West Michigan Media Mostly Ignores International Climate Summit
The world’s leaders and tens of thousands of activists have come to Copenhagen, Denmark for the UN Climate Summit. Many commentators are calling this a critical gathering, one that could determine the future of humanity. With so much at stake you would think that the news media might make it a priority to let people know what is happening, both with the formal negotiations and with the demands and actions of civil society in the streets.
When looking at the news media in West Michigan you find that other issues are more important. Granted, local news outlets should make local issues a priority, but that does not mean that anything local is news.
Take for instance a story that has received significant coverage in the past 24 hours in the local news media about a former GVSU football coach who has been at the University of Cincinnati was hired as the new Notre Dame football coach. All of the local TV stations have made this news and the Grand Rapids Press made it the main headline in Friday’s paper. So the question should be asked, how does this story impact our lives?
Comparatively, the Press has not run any local stories in their print publication this week and the only online story I came across that was written by Press staff was about the 56 newspapers around the world that ran a joint editorial calling on the world’s leaders to take strong action to reduce carbon emissions. The Press writer, Troy Reimink, fails to mention that most of the newspapers involved were not from the US and certainly none of them were papers owned by Advanced Publications, one of which is the Grand Rapids Press.
The only local daily news source that has reported on the Climate Summit on Copenhagen was WOOD Radio. On Friday, WOOD Radio ran a short story about a GVSU student who is a youth delegate at the UN Climate Summit. The story quotes Danielle Ostafinsk, but provides no information about the Summit or what she has participated in directly. The Clear Channel owned station also didn’t mention that Danielle was one of the organizers of a Climate Justice Day in Grand Rapids this past October.
This lack of coverage in the West Michigan news market on what is possibly the most critical issue of this generation is quite staggering and it speaks to the growing need for independent journalism.
Afghan War Vets Speak Out on US Escalation
Robert Greenwald and Brave New Films have just released a new short video to add to the growing collection of online films at Rethink Afghanistan. The video includes the comments and experiences of several US veterans who served in Afghanistan and paints a much different picture of what the American public has been presented through the corporate media.
Obama accepts Nobel Peace Prize while escalating war
US President Barack Obama accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo Norway today. His speech there was longer than his inaugural address and he had the audacity to cite Dr. Martin Luther King and Mohandas Gandhi.
In his acceptance speech Obama continued some of the same rhetoric he used when announcing the escalation of the US occupation of Afghanistan with claims that the US, “has helped underwrite global security for more than six decades.” In addition, the US President said, “the instruments of war do have a role to play in preserving the peace.”
Democracy Now! reported, “In a possible attempt to avoid questions about the Afghan war, the White House has canceled the traditional press conference held by Nobel Peace Prize winners. In addition, the White House has canceled other events held every year, including a dinner with the Norwegian Nobel Committee, a television interview, appearances at a children’s event promoting peace, as well as a visit to an exhibition in his honor at the Nobel Peace Center.”
Obama’s Orwellian comments did not fool everyone, particularly some Afghanis who share their views on his acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize in this video provide by Al Jazeera News.
The Senate Health Care Bill and the Public Option
On Tuesday, about 10 MoveOn.org members participated in one of the numerous “Cost of Delay” vigils organized across the country. The main focus of those at the rally in downtown Grand Rapids was to send a message to Michigan Senators Debbie Stabenow and Carl Levin to support the “public option” in the Senate version of the health care reform bill, known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Everyone GRIID spoke with was in favor of a public option, even if it was a weak option. Sean Kenney felt that even though it was a weak option that it might be the beginning of more progressive reforms.
Robert DeMaagd also felt that if the weak public option version of the Senate bill passed that it would be a first step to what he would rather see, a Single-Payer health system. However, DeMaagd expressed concern that the Senate version did not include the anti-abortion position that the House bill adopted. He said, “If the Senate version of the bill did not include a woman’s right to choose then it shouldn’t be called Health Care Reform.”
Yesterday it was announced that the Senate did reach an agreement, but that agreement did not include a public option. According to Washington correspondent for the Nation, John Nichols, the Senate has a tentative agreement, which does not include a public option. Instead, the federal Office of Personnel Management would hire the insurance companies to run the health plans.
The defeat of a public option should come as no surprise considering that the corporate health sectors had spent $400 million to lobby Congress and that amount doesn’t include the last quarter of the year.
Groups like MoveOn are blaming Republicans and a few conservative Democrats, but as independent reporter James Ridgeway points out, the plan that the Senate will likely adopt is more a result of compromises within the Democratic Party.
The Senate is not expected to vote on this bill until the Congressional Budget office analyzes the costs.
Former Navy Seal Speaks to Econ Club
On Monday, Marcus Luttrell, a former US Navy Seal and author of the book The Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing & Lost Heroes of Seal Team 10, spoke to an estimated 700 people at a luncheon hosted by the Economics Club of Grand Rapids.
