Lisa Kassner's Blog Page

In 1983, 50 corporations controlled the vast majority of all news media in the U.S. At the time, Ben Bagdikian was called “alarmist” for pointing this out in his book, The Media Monopoly. In his 4th edition, published in 1992, he wrote “in the U.S., fewer than two dozen of these extraordinary creatures own and operate 90% of the mass media” — controlling almost all of America’s newspapers, magazines, TV and radio stations, books, records, movies, videos, wire services and photo agencies.

Bagdikian predicted then that eventually this number would fall to about half a dozen companies. This was greeted with skepticism at the time. When the 6th edition of The Media Monopoly was published in 2000, the number had fallen to six. Since then, there have been more mergers and the scope has expanded to include new media like the Internet market. More than 1 in 4 Internet users in the U.S. now log in with AOL Time-Warner, the world’s largest media corporation.

In 2004, Bagdikian’s revised and expanded book, The New Media Monopoly, shows that only 5 huge corporations — Time Warner, Disney, Murdoch’s News Corporation, Bertelsmann of Germany, and Viacom (formerly CBS) — now control most of the media industry in the U.S. General Electric’s NBC is a close sixth.

(Please click this link to see who owns what.)

We have so many choices in life to watch video product: Cable, Satellite, Over The Air, Internet and DVD. Literally thousands of possible choices each day to make. We have The Boadcast Networks, Weather Channel, Cooking Channels, and even the Landscape Channel. What this Trade Union Movement needs is a Labor Channel. Here I am presenting to you some thoughts and talking points for my idea regarding a Labor Channel.

The Labor Channel will utilize

* Over the air standard definition and high definition or digitial broadcasting media outlets

* The internet

* Cable broadcasting

* Satellite broadcasting

* Pod-cast broadcasting

* Internet e-mail

* A very large internet portal to handle extreme amounts of bandwidth. Northwest Communications Cooperative is located in Ray, North Dakota, and is a CWA Union Shop. Actual media content highlighting national labor concerns would be created all over the country by many affilated broadcast union Locals. A cooperative such as Northwest Communications Cooperative could be established in California and modeled after NCC. We have talented NABET CWA – Local 53 workers here in the Los Angeles area who would contribute to and benefit by this effort.

* Labor content list servers

* Labor news media product in all markets of the planet thereby giving access to all labor unions

* Nutrition and cooking content

* Labor and the arts programming

* Legislative, political and legal aspects of labor

* Labor education – partnering with labor colleges – webinars

* Labor commentaries

* Labor video call in shows utilizing home webcams for live interviews

* Hourly Labor Headline News

* Labor organization educational “how to” programming – organizing, community services, resources, etc.

* Labor outreach for organizing people in all walks of life

* Partnering opportunities with all labor guilds, labor unions, and labor associations to make quality product for the Labor Channel

* Conceptualization of permaculture to help make it real in the world

* Create people being possibility thinkers daring to know the power of Labor’s creative abilities, political will and political might

* Progressive political outreach to change our world to establish a quality and for a fair sharing of resources and wealth for all people

* A vehicle outlet to turn lies into truth, injustice to justice, and dispair into empowerment

* An environment for labor to work together for positive change

* A new vision of the relationship between labor and business from the “Information Age” to the “Conceptual Age” (see my research on permaculture)

* Labor broadcasting in the public interest – acting as advocate for labor in the areas of patents, copyrights, trademarks and intellectual property among many others

* An appreciation for the history of labor by teaching labor history

* A desire to further develop new media technologies

* A desire to build union unity

* A desire to mobilize to start a progressive political Labor Party party that will serve the people’s interests

* A desire to promote social justice for all

* An atmosphere to promote business opportunity ventures

* special media investigative task forces

* An understanding of labor that will politically mobilize and win the hearts of all people

1. The Labor Channel must produce the best possible media product

2. The labor channel must effectively market the best of the media product that is produced

3. We can have the best product on our planet, but if no one knows about it, why do it?

4. Funding for the Labor Channel will be with commercials, labor organization contributions, and on air/cable/satellite and internet fund raisers to pay the way

* The Labor Channel must broadcast, narrow cast, pod cast as well as stream video on demand

* The Labor Channel must develop news feeds for media outlets to air and reproduce

* The Labor Channel will develop a Labor Channel news file server

* The Labor Channel will create various Labor Channel interest press kits for distribution

* The labor Channel will inform, educate, encourage and empower, We, the people

* The Labor Channel could start a labor union cooperative for independent union media producers

* The Labor Channel will share content, cover conventions and special labor speakers

* The Labor Channel will create a “Meet the Candidates” video website

* The labor channel will outreach to the less well off of our society to organize and empower the people to fully participate in our society

* The Labor Channel could promote the practice of permaculture in business to permanently change the character of the way business is conducted in our world (see my research on permaculture)

* The Labor Channel would promote brainstorming new cooperative business models – Fair Trade

* The Labor Channel will partner with existing radio/television/video programing venues and programs

THE LABOR CHANNEL’S TIME HAS COME!

… here is a video to assist in this discussion …