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Bigmedia.org — Rocky Mountain Media Watch |
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 THIS PAGE IS A REVIEW OF OUR HOME-PAGE HISTORY STORIES Why TV News Ignores War's Opponents (12/15/01) An Honest Move: From News to Entertainment (2/21/01) Paul Klite Died June 24, 2000 Local News on Cable: 1999 Statement on TV News and the Culture of Violence LINKS Bill Moyers (5/1/01) on "The news you and I need to keep our freedoms" (quote by Richard Reeves) SITE CONTENTS Actions Publications Orders/ Membership — Our Online Store Texts/ Press Releases FCC TV License Renewal Petitions Contact Us |
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| 12/15/01 | |||
| Why TV News Ignores War’s Opponents |
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| By Jason Salzman (click here for more) If you think no one in America opposes the Afghan war, it’s not because you’ve been living in a cave. You’ve just been watching too much television news. |
See Also Joanne Ostrow in the Denver Post 5/27/01 TV's Losing Streak |
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8/14/01 FTC Rejects RMMW’s Demand to Stop Local TV Stations’ From Falsely Advertising "News" Shows As News |
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| Federal Trade Commission Understands RMMW "Concern that Citizens Be Well-Informed on Issues of Civic Importance" Press Release, 8/14/01 The Federal Trade Commission's Letter of Response to the Petition, 7/18/01 Rocky Mountain Media Watch's Response to the FTC's 8/14/01 Letter Local TV "News" Shows Falsely Advertised as News "News Shows" should not be promoted as news Petition to FTC 5/8/01 Press Release 5/8/01 |
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| 2/21/01 | |||
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An Honest Move: |
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| by Jason Salzman (click here for more) |
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Paul Klite, Executive Director of Rocky Mountain Media Watch, died June 24, 2000 |
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| Click here for more. |
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| 4/2/00 | |||
Columbine Anniversary Media Coverage |
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| Overdose Alert Issued for Media Coverage of the Columbine Anniversary. Click Here for more. |
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| 12/15/99 | |||
Bigmedia.org's Online Store Opens for e-Contributions and e-Sales |
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| You can now purchase publications and make tax-deductible contributions to Bigmedia.org online. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us at info@bigmedia.org or by calling (US)303-832-7558. |
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| 9/9/99 | |||
Local News on Cable: 1999 |
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| A content analysis of twenty-one local-news-on-cable stations reveals programs contain 20 percent more news, 15 percent less advertising, and less violent content and triviality than most over-the-air local news stations. A bold, innovative show is a newscast from City Pulse 24 in Toronto, Ontario, which uses seven different information windows on the television screen to constantly air news, weather, sports, stock averages, traffic conditions, headlines and the date and time. Other quality cable newscasts include Las Vegas One in Nevada, NY-1 in New York City and News 12 on Long Island, New York. At the other extreme is “The Times” on WAMI in Miami, which offers tabloid stories, celebrity items and soft news, with little effort to report on the important events of the day. Other innovations in the sample include short weather reports that air every ten or fifteen minutes, a single anchor-person who also reads the sports or weather, and regular features like community calendars, traffic reports, dating information, entertainment and health packages. | |||
| 5/24/99 | |||
Statement on TV News and the Culture of Violence |
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| Statement, Monday 5/24/99 |
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| 10/27/98 | |||
RMMW's 1998 Survey of Election Coverage on Local TV News |
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| One hundred and forty volunteers across the U.S. lined up on October 20-22, 1998 to tape their local TV newscasts and compare the amount of election news with political advertising during the programs. A Preliminary Report of the results was released on October 27, 1998 to challenge stations to improve their coverage before election day. Below are the TV stations included in this preliminary report and the October 27 press release. Press Release 10/27/98 |
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| 8/4/98 | |||
1998 National Survey Examines Excesses and Improvements in Local TV Newscasts Across the U.S. |
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Fourth Annual National Survey: Local TV News in America, March 11, 1998 Not In The Public Interest by Dr. Paul D. Klite, Dr. Robert A. Bardwell and Jason Salzman The report focuses our concern that most local TV newscasts have abandoned the public interest in the race for ratings. But it is also exciting to see that a few stations are breaking the tabloid mold.
Press Release 8/4/98 and
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RMMW Files Application for Review of FCC's Denial of License Challenge |
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| Rocky Mountain Media Watch filed an Application for Review today before the Federal Communications Commission asking the FCC to reconsider a staff decision denying RMMW's challenge of the licenses of four Denver television stations. RMMW requested that the FCC send a message to the nation about manipulative violence, warn about it and invite a national discussion about it.
Press Release 5/28/98
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RMMW Rebuttal Arguments |
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| RMMW filed rebuttal arguments documenting that excessive mayhem is consistently found in local TV news. In addition, the range of negative side-effects TV violence can have on children and adults was outlined. RMMW also presented ideas by which the FCC could address these problems without interfering with stations' First Amendment rights.
Press Release 4/14/98
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RMMW Petitions to Deny the Re-Licensing |
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Press Release, Denver, 2/16/98
Click these links for the full text of the petitions: KWGN, Channel 2, Denver |
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How to Communicate with Us |
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| Voice Phone: 303-298-1426 Fax: 303-292-9317 E-mail to Jason Salzman Jason Salzman's website is causecommunications.com |
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Are you fed up with local TV news? |
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Rocky Mountain Media Watch, through its studies of local TV news content, has documented the formula of excess found in local TV news across the country. Programs are saturated with mayhem and fluff at the expense of the broader range of issues important to our communities. TV news has become an emotional collection of the terrifying and the titillating, chosen to generate what marketing experts call "arousal." Arousal prepares viewers for TV news' abundant advertising but it does not inform citizens. Rather, it breeds cynicism, discourages civic participation, and promotes fearful withdrawal and passivity. Our strategies are to: Expose media excess.Help citizens and the media understand and visualize what constitutes better journalism.Teach activists and community groups to improve their media skills and increase coverage of their issues.RMMW's surveys of local TV news have been the subject of over 200 print articles, including the New York Times, Boston Globe, Christian Science Monitor, and other major newspapers, Columbia Journalism Review, The Nation, Nieman Reports, U.S. News and World Report, Woman's Day, Adbusters, and Might Magazine. We have given over 200 radio and TV interviews including Larry King Live, CNN's Talk Back Live, The Crier Report, ABC Nightly News, and CNN Reliable Sources. We have given over 50 lectures and seminars, for such organizations as the National Association of Attorneys General, the Annenberg Washington Program, and Columbia University. RMMW has written two articles for Television Quarterly, and one for the Harvard International Journal of Press/ Politics. RMMW received a "Media Hero" award from the Institute of Alternative Journalism in 1996. Our media access book, Making The News, is also the basis for media how-to seminars, training sessions and consulting with non-profits. RMMW, a tax-exempt nonprofit corporation, was founded in 1994 by activists with media and research skills to challenge the unbalanced and unhealthy diet of information presented by the media corporations. Our focus is local TV news. RMMW is funded by grants from foundations and individual contributors. |
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| Design and Illustration by John Boak | |||