Misinformation in the era of information

Ethnic and alternative media

Ethnic media is a part of the proliferation of alternative media in a wider social trend: the worldwide emergence of all kinds of community, alternative, oppositional, and collaborative media practices, in part amplified by the internet.

We need to define ethnic and alternative media.

For instance, are Univision and Telemundo considered in this category of ethnic media? These media conglomerates seem to walk a fine line between mainstream and alternative media.

In recent years, Univision has reached parity with the U.S.'s five major English-language television networks, and is often a strong fifth, with some fourth-place weekly placings, and as of 2012, even first place rankings for individual programs over all five English networks due to the network's consistent schedule of new telenovelas all 52 weeks of the year.

In major markets such as Los Angeles, New York, and Miami the local newscasts carried by the network's stations are equally competitive in ratings with their English-language counterparts.

For the first 20 years, the network was owned by Hispanic media people. In 1955, Raul Cortez founded Channel 41, in San Antonio, Texas.

Through a series of mergers and acquisitions of local TV and radio channels in different states, until 2006, when Univision announced that it accepted bid from a group of private equity investors.

Univisión was acquired on March 29, 2007 by a consortium of global investors for $13.7 billion plus $1.4 billion in acquired debt.The buyout left the company with a debt level of twelve times its annual cash flow,  twice the norm in buyouts over the previous two years.

For ethnic media to truly be considered “ethnic media,” it must be both produced/owned by and targeted at a particular ethnic community.

As for the alternative press, many weekly alternative media has little to do with what might be described as “alternative.” According to a study by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press , the term is mostly a catch-all phrase used by the mainstream media, but these publications are not a “dissident” press in America. A political mission is not their defining characteristic. They are just targeting a young, educated demographics with high income and buying power.

Real alternative media has found its common ground in the non-profit sector so that advertising does not blemish its content, which does not mean they are unbiased.

Is or can ethnic and alternative media be a counter power to mainstream media?

I believe there’s always hope in the laws of physics.

You can always be sure that when a force presses in one direction, there will be another counter force that will press against it. I believe ethnic and alternative media can have this role.

Ethnic and alternative media receive the information from the same agencies, we have the availability of the same images and we are “encouraged” to use the same information. There is no time or resources to get out and do research or field work –This point has been greatly satirized by “The Daily Show” and other comedy shows. The pressure to get information out is on a very small team that has practically to wear all hats.

However, the increasing presence of these media is a challenge to mainstream media. They can bring up issues and topics that mainstream media censors, such as discrimination, racism and bigotry, social unrest and social inequality. They also bring up cultural disparities and cultural differences, which brings the mainstream society to a new way of recognizing itself by differentiation. This is who we are, and we are not you.

For instance, new immigrant groups have established institutions to sustain their ethnicity, a different way of integration to the American society from previous immigration waves, who chose or, better yet, were forced into assimilation. This presence of new unassimilated ethnic groups has created a sense of permanently “unfinished American society.”

Ethnic mass media has a significant role in a society that tries to appear as seamless. The role of ethnic media is to constantly remind the rest of the society that there are differences, and how that manifests in their news content. It creates a perspective of constant “functional conflict.”

However migration is no longer the only factor that brings together producers and audiences of ethnic media. The long history of migration in this country has meant that there is more than one generation with multiple cultural identities.

But also, the wide access to information technologies has allowed cultural and informational exchanges between people across territories, which keep nurturing the ability of an ethnic media writer to be rooted to his base –namely, his original language, culture and audience.

I used to write for a digital platform in Spanish produced in the United States, and 50 percent of my audience was from Latin America. The other domestic 50 percent were not only first generation migrants but also readers with different cultural background such as immigrant descendants and those influenced by Latino culture.

Of course there are downsides to being in ethnic media, for one, you are not allowed nor are part not even should try to be part of mainstream media. You can be an anchor or a radio host if you look ethnic but God forbid you show the slightest accent –that, of course, except if you have a British accent, which is highly praised by mainstream media.

The big divider is also language. If ethnic media choose to go with its language of origin –Spanish, Chinese, Arab, etc.-, then the possibility of having a slight influence in the general public’s opinion is almost null given the widespread lack of language ability in the American public, a significant difference with European ethnic media.

Many ethnic outlets have now chosen to use English language still targeting a more acculturated audience that can relate to stories with ethnic focus while including general information. Of course that also talks to a wealthier audience with increasing buying and economic power to entice potential advertisers. However, advertising dollars from Fortune 500 corporations are still meager in the ethnic media arena.

Finally, I don’t believe ethnic or alternative media are unbiased, pure, or are not seeking profitability. As with many other forces in a democratic society, the idea of bringing up the differences in the pursue of an educated and more politically aware audience can resonate better than the cookie cutter machine that mainstream media have become.

President Obama’s reelection, a gift we must protect

A great campaign and a great victory for President Barack Obama only give us a breather in these tough times.   

