statism watch

March 2013
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media

Pity the poor media, the ‘fourth estate’ of our society – expected to deliver timely, entertaining content by the people, expected by the state and those shareholders financing its debt to push an agenda. In their 1988 book ‘Manufacturing Consent’ Herman and Chomsky define the modern media’s systemic biases by crafting a ‘Propaganda Model’, stating the mainstream media’s social purpose is not to deliver information to viewers, but viewers to advertisers, and that further, “… the study of institutions and how they function must be scrupulously ignored, apart from fringe elements or a relatively obscure scholarly literature”. Ill-served by this evident conflict of interest, viewers are abandoning mainstream news in droves, and the industry is in crisis. Canadian viewers, to be fair, are not so ill served by our media institutions, which do question institutions although only up to a point. In response, the government has shut down federal Access to Information databases, has uprooted an established media gallery to a more controlled environment, and essentially forbidden the essential media scrum, deeming all interactions between MPs and the media to be authorized by the PCO. A chill has been created, the art of the tough question is an endangered one, and the ongoing consolidation of the press towards a bland homogeneity endangers the openness of Canadian democracy.

Smoking Guns — Suggested Reading

US Senator: China Can Shut Down The Internet, Why Can’t We?

Fox News Caught Aggregating Others Copyrighted Photographs… Something Murdoch Insists Is Illegal

Canadian Journalists Barred From Gitmo

US Government Propaganda To Infest Network TV Shows

Canadian media watched closely in Afghanistan

Canadian Parliament Threatens People For Posting Video Of Proceedings Online

Cheney Orders Media To Sell Attack On Iran

Archive (Most recent headlines first)

