Toxic fumes fill the night sky; people are choking to death. Four miles away, seven Canadian Pacific train cars have derailed, spewing poisonous anhydrous ammonia into the air. Emergency personnel scramble to alert the residents of the deadly threat. But the local radio station tasked with providing emergency information play music. Just music. For more than 90 minutes.
As Minot Resident Jennifer Johnson told the local paper, "The phone line was out, so I couldn't call 911. The only thing on the radio was music -- no one was telling us what happened or what to do."
Media consolidation rules had permitted Clear Channel to own six of Minot's seven commercial radio stations. All six were programmed from 1200 miles away.
Media policy. A dry and yawn-inducing term that sounds like it belongs on page four of the newspaper's Business section.
But media policy is killing us. Literally.
And it's killing our democracy.
41% of Americans still believe that Saddam Hussein attacked us on 9/11. Journalists Helen Thomas, Amy Goodman, David Brancaccio explain access and deception and a drumbeat to war. Documents that prove, despite what pundits told us, Valerie Plame was a covert agent. Fox News gets a court ruling … that news doesn't have to be true.
But the public airwaves are public property; that's why people from all political spectrums are standing up to take our media back. Danny Glover and Naomi Judd, Phil Donahue and Big and Rich, Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan and Republican Senator Trent Lott and many others show us why media is the most important issue of our time.
Plus three million grassroot Americans. On the record and mad as hell about today's media.
Media Reform is the battleline of this century. Broadcast Blues is the rallying cry for action!
Stand up to Rush Limbaugh
in his adopted hometown
of Sacramento!