Mickey’s first guest this week is Project Censored’s Associate Director, Andy Lee Roth. Roth is a 2024-25 Reynolds Journalism Institute Fellow where he is developing an “algorithmic literacy” toolkit for journalists. He explains why today’s journalists need a basic understanding of the algorithms used by internet and social media tech giants to better serve the public. Issues around horse-race poll coverage, shadow banning, and algorithmic gatekeeping are discussed.

In the second half of the show, Maya Schenwar of Truthout and Lara Witt of Prism introduce the organization they co-founded, the Movement Media Alliance. They explain why social-justice-oriented media outlets should work together, both to enhance their impact and to better the working conditions for journalists in independent media.

GUESTS:

Andy Lee Roth is Associate Director of Project Censored, co-editor of its state-of-the-free-press yearbooks, co-author of The Media and Me, and coordinator of its Campus Affiliates Program. His work on algorithmic literacy for journalists is supported by a fellowship from the Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri.

Maya Schenwar is Editor-At-Large for Truthout, and writes extensively on prison and policing issues.

Lara Witt is Editor-In-Chief at Prism Reports.

The post Algorithmic Literacy for Journalists / A New Movement Media Alliance appeared first on KPFA.

With the 2024 US elections drawing near, host Mickey Huff moderates an expert panel discussion with three media scholars and educators about how critical-media-literacy education can enhance civic engagement. They outline the many challenges posed by social media, hyper-partisanship, and fake news, but also explore what educators can do to engage today’s students and equip them with critical tools necessary to deconstruct media messaging and bridge communication barriers, both inside and outside the classroom. This program is also a special broadcast that is part of the Big Rhetorical Podcast Carnival.

GUESTS:

Allison Butler is a Senior Lecturer in Communications at the University of Massachusetts and the Director of the Media Literacy Certificate Program in the Department of Communication at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in Amherst, MA, where she teaches courses on critical media literacy. Butler co-directs the grassroots organization, Mass Media Literacy, where she develops and conducts teacher training for the inclusion of critical media literacy in K-12 schools. She is co-author of The Media and Me and Surveillance Education.

Nolan Higdon is a co-founding member of the Critical Media Literacy Conference of the Americas; a University Lecturer at the Merrill College and the Education Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz; a Project Censored National Judge; and an author of several books on media issues, including The Anatomy of Fake News, as well as co-author of The Media and Me and Surveillance Education.

Sydney Sullivan is a Lecturer at San Diego State University, and a doctoral candidate at the University of California, Davis. Her research focuses on education and digital rhetoric with an emphasis on well-being. Sydney’s most recent chapter in Transformative Practice in Critical Media Literacy is out now, titled “Rethinking Curriculums: How Critical Digital Literacy and Mandatory Composition Courses Collide.”

The post Crisis, Culture, and Civility: Critical Media Literacy Education and Election 2024 appeared first on KPFA.

The National Association for Media Literacy Education has named the week of October 21 as “Media Literacy Week.” In light of this — and the upcoming November election — Mickey speaks with media scholar Nolan Higdon about identifying fake news and attempts at opinion manipulation, from all possible quarters.

Then, photojournalist Orin Langelle joins Eleanor to discuss his new book, Portraits of Struggle, a collection of images of people engaged in the defense of their lands and lives across the globe. He also explains the stories behind the images and what he’s learned about corporate/government domination and popular resistance.

Nolan Higdon is a lecturer in Education at the University of California Santa Cruz campus, a prolific author on media issues, and a frequent guest on the Project Censored Show. His books include The Anatomy of Fake News. He writes at NolanHigdon.substack.com Orin Langelle has been a photojournalist for 50 years; his work has been featured in many publications, both corporate and nonprofit.

Orin Langelle is an award-winning photojournalist whose work spans 50 years on six continents. He has been published in the corporate media and the nonprofit world. He prefers the nonprofit sector that allows him more freedom in exposing reality. Orin’s also an activist and photographer, senior strategist, and cofounder of Global Justice Ecology Project. His book Portraits of Struggle was published by Global Justice Ecology Project for their 20th anniversary.

The post Media Literacy Week: Guide to Fake News and Voices from the Frontlines appeared first on KPFA.

Julian Assange has been a free man since June, but the issue of his long confinement in a UK prison is still in the news. Recently he testified before the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), and the Council then passed a resolution declaring that Assange could be designated a political prisoner. Independent journalist Kevin Gosztola joins Mickey to examine the implications of the PACE decision. They also discuss other press-freedom issues, notably the unprecedented death toll among journalists in the Gaza Strip, at the hands of Israeli forces.

Then Steve Macek looks at foreign campaign spending in U.S. elections, taking note both of its widespread presence as well as the relative lack of interest by corporate media in reporting on the subject. He observes that only occasional stories about individual politicians’ potential campaign funding transgressions (such as those of NYC Mayor Eric Adams) make the news, but the system itself is seldom covered.

Kevin Gosztola is the editor of the Dissenter newsletter, www.thedissenter.org. His book on the Julian Assange case, Guilty of Journalism, was published in 2023.

The post Assange testifies at PACE / Pervasiveness of foreign money in U.S. political campaigns appeared first on KPFA.

