Another Communication is Also Possible

[SOURCE: Center for International Media Action, AUTHOR: Hilmi Toros]
"Another Communication is Possible" -- one that treats information as a right rather than merchandise, breaks up media concentration and hob-knobbing between owners and government. But can they be realized in a world in which information moving with astonishing speed is "packaged" by media moguls almost anywhere? With a handful of media groups controlling what people in many lands will read, hear or see, the world is suffering from "information insecurity," says Ignacio Ramonet, President of Media Global Watch. According to Andrew Calabrese of the University of Colorado, deregulation in the United States, leading to bigger concentration of media ownership, also ushered a quid pro quo relationship between media tycoons and the government. Media bosses discourage dissent from the US policy in Iraq for fear offending a government that, in turn, helps big media owners get even bigger. "There is nothing genetically inferior with Americans," he quips, "except the quality of oxygen they breathe in information clouds their minds." As to how best to fight news domination by the few, Giulietto Chiesa, now a European Parliament Deputy and also a veteran writer for the Italian daily La Stampa, sees opportunities. One is forming an alliance with prominent personalities in the entertainment world and literature, and recruiting them for the fight against information concentration and manipulation.
http://www.mediaactioncenter.org/?q=node/575