NCMR in the News

The Internet has opened up so many possibilities for communication that the most important concern about the media isn’t broadcast television ownership, but about threats from cable and Bell companies.

Former CBS News anchor and "60 Minutes" contributor Dan Rather said that he believes "the red, beating heart of free and democratic people is a free and independent -- truly independent -- press." (Video)

Before there can be real accountability for the Pentagon pundit program, real investigations need to happen. That's why FCC Commissioner Adelstein publicly called for "a real and thorough investigation" by the agency and by the U.S. Justice Department.

Former CBS anchor Dan Rather says that today, it's rare to find a major news organization owned by an individual, someone who can say, in effect, 'The buck stops here.' The more likely motto now is: 'The news stops... with making bucks.'

There are moments in every decade when monumental struggles for social change finally tip in favor of the public interest. Now we're facing another tipping point. Our fight is to reform our broken media system.

A media organization deserves to be called “corporate” if it embraces a certain system of values: That acquisition and growth are both the means and the ends of the organization’s undertakings, and that stifling the competition is the key to success.

The drive to "unbridled gain" in the media will override every other human value -- if we allow that to happen. We can't take our media -- and the Internet that serves as a portal for independent news and discussion -- for granted.

It's the perfect embodiment of what is wrong with the media today that one of its most visible talk-show entertainers puts his own self-righteousness above the plain facts in the news.

Hip-hop had a place at this year’s National Conference for Media Reform—appropriately so, given hip-hop’s history of social engagement. Yet the discussions that focused on hip-hop were not without controversy or criticism.

There were many interesting panels at the National Conference for Media Reform, but the most valuable part of the conference was the opportunity to meet so many great people in the hallways, at the parties, and around the city.

It's fascinating to see one of our nation's most thoughtful journalists and commentators arguing the facts with a producer of Bill O'Reilly's Fox News Channel show, proving again that intellect and honesty wins over bluster and bullshit -- except when it comes to ratings.

The independent media has gradually eroded to the point that our sources of diverse information has essentially disappeared. Bill Moyers has led the fight for the restoration of an independent 4th estate. And Bill O'Reilly sent a crew to ambush him at the National Conference for Media Reform.

Cell phones are not just preferred form of communication but primary form for millions of users. They are quickly being adopted at the expense of land lines, and are proving to be more effective than email in reaching certain groups.

In a speech to the National Conference for Media Reform, former CBS News anchor Dan Rather offered a strong critique of journalists' performance in the run-up to the Iraq war.

FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein announced his plan to demand a real and thorough investigation of the Pentagon's propaganda scheme that paid military personnel to push the occupation of Iraq.

Former CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather ripped traditional news organizations, saying that in a world of merged media, there is no longer incentive to do "good and valuable news."

To make change, you don't have to necessarily change the institution. You just have to change how one person thinks about the institution, according to Janine Jackson of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. And many at the media reform conference are working on exciting projects.

Access to wireline devices is fairly open. But technologies like the personal computer and the Internet are at risk of being pushed to the margins by closed technologies like the iPhone, proprietary wireless networks.