2010

National Post photographers arrested, spend night in G20 detention camp | Guardian journalist beaten, arrested at peaceful G20 protest on Esplanade | Invitation-only NGO access seperates media from activists at G20 summit | ACTA Leak: EU pushes for criminalizing non-commercial usages | CP Reporter: How I was detained by G8 security | Obama Can Shut Down Internet For 4 Months Under New Emergency Powers | Sacco and Vanzetti in Ottawa: How Media and Police are Politicizing the RBC Arson Case | $11-million paid, a CanWest deal is made | Australian Government to Force Use of State Firewall Package, Block ‘Unauthorized’ Programs | Heritage Minister tars those opposing copyright bill C32 as ‘radical extremists’ | Experts Draft Document Critical Of ACTA: Signatures Wanted | Toronto activists launch G20 alternative media centre | US Senator: China Can Shut Down The Internet, Why Can’t We? | Supreme Court upholds restrictions on government documents | Russian police seize 100,000 anti-Vladimir Putin books | Iceland Unanimously Approves ‘Wikileaks Bill’ To Establish Free Speech Press Haven | WikiLeaks to release video of deadly US airstrike in Garani | Pro-copyright bill group busted as recording industry astroturf campaign | Internet ‘kill switch’ proposed for US President | U.S. seeks international organization in battle against cyber terror | Homeland Security’s Cyber Bill Would Codify Executive Emergency Powers | Gaza flotilla attack: activist releases new footage | Pentagon hunts WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in bid to gag website | ‘Fox News North’? Quebecor planning 24-hour network | Rural Internet providers angered by federal support of bigger rivals | Tories worked hard to paint bloody Afghan war as peace mission: MEP documents | Maybe it’s time to muzzle the trolls: Globe tech writer advocates online moderation | G20 media centre with fake lake to cost $1.9M | Harper’s Privy Council message control system is unprecedented, critics say | US Federal Trade Commission considers taxing online speech | Prime Minister’s Office tells Tory MPs not to answer Citizen reporter’s questions on expenses | Canada’s new information czar vows to take on delays in access system | Tories unveil tougher copyright bill, requires ISPs to keep user info | Copyright Act changes to be revealed today | Pirate Bay Appeal Judges Cleared of Bias | International Copyright Draft Release Was Apparently A One Time Deal: Now We’re Back To Secrecy | Canwest sells newspapers to creditor group for $1.1B | Industry Minister Clement invites input on Canadian digital economy | Google attorney slams ACTA copyright treaty | Media can’t shield sources all the time, court rules | US regulators seek new network neutrality laws | Canadian Journalists Barred From Gitmo | Press For Truth Arrested While Reporting On The G20 Summit | Red Alert: New Canadian DMCA Bill Within Six Weeks | Fox News Caught Aggregating Others Copyrighted Photographs… Something Murdoch Insists Is Illegal | Shaw buying up CanWest TV assets from Goldman-Sachs | China wants internet firms to inform on clients | Official ACTA Draft Released, Only Very Slightly Less Awful Than Expected | U.S. Troops Apologize For Wikileaks Massacre Video | The Economist On Why Copyright Needs To Return To Its Roots | Big Content’s dystopian wish-list for the US gov’t: spyware, censorship, physical searches and SWAT teams | Danger Room What’s Next in National Security Prospective U.S. Cyber Commander Talks Terms of Digital Warfare | Thousands condemn secrecy of New Zealand round of internet copyright talks | Access to information risks being ‘obliterated’: report | Leading UK ISP Says It Will Defy Government’s Net Censorship Bill | Nikkei Restricts Links to Its New Web Site | WikiLeaks releases video of alleged U.S. helicopter attack on Reuters reporters | Internet linking rights case to go before Supreme Court | CETA worse than ACTA — EU Trade Negotiators Demand Canada Completely Overhaul Its Intellectual Property Laws | ACTA Draft: No Internet for Copyright Scofflaws | New policy shrouds number of Canada’s Afghan campaign injuries in secrecy | Entire Text of ACTA Treaty Leaks to Online Rights Website | Google reroutes uncensored search to Hong Kong, raises stakes in row with China | Revealed: ACTA to cover seven categories of intellectual property | New ACTA Leaks Complete Picture of Oppressive Global Copyright Treaty | Copyright conviction raises privacy concerns | MP Charlie Angus Introducing Private Copying Levy Bill, Flexible Fair Dealing Motion | Georgia suffering backlash over media-staged Russian attack | Secret Document Calls Wikileaks ‘Threat’ to U.S. Army | Government Internet Censorship Begins In Stealth In New Zealand | UK Government Ad: Use Cash And Enjoy Privacy? You’re A Terrorist | EU Parliament votes down ACTA global copyright resolution by overwhelming margin | Goldman appeals CanWest, Shaw deal | Cyber-bullying cases put heat on Google, Facebook | North Korean worker executed for passing on news | Cyberwar Hype Intended to Destroy the Open Internet | UK: Open Wi-Fi ‘outlawed’ by Digital Economy Bill | Cryptome.org Leaks Microsoft Online Surveillance Guide, MS Demands Takedown Under Copyright Law | Italy Convicts Google Execs over Youtube Video of Downs Syndrome Boy | China launches interview requirement, licensing for personal websites | Cabinet ministers’ offices regularly interfere in access to information requests, says Tory staffer | ACTA Internet Chapter Leaks: Renegotiates WIPO, Sets 3 Strikes as Model | Google Books Fosters Intellectual, Legal Crossroads | Google Bans Sale of DVD Critical Of Obama Administration | US media omission: Iran calls for global nuclear disarmament | EU Already Has A ‘Public/Private’ IP Observatory To Watch For Copyright Infringement Online | Shaw Cable moves for acquisition of controlling share in Canwest Global | Google shuts down music blogs without warning | Activists Shut Down Australian Government Websites in Internet Filter Protest | ACTA Is Called An ‘Executive Agreement’ To Implement Restrictive Copyright With Less Hassle Than A Treaty | HST ad campaign debuts in Ontario | Google, NSA may team up to probe cyberattacks | Men at Work plagiarized Kookaburra tune, Australian court rules | Hollywood loses landmark copyright case in Australia | Police want backdoor to Web users’ private data | Time Magazine Pushes Draconian Internet Licensing Plan | UN agency calls for global cyberwarfare treaty, ‘driver’s license’ for Web user | CBC’s new licencing plan: Pay to Print, Email, and Blog, and outsource enforcement to American Copyright Digital Rights Bounty Hunters | ACTA One Step Closer To Being Done; Concerns About Transparency Ignored | Pentagon calls for ‘Office of Strategic Deception’ | Internet companies voice alarm over Italian copyright law | UK MPs frozen out of super-secret ACTA copyright talks | The Toronto 18 Publication Ban: Silence affects the core of justice | China Google Hack Exploited Security Gaps Introduced By State Surveillance Provisions | Obama Information Czar Calls For Banning Free Speech | China tells web companies to obey controls | Google Considers Leaving China If China Will Not Allow Uncensored Search | Reading Between The Still Secret Lines Of The ACTA Negotiations | Privacy no longer a social norm, says Facebook founder | Tipping point at CanWest