach of authorities attempting to recover it.
Mubarak amassed a fortune by carving up Egypt as if it were his own private estate. The dictator and his family are believed to have accumulated anywhere from 2 billion to 70 billion dollars in illicit wealth, much of it tied up in secret offshore accounts as well as lavish estates in London, Madrid, New York and across Egypt.
Authorities responsible for identifying and recovering these assets have dragged their feet, giving Mubarak’s intermediaries more time to move the money to safe havens, says Amir Marghany, a member of the Egyptian Legal Group for Recovering the People’s Wealth (ELGRPW), an ad hoc group of lawyers and jurists seeking restitution of Mubarak’s ill-gotten gains.
“People are getting frustrated,” says Marghany. “The process could take years, and there’s no guarantee we’ll ever see a penny.”
Egypt’s public prosecutor issued a travel ban and a freeze on the domestic assets of Mubarak and his family, as well as their close associates, after the dictator was toppled in February 2011. The foreign ministry ordered Egyptian embassies around the world to request that governments identify, freeze and return the assets of these individuals in accordance with the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, to which Egypt is a signatory.
•Part of Occupy the American Association March 5/5/2012 in Philadelphia
This is part of the march from the Friends Center rally to the Philadelphia Convention Center for the Occupy the American Psychiatric Assocation protest.
•In Memorium: Maurice Sendak, widely considered the most important children’s book artist of the 20th century, who wrenched the picture book out of the safe, sanitized world of the nursery and plunged it into the dark, terrifying and hauntingly beautiful recesses of the human psyche, died on Tuesday in Danbury, Conn. He was 83 and lived in Ridgefield, Conn. The cause was complications from a recent stroke, said Michael di Capua, his longtime editor.
Media
RSN: Carl Gibson, Break Up The Big Media Monopoly
Gibson writes: “It doesn’t take a genius to look around and see that power is clearly corrupt, the voice of the people is being silenced, and that the media has become the voice of the power they’re supposed to hold accountable.”
“Brain Candy?”
EJC/LA Times: Researchers at Harvard have gotten to the bottom of why so many of us are compelled to share our every thought, movement, like and want through mediums like Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, Instagram and Pinterest. In a series of experiments, the researchers found that the act of disclosing information about oneself activates the same sensation of pleasure in the brain that we get from eating food, getting money or having sex. It’s all a matter of degrees of course, but the science makes it clear that our brain considers self-disclosure to be a rewarding experience. This may help explain recent surveys of Internet use that show that roughly 80 percent of posts to social media sites like Twitter and Facebook consist simply of announcements about one’s own immediate experience. Lead researcher Diana Tamir and her co-author Jason P. Mitchell devised a series of experiments to measure the reward response that people get when they talk about themselves. As anyone with 700 Facebook friends might have guessed, the researchers found greater reward activity in the brains of people when they got to share their thoughts with a friend or family member, and less of a reward sensation when they were told their thoughts would be kept private. So perhaps all this explains the confounding behavior of people who over-share on the Internet, even to their detriment. (LA Times)
Did Anonymous Hit Twitter?
Mashable: Hackers claiming to be affiliated with the hacktivist group Anonymous claimed this week to have accessed and published the details of about 55,000 Twitter accounts.
But Twitter said Tuesday those claims are largely bogus, and that the group mostly posted duplicate information or username and password information for suspended spam accounts.
An anonymous Pastebin user posted five extremely long pages of alleged Twitter usernames and passwords to the text storage site on Monday. (Here are pages one, two, three, four and five.) The hacking news aggregator Airdemon.net reported the supposed breach on Tuesday, beginning to fuel speculation around the web of a massive successful attack on Twitter’s servers. Airdemon said celebrity accounts were among those compromised, and also claimed to have information from a “Twitter insider” confirming the attack
•Fluent: ‘DHS: Hackers Mounting Organized Cyber Attack on US Gas Pipelines’
•AlJazeera: Everything you know about Anonymous is wrong
•Infographic: How Is the Newspaper Industry Trying to Save Itself?
•Guardian Eyewitness Photo Of The Day:
Comment by Phillip Pease
It is all about $
Politics today is all about $$$. Our nation may have been founded as a government of the people, by the people, and for the people; but today the government is of the rich, by the rich and for the rich.We used to have a free press that would inform us when politicians accepted bribes…”
Catherine Diaomond writes:
DEMOCRACY ???????????
What Democracy ???
That went out the window with the dirty laundry.
What A Shame, and Shame on us for sitting back & doing nothing to stop it
Quote of the Day: Jeff Cohen on Common Dreams
“Getting to a bloc of 25 genuine, principled progressives in Congress is attainable. What’s needed is a strategy and resources to develop candidates in dozens of solidly progressive congressional districts nationwide: black, Latino, college town, liberal urban, etc. When an incumbent Democrat sells-out or leaves office, activists in such a district should be able to call upon national organizational and netroots support to get a 100% progressive into Congress. Once elected by the grassroots in such districts, it’s hard for corporate or conservative forces to ever get them out. Think Bernie Sanders. Think Barbara Lee.
“Which brings me to the Congressional campaign of lifelong progressive activist/author Norman Solomon.
“a campaign that inspires activists and challenges power and the Democratic establishment, a campaign promoting the full progressive agenda without settling for a puny number of protest votes.”
Comments welcome to dissector@mediachannel.org. Please visit Mediachannel1.org
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- About Danny Schechter
Danny Schechter is an Emmy award winning journalist, television producer and independent filmmaker who also writes, blogs and speaks about media issues.
His latest film is PLUNDER The Crime Of Our Time.
Mr. Schechter is NOT the Godfather of Soul.
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