Has anybody thought of creating an independent news agency/channel?

[kysrsoze]

We're all finding out a LOT of stuff from blogs, foreign press, etc. I'm thinking there has to be some way to bring legitimacy to this information. To me it means TV. I'm tired people constantly going to the major networks and getting filtered/slanted info.

There was supposed to be some Al Gore channel coming out and I never heard anything about it. Meanwhile we've got CBC, Link TV, Christian Science Monitor and the Guardian. I would think between all that, George Soros and others, there would be enough wherewithal to start a news channel that is truly independent and not subject to corporate reign. It would be nice to have a channel that focuses on real news (rather than the latest runaway bride and the Jackson trial) and is not slanted. Radio obviously doesn't cut it.

Any ideas?

[1956]

1. 1956

I've often wondered myself. With all the great minds here and if we pooled together some serious money, maybe-just maybe!!!

[1956]

2. 1956

I've often wondered myself. With all the great minds here and if we pooled together some serious money, maybe-just maybe!!!

[Robbien]

3. AirAmerica says funding for progressives is all talk and no action

They said that the big money progressives all talked big about supporting a progressive talk program, but when the time came to plunk down the money no one stepped up to the plate.

Gore's TV channel is in the works but it is being publicized as a kids/teens channel, or so I've heard.

[zalinda]

5. Gore's channel will launch in Aug

here's a link http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2005-04-05-gore-tv-channel_x.htm The best and brightest of us can send in video to be aired on the channel. It's a start........

zalinda

[kansasblue]

4. I agree, kysrsoze

I so agree. We spend way too much time pleading, begging, writing the corporate media to just please put a few lines about a favorite topic in their papers or on thier shows. We have about 50% of the work done right here (or other sites like buzzflash or rawstory, or bradblog) . Investigative journalist, 24 by 7 scouts, research. Why are we standing around waiting? ( I wonder if that will be discussed at the Media Reform Conference in STL this weekend. )

But Rawstory could be a good start. But they are only INTERNET based and only certain people know them.

Another thought is that if the paper was web based the it could be distributed like USA Today does. They just transmit the paper electronically to printing sites all over the country and there it is.

So think about that. An INTERNET site that has the news, and the business end could just printing them off in people's homes. An army of printers. Sell them, deliver them, mail them what ever, get people hooked and then they can just view them on the internet. Would just need a good printer and the web site would have to be able to format the page to HP printer format. This is soooooooo doable. It could be free at first. You get people hooked on them and then charge a fee if needed. There are way too many people that just don't see this info and don't know the sites. Offer them free copy at the local coffee shop, hand them out, get people to sign up for free mail service or home delivery.

Work with me, kysrsoze. We'll be the new press.

[harpo]

6. I've got a corp that I created just for that...but not using it yet

stay tuned, checking into some financial/legal stuff to see what else I have to do for this to start rolling.

[kansasblue]

7. Harpo, kysrsoze and kansasblue Media Inc

The world's fastest growing media company.

[PA Mamma]

8. Channel 9415 -- Free Speech TV !!!!

I just discovered a channel that has been on my Dish Network satellite TV all along, Free Speech TV channel 9415. It’s independent and great ! Amy Goodman just had on a panel discussing CPB and PBS -- We really are in trouble when Cookie Monster is being reviewed for being too "Blue!"

And I just read about Al Gore’s channel in The Nation, not very promising…

During a town hall meeting on MTV in 2000, Al Gore dismissed a question about the rapper Mos Def. Throughout his career, Gore viewed hip-hop music, even when practiced by a politically conscious artist like Mos Def, as an undignified form of political expression. "Gandhi once said you must become the change you wish to see in the world," Gore said of hip-hop. "I don't think it's good enough to say, 'Well, we're just reflecting a reality.'"

Five years later, on a spring night in San Francisco, none other than Mos Def was anchoring the pre-launch party for Gore's new youth cable channel, Current, reflecting a reality of a different sort--that of the television business, where hipness trumps values. Gore was there too, trying to pump up enthusiasm for what he claims will be an entirely new approach to news and culture. Looking bulky but relaxed, Gore asked the diverse young crowd, "How many of y'all would like to see an opportunity to talk about what's going on in your world that you can participate in with television?"

Current screened three video clips as evidence of what the network plans to offer: the first a high-speed montage, created by a team of producers, freelancers and the audience itself, touching on everything from poppy fields in Morocco to hacking into Paris Hilton's cell phone; the second, a twice-hourly news update spotlighting the top ten queries on Google for any given subject; and the third, winner of a $10,000 submission prize, a satire of political campaign ads that came across as an amateurish stab at The Daily Show With Jon Stewart.

More:
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20050516&s=berman

[harpo]

9. yeah they are a goooooood channel...getting ideas from them :)