Guess what…it turns out that Americans aren’t stupid after all. Well, some of us knew that already, but just recently it’s become harder and harder to believe it and our own media in the UK isn’t exactly going out of its way to help matters. Anyway, I’ve been listening to a lot of material recently that contrasts the Corporate Media in the USA with the independent alternative(s). All fascinating stuff and the fact that we never hear from the indies on the BBC is possibly as revealing about our own mainstream media as it is about the shit that is served up to Joe & Josie Public in the States on a daily basis.

Amy Goodman is a name that crops up a lot and this film is a good introduction to both her and the debate about the US corporate media. It’s about 30 minutes long, but it’s well worth watching and it might be the first step towards restoring your faith in Americans. here’s the blurb:

Part scathing critique, part call to action, “Independent Media In A Time Of War” is a hard-hitting new documentary by the Hudson Mohawk Independent Media Center (www.hm.indymedia.org). This film is composed of a speech given by Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now! illustrated by clips of mainstream media juxtaposed with rare footage from independent reporters in Iraq. The documentary argues that dialogue is vital to a healthy democracy. “Independent media has a crucial responsibility to go to where the silence is,” says Amy Goodman, “to represent the diverse voices of people engaged in dissent.” She makes a compelling argument that the commercial news media have failed to represent the “true face of war.”