                                              

When I woke up this morning, I thought, “I could have been waking up   to a different world of concerns and despair, but today is business as      usual.” I felt huge comfort from my own thoughts.   

                                

These months of campaigning and volunteering were filled with            moments of doubts and fear, as well as increasing faith that democracy was going to prevail. I saw it on the streets where we registered hundreds of young Black and Latino women to vote for the first time.

I saw it in the persistence of canvassers going door to door to in our state and in neighboring Pennsylvania. I saw it in the initiative of women to  go out and express their support for a President that was not only representing them but also their daughters, their  granddaughters and future generations of women taking control of their destiny.

Even when the campaign started at a low pace, it got momentum due to the reproachable behavior of the opponents. I believe Democrats got energized in indignation and in response to a campaign that was run on either buying or suppressing voters. 

This is the time of evaluating our actions, for Democrats and Republicans alike, and learn from our mistakes. The battle was fierce and the victory is sweet, not only because it feels good to be on the right side of history but because, as President Obama said, “It was the right thing to do.”

Now, after this breather of relief and celebration, we need to be more vigilant than ever of this democracy that has been so hard to maintain, and more protective and supportive than ever of our President, who will continue to find opposition and disdain. I believe the forces of evil don’t stop machination just because the People has expressed its will. 

Congratulations to all for a job well done!

Enjoy the victory but do not lower your guard!

The Benghazi attack, a conspiracy theory

The American public is used to conspiracy theories, and as fast as they arise, they are dismissed by most. The term “conspiracy theory” is used to deem a story as ridiculous, paranoid or unfounded. For most Americans, “the Nile is a river in Egypt.”

John F. Kennedy’s assassination was the center of several conspiracy theories that even resulted in books, documentaries and the Oliver Stone movie. The versions involved parties such as the CIA, the American Mafia, VP Lyndon B. Jonson, Fidel Castro and many more. The likelihood that Oswald acted alone was extremely low, as proven by many, but the Warren Commission refused to release all the information. 

Coincidentally, his brother Robert Kennedy was also murdered, but of course, the American public again dismissed the possibility of a “conspiracy.” And then Martin Luther King was also a write off for many –but not all- Americans.  

When a conspiracy theory becomes true and can be proven, such as President Nixon’s Watergate break-in and cover-up, then it becomes investigative journalism or a historical fact.

In September 2001, the country was attacked by al-Qaida, in the largest operation ever known in the United States soil. 

Although the US armed forces launched the Afghanistan invasion shortly after, people around the world speculated about the Republican administration’s involvement in the attack, given the slow reaction of the then President George W. Bush, the excellent justification for the war on Iraq that followed, and the lack of “enthusiasm” in looking for Osama Bin Laden. 

Those theories have not faded away, says the BBC. Around 15 percent Americans, especially young people, believe in the possibility that VP Cheney was somehow involved in the attack. 

Over a decade later, with only less than two months to the Presidential elections 2012, the Benghazi attack occurs, damaging –or at least trying to damage–the successful Foreign Affairs performance of President Barack Obama in finding bin Laden and ending the war in Iraq. 

I just highlighted some quotes from the New York Times report on 10/1/2012:

“The Sept. 11 attack culminated several weeks of growing violence against Western and other diplomatic posts in Benghazi. State Department officials said they were aware of the worsening climate and took precautions. One American official who worked in the mission said the Americans there were able to get around with ‘appropriate prudence’.” 

“Apparently, due to the increasing violence reported, the US Embassy in Tripoli had sent Special Operations personnel, including Navy SEALs and bomb-squad specialists to reinforce the Benghazi Embassy.”

The Attack “began about 9:30 p.m., roughly 15 minutes after Mr. Stevens had finished an evening meeting with the Turkish ambassador, bid him farewell and chatted briefly with a handful of Libyan guards at the gate of the compound.”

“Mustafa el-Sagizli, an officer in the February 17 Brigade and a senior official in the transitional government, said that he repeatedly called the mission’s official translator who for most of the night was unable to reach the ambassador’s security guards.”

“Security at the mission has become a major issue as the Obama administration struggles to explain what happened during the attack, who was responsible and how the ambassador ended up alone.”

“Mr. Stevens’s own bodyguard was so far away that he needed to sprint across the compound under gunfire to reach the building where the ambassador was working at the time.”

“‘There are three villas inside and the walls are high, and the only house that got hit was the house we were in,’ said Fathi el-Obeidi, a Libyan militia commander who came to help evacuate the Americans.”

Was there any "insider information" about the situation of the Embassy and its surroundings? 

The situation surely called for chaos and confusion but I believe additional information will come out from the incident because President Obama has shown to be relentless in finding terrorists, however, … would he share the findings with the American public?

But, of course, this is just a “conspiracy theory.”

 

Desert Deaths Soar, a Morgue Grows Crowded

Gates & Buffett: Get Your Friends To Pay Taxes and We Won’t Need Their Donations!

Even if this article does not belong directly to the realm of Latino affairs, it is a good reminder of the painful times non-profit organizations -many of which stand for Latinos- are going through with a slow down in their donation income.

