BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
X-WR-CALNAME:www.indybay.org
PRODID:-//indybay/ical// v1.0//EN
BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:Indybay-18653467
SEQUENCE:18724167
CREATED:20100710T194400Z
DESCRIPTION:\nFilm evenings begin with optional potluck refreshments and social hour at 
  6:30 pm,\nfollowed by the film at  7:30 pm, followed by a discussion after 
 the film.\n\n\nBROADCAST BLUES\nby Sue Wilson\n\n\nPresented by Joy 
 Newhart\nfrom MoveOn\n\n\nThis important documentary focuses on the corrupt 
 practices of the media and what the people of the U.S. can do about them.  
 It emphasizes the fact that the public owns the airwaves so it’s our job 
 to clean them up.  People may feel that they have no control over what they 
 are watching or listening to.   The filmmaker, Sue Wilson, says:  “I 
 think people feel disempowered.”  She reminds us that “Policy makers 
 only change laws and rules when the public stands up and starts to 
 scream…  We the people have the power to be able to change this media to 
 make it work better for us.”  The film does a good job of helping the 
 general public understand the role of the Federal Communications Commission 
 — the way that its powers to regulate and license television and radio 
 stations have really diminished over the years.  But the film also gives 
 some hope that folks can take the media back.   This is a very important 
 film to inform people of their rights.\n\n\nSue Wilson continues:  “There 
 has been a right wing movement for more than a generation to dumb down and 
 control our culture.  It started before Ronald Reagan and goes right up 
 through the Citizens United case.  This movement has been purposely 
 confusing people to sway public opinion and to write its own oral 
 history…  I’ve worked as a broadcast journalist since 1987, when we 
 were still working under the Fairness Doctrine. I saw how the character of 
 broadcasting changed when we lost that rule: personal attacks were suddenly 
 okay, community programming was not worth the price, and candidates for 
 public office could forget about going on the air for free;  if they wanted 
 time, they could buy it…  Then after Bill Clinton signed the 1996 
 Telecommunications Act into law, I saw how one man on 600 radio stations 
 nationwide could pummel a president into impeachment. I would hear Rush 
 tell his audience,  ‘I’ll do the reading for you so you won’t have 
 to,’  then lie to his listeners about what he’d read.  Nobody was there 
 to check his facts, and so he began writing America’s new oral history… 
  [I made this film] to educate people as to our rights in this media 
 landscape, and to encourage people to stand up and start shouting to 
 reclaim our rights.  We the People have to be our own advocates, or nothing 
 will happen in Washington.”\n\n\nWheelchair accessible around the corner 
 at  411  28th  Street\n\n$5 donations are accepted\n 
 https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/07/10/18653467.php
SUMMARY:Broadcast Blues
LOCATION:Humanist Hall\n390  27th  Street\nmidtown Oakland, between Telegraph and 
 Broadway\nhttp://www.HumanistHall.org \n
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/07/10/18653467.php
DTSTART:20100722T023000Z
DTEND:20100722T043000Z
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR