The Internet is in Danger of Being Strangled by Commercialism. Robert W. McChesney. (Photo: The New Press)A distinguished professor of communications at the University of Illinois at Champaign, Robert McChesney has been a largely under-recognized writer (outside of specialists in the area), educator and activist about the dangers of corporation consolidation controlling the media and stifling democracy. Not confined to the ivory tower, McChesney was a co-founder of the vitally important FreePress.net. He also had hosted a radio program for many years discussing media democracy. McChesney has been an unrelenting and enlightened critic of the nefarious influence of corporate profits on a press that enhances democracy.
In this "Digital Disconnect" excerpt, provided courtesy of McChesney and The New Press, he writes of the growing corrupting influence of advertising on the net. Support Truthout's mission. Our Master's Voice—Loud and Clear? In 1934 journalist and ex-adman James Rorty's seminal work, Our Master's Voice: Advertising, was published. In Case You Missed It: Congress Takes Your Internet Privacy. (Photo: Ciro Boro / Flickr)To the disappointent of advocates for civil liberties and internet freedom, the controversial Cyber Intelligence and Protection Act (CISPA) passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday by a vote of 288-127. 196 Republicans voted for the measure and almost half the House Democrats. Few would dispute that cybersecurity is not a concern. A rapid flurry of recent cyberattacks of government and corporate websites has highlighted the issue. But as Internet security experts argue, CISPA approaches the problem in a wrongheaded manner, allowing companies to share information to make their networks more secure but at a cost to users’ rights.
To protect the U.S. against hackers, CISPA allows companies, including internet service providers, to share information, the better to coordinate efforts in the event of a cyberattack. But CISPA is vague about precisely what sort of information will be shared. As Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Mark Jaycox explains, Linguismes. Exécution de prisonniers et condamnés à morts. Liberté d'expression. Earth Blog: ESSAY: Freedom Isn’t Free, Terrorism Is Pervasive. Enduring occasional acts of random terror is the cost of living in a free society. Giving up civil liberties does not provide security, but rather enslaves you in a state of pervasive terror. The human family is threatened by systematized eco-terrorism and other assaults by the elite upon the poor far more than by infrequent criminal acts which the courts can and should handle. By Dr. Glen Barry, Ecological InternetEarth Meanders come from Earth's Newsdesk Terrorism is the act of inspiring terror in others by harming presumed innocents.
For many, unjust postmodern life on a dying planet is full of PERVASIVE TERROR. Infrequent criminal acts, of the sort that recently occurred in Boston and occur much more frequently around the world, are tragic but best handled by the criminal justice system. America is not special. To name but a few: two billion people live on less than $2 a day, at least 3,000 kids die daily from bad water, and millions of innocents fear random drone attacks. An Interview With Julian Assange. Corporate totalitarianism is spreading rapidly, and it’s not just Assange or Manning they want. It is all who dare to defy the official narrative. Julian Assange in 2010. Reuters/Valentin Flauraud. London—A tiny tip of the vast subterranean network of governmental and intelligence agencies from around the world dedicated to destroying WikiLeaks and arresting its founder, Julian Assange, appears outside the red-brick building on Hans Crescent Street that houses the Ecuadorean Embassy.
This interview is a joint project of Truthdig and The Nation magazine. About the Author Chris Hedges Chris Hedges, former Middle East bureau chief for the New York Times, is a senior fellow at The Nation Institute. Also by the Author The hollowing out of America, up close and personal. Camden, New Jersey, stands as a warning of what huge pockets of America could turn into. Britain has rejected an Ecuadorean request that Assange be granted safe passage to an airport. “But they have failed,” he went on. Sen. The Death of Truth: Chris Hedges Interviews Julian Assange. Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, at a press conference during a court appearance for a verdict on an extradition request in London, Feb. 24, 2011.
(Photo: Andrew Testa / The New York Times)This interview is a joint project of Truthdig and The Nation magazine. Corporate totalitarianism is spreading rapidly, and it’s not just Assange or Manning they want. It is all who dare to defy the official narrative. London - A tiny tip of the vast subterranean network of governmental and intelligence agencies from around the world dedicated to destroying WikiLeaks and arresting its founder, Julian Assange, appears outside the red-brick building on Hans Crescent Street that houses the Ecuadorean Embassy. Assange, the world’s best-known political refugee, has been in the embassy since he was offered sanctuary there last June. British police in black Kevlar vests are perched night and day on the steps leading up to the building, and others wait in the lobby directly in front of the embassy door. The Death of Truth. By Chris Hedges This interview is a joint project of Truthdig and The Nation magazine.
LONDON—A tiny tip of the vast subterranean network of governmental and intelligence agencies from around the world dedicated to destroying WikiLeaks and arresting its founder, Julian Assange, appears outside the red-brick building on Hans Crescent Street that houses the Ecuadorean Embassy. Assange, the world’s best-known political refugee, has been in the embassy since he was offered sanctuary there last June. British police in black Kevlar vests are perched night and day on the steps leading up to the building, and others wait in the lobby directly in front of the embassy door. The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), or Scotland Yard, said the estimated cost of surrounding the Ecuadorean Embassy from June 19, 2012, when Assange entered the building, until Jan. 31, 2013, is the equivalent of $4.5 million.
Britain has rejected an Ecuadorean request that Assange be granted safe passage to an airport. Sen. Monitoring of AP Phones a "Terrifying" Step in State Assault on Press Freedom. Journalist Chris Hedges discusses what could mark the most significant government intrusion on freedom of the press in decades. (Photo: Democracy Now!) The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges joins us to discuss what could mark the most significant government intrusion on freedom of the press in decades. The Justice Department has acknowledged seizing the work, home and cellphone records used by almost 100 reporters and editors at the Associated Press. The phones targeted included the general AP office numbers in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Hartford, Connecticut, and the main number for the AP in the House of Representatives press gallery.
The action likely came as part of a probe into the leaks behind an AP story on the U.S. intelligence operation that stopped a Yemen-based al-Qaeda bombing plot on a U.S. -bound airplane. Nermeen Shaikh: U.S. Amy Goodman: The Associated Press had delayed publication of the story 'til May 7, 2012, at the government's request. La liberté d'expression.