Luttrell, who served in Afghanistan & Iraq, spent the first 20 minutes talking about growing up in a military family and how he wanted to be a Navy Seal ever since he was a teenager. The former soldier also said that his father used “to beat me even if I didn’t do anything.”
This comment summed up a great deal of Luttrell’s attitude and reflected a hyper-masculinity that anti-violence advocate Jackson Katz addresses in his documentary Tough Guise and what former Army Ranger Stan Goff address in his book Sex & War. Luttrell kept emphasizing the toughness that was needed to be a Navy Seal and that it was his training that kept him alive in Afghanistan.
There is no doubt after listening to the speaker that one would have a certain level of respect for what Luttrell endured. He was shot numerous times, had broken bones, a broken back and a disfigured face after being caught in an ambush by Taliban fighters in Afghanistan. However, once you got past the super-patriotism of his comments there was a different message that came through.
Luttrell talked often about his role of being undercover in the mountains of Afghanistan, where he would collect intelligence on the enemy and then “kill people if given the green light.” He told the audience that he would often tell people before being deployed “after 9/11 that when I was in Afghanistan I was gonna get another one for you.” Every time he spoke of killing Afghanis he would use the word dispatch, as in “I threw a grenade and dispatched some more of them.”
Luttrell said that after he escaped the ambush there were some Afghan civilians who found him and took him to their village. A few days later while recovering the Taliban showed up. Luttrell said, “You can always identify a Taliban because their beard is well kept, they have nice teeth, spoke good English and were educated at places like Yale.” This is certainly not the picture you get from reading Ahmed Rashid’s book Taliban, or the investigative journalism of Anand Gopal.
Luttrell then said he was eventually rescued by US Army Rangers and spent months in the hospital having reconstructive surgery. He did some time in Iraq after he recovered by eventually received an honorable discharge.
At the end of his talk David VanAndel, current President of the Econ Club, said, “thank you for being in Afghanistan on our behalf.” With that Luttrell received a standing ovation.
As I walked through the crowd I noticed CEOs, university presidents, leaders in the Chamber of Commerce, lawyers, and other representatives of the City’s economic elite. Since there was no Q&A I could only wonder what those in attendance really thought about the speaker or why the Econ Club would have Marcus Luttrell address an economic minded crowd.
I had hoped there would be a link between President Obama’s recent decision to escalate the US occupation in Afghanistan and the speaker, but that never came to pass. However, based on the standing ovations Luttrell received it might be an indication of what the City’s economic elite think about the US occupation of Afghanistan, now in its ninth year.
Indy News Coverage of the International Climate Summit
Yesterday the International Summit on Climate Change began in Copenhagen, Denmark. We know from previous independent news coverage that the heads of state have already acknowledged that there will be no major agreements made at the summit.
We have already written about the impact of the Climate denial groups, Climate lobbyists in the US, and a bit about what groups in Third World nations are demanding from the rich countries, which have been the primary polluters around the world. What we will write about in the next two weeks are what grassroots groups are doing on the streets in Copenhagen and around the world to draw attention to Global Warming.
Democracy Now! began its two-week coverage of the Copenhagen Climate Summit and even did a story about the protests that took place all across Europe leading up to this week.
Other independent news coverage of the summit in Copenhagen is coming from the Climate Indy Media Center, which is reporting on what is happening in Denmark and around the world in conjunction with the Climate Summit.
The British newspaper The Guardian has a live blog reporting from Copenhagen, which included a story on a talk given by Naomi Klein at the People’s Summit.
Then there are several grassroots groups, which have good analysis and provide activist and movement information as it relates to Climate Justice and the Copenhagen Summit. Some of those sites are Climate Justice Action, Camp for Climate Action, and the Radical Left Network called Never trust a Cop.
In addition there are some international organization, which have a significant presence in Copenhagen such as Via Campesina and the Indian Social Action Forum.
In the US there some groups that are engaging in Direct Action that is coinciding with the International Climate Summit. Yesterday, hundreds of activists in West Virginia demonstrated outside the EPA offices against Mountaintop removal coal mining. On Sunday, two activists did a lockdown to a drilling rig in West Virginia, also to protest Mountaintop removal coal mining.
We plan to continue to provide some independent news updates during the two-week period of the International Climate Summit in Copenhagen, as well as some analysis of corporate news if they even bother to report on the summit.
Media Bites – Jimmy Johns & Racial Stereotypes
This week’s Media Bites takes a look at a recent Jimmy Johns commercial, which perpetuates negative stereotypes about Latinos. The spot also encourages viewers to consume when confronted with a problem. We direct people to resources that look at Latino stereotypes in media such as a new Video Game study of Race Representation and Network News representation.
