http://www.mediachannel.org
New York City, February 2 - Proclaiming a "media crisis" in the age of
mega-mergers and synergies, an award-winning independent documentary film
and TV production company, has partnered with nearly 300 media and social
justice organizations worldwide to launch a new "supersite" dedicated to
holding the media accountable for its output.
By "watching the media that watches the world," Mediachannel.org founder
and executive editor Danny Schechter hopes to address the "media crisis"
caused by the increasing consolidation of the international media industry.
Schechter founded the independent film and television production company
Globalvision, Inc. in 1987 with Rory O'Connor, currently the president of
Globalvision New Media, the company launched to design and produce
MediaChannel.org.
MediaChannel.org is a joint project of The Global Center, a New York
not-for-profit organization affiliated with Globalvision, Inc., and
OneWorld Online, a British not-for-profit that helps
create online communities based around international social and political
issues organizations.
"I got into the media business to cover the problems of the world, and then
I discovered the media was one of those problems," explained Schechter, an
Emmy-awarding winning former ABC News and CNN producer. "Consumers need to
know that nine conglomerates dominate global media, and only 20 companies
control nearly all US newspapers. By providing a portal to a global network
of media issues organizations, MediaChannel.org gives citizen-consumers
much-needed, independent perspectives on media."
According to Schechter, a hallmark feature of the site is its growing
online media community of nearly 300 independent organizations dedicated to
media and social issues around the world, the largest such community
anywhere on the Web.
MediaChannel.org also boasts a network of over 70 international advisors
consisting of some of the world's leading journalists, academics, media
professionals, media critics, and activists. Advisors include veteran
newsman Walter Kronkite, Veran Matic, former Editor-in-Chief, Independent
Radio B92, Belgrade, Yugoslavia and Carlos Castilho, Editor, Revista
Empreendedor, Brazil.
"MediaChannel.org provides the most comprehensive searchable database of
media topics available on the Web," said Schechter. The information,
ranging in topics from "activism" to "children" to diversity," comes from
content selected from the Web sites of MediaChannel.org's affiliated
organization, including the Columbia Journalism Review, the Freedom Forum,
the International Federation of Journalists.
According to O'Connor "our advisors serve as Media Channel's eyes and ears
around the globe. They keep us informed about important issues and events,
contribute commentaries and columns, and help us reach out to media
organizations worldwide."
MediaChannel.org is updated daily to provide summary coverage on the most
pressing and interesting international media news stories. Recent issues
explored on the Web site include the AOL-Time Warner merger, CNN's
"Tailwind" scandal, and reports that the U.S. government reviewed
television scripts for anti-drug messages prior to the programs' airing.
The site produces its own original content as well, written by both
MediaChannel.org staff and outsides contributors, and organizes much of it
in three online sections:
At Issue, exploring lightning-rod issues in current media;
Views, offering all-original critical commentary, inside information and
open debates on the state of the global media, including a Schechter's
weekly "Dissector" column and pieces from international contributors
including Todd Gitlin, Culture and Communication professor at New York
University, Nadine Gordimer, the renowned South African writer and Eduardo
Galliano.
Media Arts, including a page of links of partner groups dedicated to
artistic freedom and an original column by media arts editor Robert Atkins.
The section also brings back to the Web "The File Room," Antonio Muntadas's
pioneering online artwork.
Each section provides links to related articles and information from
MediaChannel.org's affiliated organization network.
According to Ken Jordan, the site director who previously helped launch
SonicNet and served as the creative director of Word, "some critics have
asserted that the heyday of independent voices on the Internet is over, but
with MediaChannel.org we're aiming to prove them wrong. MediaChannel.org is
making good on the potential of the Internet. Not only are we an
information distribution platform, but the site provides an arena in which
similarly-interested individuals and organizations can learn about each
other and develop an active community of peers."
About Mediachannel.org
MediaChannel.org is not-for-profit project of The Global Center and
OneWorld Online , a British "supersite" launched
in 1995 to provide information on international social and political
issues, particularly in developing nations, by developing websites for
partner organizations around the world. MediaChannel.org funders include
the Rockefeller Foundation, the Open Society Institute, the Arca
Foundation, the Reebok Human Rights Foundation and the Puffin Foundation.