In the first half of today’s episode, international human rights lawyer Karnig Kerkonian discusses Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing of the Artsakh-Armenians from the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Karnig outlines the genocidal intent of President Ilham Aliyev, how the U.S. knew and yet didn’t take steps to stop it, and how the international community should respond — not least of all as this year’s climate summit (COP29) is being held, ironically, in what Karnig calls the petrol-dictatorship of Azerbaijan.

Then, journalist and researcher Chip Gibbons joins the show to discuss Israel’s targeted and mass killing of journalists on the ground in Gaza. Chip highlights the vehement hypocrisy with which the U.S. pretends to uphold freedom of the press while not only ignoring the murder of journalists but also pushing for a media blackout and censorship of reports from Gaza.

GUESTS:

Karnig Kerkonian is the founder of the Chicago-based law firm Kerkonian Dajani.

Chip Gibbons is Policy Director at Defending Rights and Dissent, an NGO created by the merger of the Bill of Rights Defense Committee and the Defending Dissent Foundation. He is working on a book about the FBI, tentatively titled The Imperial Bureau.

The post A genocide in the Caucasus? / Israeli killings of journalists appeared first on KPFA.

The voices of Palestinians in Gaza are some of the most censored in the world. When not killed outright, they are silenced by purposeful omission, in order to support Israel’s narrative. It is therefore vital that alternative media work to find and platform these voices and that people who are not fooled by pro-Israel propaganda engage with them, share them, and allow them to inform our actions.

This week Eleanor Goldfield sits down with Dr. Khalil Khalidy, an orthopedic doctor in Gaza. His testimony is necessary, powerful, and understandably distressing. We are therefore including a content warning for this week’s show, as Dr. Khalidy does not sugarcoat his lived experiences. The following program includes descriptions of an ongoing genocide and of psychological and physical suffering from the perspective of a doctor trying to work in abominable conditions with little to no supplies.

Khalil Khalidy is an orthopedist in Deir al-Balah, Gaza. He is also trained in psychology.

The post Voices from Palestine: A Doctor’s Testimony from Gaza appeared first on KPFA.

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The post Special Fund Drive Programming – September 27, 2024 appeared first on KPFA.

On this special fund-drive episode, Mickey’s first guest is journalist Jeff Cohen, who discusses the career and legacy of the late Phil Donahue. Donahue was an innovative television talk-show host, who was fired by MSNBC when he continued interviewing pro-peace guests during the buildup to the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Then Mickey interviews author Norman Solomon about the bias in corporate-media coverage of Israel’s assault on Gaza (which obscures the essential U.S. connection) and in overall coverage of war and the U.S. military.

Jeff Cohen is a co-founder of the media-watch group FAIR (www.fair.org), and the author of Cable News Confidential. He was senior producer of Phil Donahue’s MSNBC show in 2003, when it was canceled.

Norman Solomon is an author and media critic. A new edition of his book War Made Invisible, contains an afterword about the Israeli attack on Gaza. More information can be found at www.warmadeinvisible.org.

The post Phil Donahue’s Legacy / War Made Invisible appeared first on KPFA.

On this special fund-drive episode, Mickey’s first guest is journalist Jeff Cohen, who discusses the career and legacy of the late Phil Donahue. Donahue was an innovative television talk-show host, who was fired by MSNBC when he continued interviewing pro-peace guests during the buildup to the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Then Mickey interviews author Norman Solomon about the bias in corporate-media coverage of Israel’s assault on Gaza (which obscures the essential U.S. connection) and in overall coverage of war and the U.S. military.

Jeff Cohen is a co-founder of the media-watch group FAIR (www.fair.org), and the author of Cable News Confidential. He was senior producer of Phil Donahue’s MSNBC show in 2003, when it was canceled.

Norman Solomon is an author and media critic. A new edition of his book War Made Invisible, contains an afterword about the Israeli attack on Gaza. More information can be found at www.warmadeinvisible.org.

The post Phil Donahue’s Legacy / War Made Invisible appeared first on KPFA.

Eleanor Goldfield is joined on this week’s program with a special guest co-host: Maximillian Alvarez, Editor-in-Chief at the Real News Network. Their subject is the Julian Assange case and its implications for press freedom going forward. Their guests provide a recap of the case and new information on why the U.S. abandoned its years-long effort to extradite Assange from the UK and instead agreed to a plea bargain under which the Wikileaks founder was freed.

GUESTS:

Chip Gibbons is Policy Director at Defending Rights and Dissent, www.rightsanddissent.org.

Kevin Gosztola is the editor of the Dissenter newsletter, www.thedissenter.org. His book on the Julian Assange case, Guilty of Journalism, was published in 2023.

The post The Julian Assange Case and the Future of Journalism appeared first on KPFA.

This week we offer a special episode featuring Project Censored’s recent “Decoding Democracy” series, a collection of interviews showcasing media scholars, journalists, and activists discussing how an informed public and an independent press are vital aspects of any free and just society. These excerpts are part of the larger Project Censored aim to empower individuals to better navigate the media landscape and political climate, becoming more engaged citizens. The focus of the series is to promote critical media literacy education while harnessing the power of a free and independent press to spur more broadly and deeply informed civic engagement among the electorate.

Among the many commentators featured in the Decoding Democracy video series, and included in this radio broadcast, are Mnar Adley, Nora Barrows-Friedman, Eugene Puryear, and Victor Pickard.

The post Decoding Democracy: Exploring Critical Media Literacy Education, Independent Journalism, and Civic Engagement appeared first on KPFA.