The Press Endorses Obama’s Afghan War Escalation
Today, the Grand Rapids Press published an editorial endorsing the President’s war escalation in Afghanistan. The editorial says, “the Surge, along with a withdraw timeline” will help the US complete “our mission” and “defeat our enemies.”
The Press editorial makes the same arguments as the Pentagon and the White House. The first argument is that clear benchmarks will force the Afghan government of Hamid Karzai to “assume responsibility for the country’s security.” First, this ignores the fact that the Karzai government is rife with years of corruption, a reality that the US has been fully aware of. Second, it ignores the fact that some of the most reactionary warlords in the country are part of Karzai’s cabinet.
The second major argument is that sending more US troops to Afghanistan will defeat Al Qaida and prevent the country from being a haven for terrorists in the future. Like the Obama administration, the Press editorial offers no evidence that Al Qaida forces are even in Afghanistan. Many former intelligence operatives, such as Paul Pillar, have acknowledged this to be true. Furthermore, the American public needs to be reminded that the planning for the September 11, 2001 attacks did not originate in Afghanistan, rather they took place in Germany, Spain and the US, as Pillar points out.
A third argument the editorial makes is that the US troop increase will help stabilize Afghanistan. The idea that an escalation in US soldiers will create stability is also not well supported. If anything, it seems that since the Obama administration sent 20,000 additional US troops to Afghanistan in March of 2009 the country has become less stable and control by the Taliban has increased. Anand Gopal, a journalist who has been reporting from Afghanistan for years, said in a recent interview that the Taliban now controls a majority of the country.
The fourth argument presented by the Press editorial was the July 2011 timeline for beginning US troop withdraw. The editorial does acknowledge there have been critics of this timeline, but responds to these criticisms by quoting other Obama officials as saying that this timeline is not set in stone. The editorial doesn’t explore the possibility that Obama might have provided such a timeline just to reassure his base of supporters that the US military operation in Afghanistan will be short lived.
The last argument the Press editorial makes is the assertion that the US troops will not be permanent occupiers. This assertion ignores the current eight year occupation, the increased expansion of permanent US military bases, the new 1,100 person prison the US just built and the more than 70,000 private US contractors being utilized in Afghanistan.
The last point about the number of private security forces in Afghanistan should have been an issue for the Press editorial staff, especially since Blackwater founder Erik Prince just acknowledged in a Vanity Fair interview that his private mercenaries have been very active in Afghanistan & Pakistan doing counterinsurgency work along with assisting the US military in determining targets for their Predator Drone attacks.
Lastly, it should be pointed out that this editorial is consistent with the type of coverage the Grand Rapids Press has given to Afghanistan, both with local stories and the kinds of articles they have decided to print from other news sources. All of this coverage, like this editorial, has been an affirmation of the administration’s claims about US policy in Afghanistan. The editorial also excludes, like the Press reporting, the growing public opposition to such an escalation.
Rob Bliss: From Zombie Walks to Corporate Media
Local NBC affiliate, WOOD TV8, announced on Thursday that “social events guru” Rob Bliss is now one of their employees.
Channel 8 announced, “Bliss will be working as a multi-platform account executive with WOOD. We believe Rob Bliss’ social media skills and WOOD TV’s strong commitment to serving West Michigan viewers and clients will be a powerful combination.”
Clearly, West Michigan’s leading TV broadcaster recognized the ability that Bliss has exhibited in attracting young audiences. In fact, the station admitted as much by saying, “WOOD TV8 is thrilled to have Bliss on its team as we strive to reach a new generation of media consumers.”
At one level this makes perfect sense since Bliss has admitted on numerous occasions over the course of the past year that his motivation for the “mass events” he organized was to get people to come to downtown, have fun, and visit the businesses in that part of the City. This is why the Grand Rapids City Council, some local foundations and the downtown businesses all embraced him. He functioned as an unpaid marketing specialist for those businesses.
WOOD TV8 recognizes that their audience is disproportionately middle-aged or older. The current generation spends less time watching TV and more time online as a means to get information. Bliss will fit right into the broadcasting mantra of capturing eyeballs for advertisers.
The channel 8 story also reported that Bliss was named Communicator of the Year by the West Michigan Public Relations Society and one of the Top 40 under 40 Business Leaders by the Grand Rapids Business Journal. With all this applause from the corporate world maybe people should reconsider participating in any future “social events” that Bliss might organize or attach his name to.
Bloom Collective Open House 12/7
The Bloom Collective is hosting an open house this coming Monday (December 7) from 4 – 9pm in their space located at 1134 Wealthy in Grand Rapids. Visit us during our extended hours & enjoy some refreshments and the company of people with open minds and a passion for justice.
Then, from 7-9 we’ll host a discussion of the UN’s International Climate Summit in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Bring in a new member and pick out a free used book or get a new Sling Shot or T-shirt to support the Bloom.
For more info on the Bloom, visit http://thebloomcollective.org/! Hope to see you there!
