media criticism

The New America Foundation's Media Policy Initiative just issued a report on the media ecosystem in Philadelphia. Through the report they explore the work of MMP and the future of journalism in the city. Full report available at the NAF blog.

By: Joshua Breitbart

"Infection in our Health Care System," an hour-long investigation by Media Mobilizing Project (MMP) into the local impacts of the healthcare crisis, premiered May 18 on PhillyCAM, the new public access cable station serving the people of Philadelphia.

The show is the first episode of MMPTV and it bears both the grandeur and flaws of any new ambitious undertaking. For an issue that has dropped off the media radar since passage of federal health care reform, however, the report adds new perspectives and elevates the public discussion.

The mainstream press across Philadelphia is turning commuters against transit workers. Instead of practicing journalism and explaining to the public why transit workers have gone on strike, they have instead given a platform to one side of the contract negotiations and helped the Mayor pit working people across the city against the drivers and engineers who get us to work everyday.

When we think of King, what do we think about? Bus boycotts, great speaker, leader of the civil rights movement, but we never stop to think who is telling his story. At a young age I was taught that King was a civil rights activists and a civil rights activist only. What I did not know was that King understood that it was not just a colored person problem. It was bigger than that it was a poor person problem. So lets think when King begun to speak out against the Vietnam War. All of a sudden, the media turned on him.

In this latest installment of the Song Breakdown --- a recurring feature on PSU's radio show On Blast--- Zakia Royster and Candace Carter analyze the real messages in the song "One More Drink" by Ludacris featuring T. Pain. Candace & Zakia break down Ludacris' lyrics and end up talking about men, women, alcohol, drinking and driving, sex, and self-esteem. You've probably heard it on the radio a few dozen times, now listen to what youth have to say about the song's meaning.