Gates is the one rich guy I always had as an example of smart giving. I know and was a part of his foundation work with libraries and Latinos around the country -Spanish Language Outreach at http://www.webjunction.org/spanish- which brought a wealth of information and library action to this community.

However, this is one more sign of the times we live in! A few people in charge of the nation's destiny instead of the vast majority of people in charge of their own destiny.

Immigrants are major part of memorial day

"As of last year," says Saif Kahn, an immigrant from India, who joined the Virginia Army National Guard in the year 2000, "about 29,000 people serving in our military did not have U.S. citizenship."

Kahn served as a combat engineer in Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004 and 2005. In this article, he worries about the soldiers who are serving to obtain citizenship, and their families left behind.

Another proof of our current immigration law injustice: immigrants cannot work legally in this country but can pay taxes; immigrants can fight for this country but do not have the right to obtain citizenship until -maybe- it is too late.

Why the immigration debate has come to a stall, when at least 60% of Latinos voted Obama for office? Promises were done in the midst of the election excitement. However, once again, the immigration reform is left for last. How do you think organized immigration leaders should show their active disagreement?

EU eases trade with Latin America at Madrid summit

The European Union is opening trade with Latin America and the Caribbean, in an attempt to increase relationships with the region and bring economic growth to the EU, despite opposition from popular leaders on both sides of the Atlantic.

After a failed effort to reach an EU-US summit back in February of this year, when a planned meeting with President Obama was cancelled, the EU faces austerity measures and public sector strikes.

Right before last week summit in Madrid, the EU and a Central American block formed by Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama agreed on a trade baseline that will include total market opening for industrial products from both parties.

Similar negotiations were discussed with South American leaders from the Mercosur. However, agreements were harder to be reached due to the protectionist policies of countries in both sides. Negotiations will continue after the summit.

Spanish socialist leader Zapatero stated that "In an increasingly globalized world where the source of prosperity lies in uniting efforts, the capacity for economic growth lies in openness and liberalization." Are these agreements beneficial to LAC countries -Latin America and the Caribbean- or will this be a reinstatement of the NAFTA effect that brought misery and poverty to the LAC region?


La Unión Europea facilita el intercambio comercial con América Latina en la cumbre de Madrid

La Unión Europea abre mayor intercambio comercial con América Latina y el Caribe en un intento por mejorar las relaciones con países de la región y aumentar el crecimiento económico de sus miembros, a pesar de la oposición de líderes populares a ambos lados del Atlántico.

Después del intento fallido de llegar a una cumbre de negociación entre la Unión Europea y los Estados Unidos en febrero de este año y la cancelación del encuentro con el presidente Obama, la Unión Europea se enfrenta a medidas de austeridad y la consecuente reacción del sector público.

Antes del encuentro cumbre realizado en Madrid durante la semana pasada, la Unión Europea y el bloque de países centroamericanos formado por Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua y Panamá acordaron un base de intercambio que incluye la apertura total de mercados entre las partes para el intercambio de productos industriales.

Negociaciones similares se intentaron con líderes sudamericanos del Mercosur. Sin embargo, las políticas proteccionistas de países en ambos grupos plantearon dificultades para arribar a los acuerdos propuestos. Las negociaciones pertinentes proseguirán después del encuentro.

El líder español socialista Zapatero declaró que “en un mundo crecientemente globalizado donde la fuente de prosperidad se basa en la unión de los esfuerzos, la capacidad de desarrollo económico reside en la apertura y la liberalización.” Me pregunto: ¿Estos acuerdos son beneficiosos para los países de América Latina y el Caribe o será solo una reinstauración del efecto NAFTA que trajo pobreza y miseria a la región?

Latin America Dictatorships Meet Justice, Decades On

A series of articles under this optimistic heading in IPS news brings a panorama of the attempts to make justice in different Latin American countries and Spain. From the conviction of several Argentinean military officers in the “chain of command" to the prosecution of Judge Garzón in Spain to the acquittal of two soldiers and a police officer accused of the disappearance of Peruvian peasant, these articles tell us that we are not yet where we should be regarding human rights.

Starting with the Franco era and following with thirteen military dictatorships in the 60s and 70s in Latin American countries, only a few of these countries have dug dip into the horrors of kidnapping, raping, torturing and killing millions. A great update of what is happening on these issues on both sides of the Atlantic, and a question to be asked: What is stopping democratic leaders in Latin America from prosecuting and convicting these cases?

Mario Benedetti dies at 88

Mario Benedetti, a prolific Uruguayan writer whose novels and poems reflect the idiosyncrasies of Montevideo's middle class and a social commitment forged by years in exile from a military dictatorship, died Sunday, his secretary said. He was 88.

My favorite "Antologia Poetica" with introduction by Pedro Orgambide, is among the books I keep next to my bed. Great activist, great talent, great loss!

You can listen to some of his poems at:
http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/graficos/00coberturas/benedetti/