journalism
A Comparative Review of Flat Earth News and Newspeak
An interesting article by Jonathan Cook reviewing two books Nick Davies, Flat Earth News, Vintage 2008 and David Edwards and David Cromwell, Newspeak in the 21st Century, Pluto Press 2009, on the reasons why journalism fails to uncover and report the truth.
Jonathan Cook has been covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from Nazareth, Israel, as a freelance reporter for the past eight years. Before that he was a staff journalist at the Guardian and Observer newspapers. His latest books on the conflict are ‘Israel and the Clash of Civilisations’ (Pluto, 2008) and ‘Disappearing Palestine’ (Zed, 2008). His website is www.jkcook.net
Press and media strike in Greece in midst of repression and urban guerrilla flareup
The entire press and media world goes on 24h strike across Greece in response to the closing down of a major daily and radio station, in a context of rising repression and urban guerrilla warfare.
On the 24th of June 2009, the entire press and media apparatus of Greece came to a standstill due to a 24h strike of press and media workers in response to the surprise shutting down of Eleftheros Typos, one of the country’s oldest right-wing newspapers, and the popular City Radio, both owned by the tycoon and president of the 2004 Olympic Games, Mrs Angelopoulou.
Propagandist - what the papers said about anarchism and G20
In the absence of a realistic threat to the status quo from Islamic fundamentalists, the state has tentatively been trying to paint anarchists as a parallel and growing internal threat to the nation.
Despite minimal evidence, the conjecture of the police that a major anarchist atrocity is inevitable has been taken almost verbatim by the mainstream media and was pushed even further during the G20, with several ludicrous stories appearing about what the movement might get up to appearing.
Rob Ray picks some of the best for Freedom.
Daily Mail
Not, for once, the most hysterical voice around – an honour which must go to the Evening Standard. However their suggestion that activists ‘pelted police with bottles as they tried to save a dying protester’, echoed uncritically from the police report by every other major paper, was among the most vicious libels to appear.
Morning Star journalists win pay rise
Journalists at Britain's 'daily paper of the left' have won a decisive victory over bosses who claimed they were 'betraying their class' by fighting for fair pay.
The sub-editors and reporters at the historic newspaper, which has a solid reputation backing workers fighting back, won their claim for a £19,000 a year minimum wage.
Bosses at the paper had offered the workers just a 3 per cent rise for the 2008 pay deal — effectively a pay cut as last year's average inflation rate was 4 per cent — claiming that there was no cash to pay more.
Yorkshire journalists to strike over job losses
Journalists in Leeds are to hold two four-day strikes over job cuts.
NUJ members on the Yorkshire Post and Yorkshire Evening Post voted overwhelmingly for action in a ballot after the company said three photographers faced compulsory redundancy. The first strike will start in a week's time. The Johnston Press-owned titles are facing 18 job cuts in total.
The vote in the secret postal ballot was 109 for strike action – three against.
Occupation of news editors union HQ in Athens
ESIEA, the Union of News Editors HQ have been occupied by radical journalists and transformed into a counterinformation center and anti-spectacle forum.
On Saturday 10/1/09 in Athens radical reporters and journalists have occupied the HQ of the Union of Athens Daily Press Editors (ESIEA) which functions as a control institution regarding journalism across the country. The squatters have called for a series of open assemblies to discuss the nature and problems of broadcasting and reporting December's insurgency and its aftermath.
Korean workers ring in new year with strike for press freedom
Media workers have launched a general strike against a new set of state laws which they claim will enable the government to seize control of the press.
Thousands have been on strike since late December against the South Korean government's package of seven laws, the so-called MB laws, which they claim will restrict press freedom.
Around 4000 workers have joined the stoppage, from 74 newspaper and broadcasting companies, called by the the National Union of Media Workers.
Resistance to job cuts at the University of Salford gathers steam
Around 150 job losses have been forecast by opponents as part of large cuts across the university, along with the slashing of courses and funding.
The job losses and cuts to courses and infrastructure stem from the ‘project headroom’ program currently being pushed through by university management, which aims to claw back £12.5 million for the university budget.
Freedom newspaper copy dates - 2009
Copy dates for the anarchist newspaper Freedom for next year - send submissions to freedomeds - puttheatsigninhere - yahoo.com
Issue no----Issue date (Saturday)-----Copy deadline
7001--------17th January---------------- 8th January
7002-------- 31st January--------------- 22nd January
7003-------- 14th February------------- 5th February
7004-------- 28th February------------- 19th February
7005-------- 14th March----------------- 5th March
7006-------- 28th March----------------- 19th March
New round of cuts hit news media
Union activity remains low in the media as more job losses are announced across the industry following a continuing advertising slump and falling profits - but more workforces are beginning to stand up to be counted.
Several newspaper and other media titles have announced more cuts are to be made in the industry as it goes through the largest mass cull of reporting staff of the last decade in the face of falling advertising revenues and readership.
