The Media's influence on our lives... and the propaganda that keeps us from realizing it.

In preparation for the meeting, please read: "Media Carta: The Human Rights Battle of the Infomation Age," starting on page 16 in the Winter 1999 issue of Adbusters Magazine.

email us if you need a copy. we'll mail it to you for free!

Thanks to Thomas Ward for this discussion topic.

OK: television, movies, radio, recorded music, the internet, books, magazines, newspapers. Almost too much information to deal with. But the media is part of our daily lives: we're accustomed to it, and we can deal with it, right?

What about the relationships that lie beneath the surface? Media conglomerates are taking over the entire spectrum of information. When you buy coffee at Starbucks, are you listening to the latest promo for a new Atlantic recording artist? When you visit the USA Today website, are you being automatically put on their advertisers' mailing lists? When you go to a club, is your subconscious being bombarded with Camel cigarette advertisements? What about radio? Can anybody tell us what happened to radio?

The methods are obvious enough to appear harmless, but are very subversive to our consciousness. The frightening part is that the corporate media network is very effective.

What about the media and democracy? Shouldn't the general populous have access to the broadcast media? Why is there so little time on television reserved for local interest broadcasting (by local people)? How can we expect political candidates to be honest, when they must be slaves to corporate sponsors in order to raise enough money to afford television time? Shouldn't air time be free for political candidates? That way anyone who has the ideas and qualifications could have a voice... right? Maybe.

So, the questions remain: is this really a problem, or is it simply capitalists exercising their right to make a profit? If so, can we blame them?

If it is a problem, what do we do about it? How do we stop this?

bring your brain, bring your verbal ammunition, bring $5.00 for coffee...

Date: Thursday, July 29, 1999.

Time: 6:30pm

Place: RED STAR CAFE

>> the RED STAR is located at the northwest corner of West 116th Street + Detroit Road, in the city of Cleveland (right at the Lakewood border)

>> click here for a location map