Gap for dissent

"Is mainstream media free fair and objective?"

Nowadays, this radical press has all but disappeared from the world of mainstream media and the vast majority of our information is controlled by a tiny number of powerful individuals. Noam Chomsky has famously argued that in our current society the mass media operates according to a "propaganda model" where the mass media produces information that passes through a number of filters, which all serve to shape information to the needs of the powerful.

Order of speakers:
Vincent Browne
Ciaran Moore
Jack Byrne
Sean O'Siochrú
Harry Browne

Overwhelming answer: "NO! so its up to all of us to create and keep creating the global alternative media"

Vincent Browne::
Opened and talked about the issue of mainstream media, is it "free fair and objective"-
He made reference to Noam Chomsky and then went on to say how Irish mainstream media was controlled by one man- Tony O`Reilly
He talked about the rising level of corporate control over the journalistic duty to tell the truth, how a target audience is desired by the Irish times and how the paper is directed to their interests- category 1-2 of the market, was how i think he referred to the market- upper- middle class, mostly southside Dublin.
Filtration of the news was an issue he talked about and how certain stories got over talked about (Brian Murphy case)
He also talked about how libel affects the limits to which journalists can push things, he himself has been sued and was threatened with all his property to be taken away if he followed a certain direction.
He outlined how Dermot Desmond, one of Irelands most powerful in the corporate world, is not allowed to be mentioned within the Times, at one point saying that even the name Denis Desmond was not to be used as such a close ring.
Eircom and the Beef tribunal were also talked about.
Vincent finished by outlining the diversionary tacticts used by the media to focus on the violence surrounding mayday protests as opposed to examining the issues that were being protested about and how he supported the protestors in their outlining all that is wrong with the direction the EU is going.

continued...

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