BRUCE LERRO—Most theories of celebrity focus in on the fields of entertainment. The first focus is on movies, then secondarily on sports and music. But like it or not, politicians have become celebrities and politics is not supposed to be about entertainment. How do we understand the relationship between fame and celebrity when it’s in politics?
MEDIA FRONT
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IS THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA A RELIC OF THE PAST?
20 minutes readLARRY JOHNSON—We are now in an era where I believe that the mainstream media, especially TV and Cable, are largely irrelevant. Yet the tradition of using those platforms is still firmly embedded in the establishment mentality. Politicians raise tons of money, or try to, just to buy time on conventional TV and Cable that a diminishing number of people are watching. The action has shifted to podcasts, X and other social media platforms. That is what the vast majority of Americans are watching.
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DAVID EDWARDS: Contrary to the belief of some of our critics, we don’t hate to see positive examples of this kind that appear to contradict the thesis that state-corporate media function as a propaganda organ for powerful interests. In fact, we are only too pleased, because we have hoped for two main outcomes from our work. While our key aim has always been to increase public awareness and participation empowering progressive alternatives to ‘mainstream’ journalism, we have also hoped to encourage ‘mainstream’ journalists to improve their performance as far as they are able within the severe limits set by state-corporate media.
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Garland Nixon: TRUMP INDICTMENT – JUSTICE OR LAWFARE?
8 minutes readGARLAND NIXON—The judicial and political persecution of Donald Trump, violating prosecutorial discretion, and culminating recently with his indictment for a ridiculously insignificant offense yet to be proved, certifies the politicization of the courts to suit the secret agenda of the deep state and its establishment organs, chiefly the Democratic party, FBI, mass media, and CIA.
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Smearing China: Western Media Are Staffed with Unprincipled Careerists & Disinformers.
38 minutes readPETER MAN—I am from Hong Kong and have become a Canadian like Sana. I worked in the mainstream media in the early days of my career and actually built a national Chinese-language television station in Canada. That was a long time ago. When Hong Kong was handed back to China in 1997, I returned to my hometown to watch that historical event. I ended up getting a job in China and lived there for almost two decades. I have witnessed China’s rise and I can share one of my experiences in a few words. I was utterly shocked by the complete disregard for factual reporting of China by Western journalists.