Tag: media

Don’t miss next Thursday’s Crucial Conversation

February 13, 2013 at 11:21 amCategory:Uncategorized

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Big money, dark money: The threat posed to our democracy by media consolidation and secretly-funded elections

Featuring the former Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Dr. Michael Copps.

Co-sponsored by Common Cause North Carolina.

Few developments in modern America pose a greater threat to the health of our democracy than the rapid consolidation of media corporations and the equally speedy demise of voter-funded elections. Increasingly, control of both our telecommunications infrastructure and our political campaigns rest in the hands of a comparatively tiny (and sometimes-overlapping) group of super-wealthy individuals and corporations.

For decades, Michael Copps has been battling these destructive trends and advancing common sense solutions – first as a longtime staff person in the U.S. Senate, then as Assistant Secretary of Commerce, and, from 2001 to 2009, as one of five commissioners of the Federal Communications Commission.

Don’t miss this important opportunity to hear from this incredibly knowledgeable voice of reason on these critically important subjects.

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POLICY AND POVERTY MATTERS: Our Collective Inability to #TalkPoverty Hurts Us All

September 28, 2012 at 3:25 pmCategory:NC Budget and Tax Center

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An honest and substantive discussion about poverty is, and has long been, virtually missing from the public debates. When is the last time you read a news article covering the issue of poverty in a substantive way? Chances are slim, according to a recent study conducted by Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting.

Of the nearly 10,500 campaign articles published from January to June 2012 that were reviewed, the study found that national media coverage of poverty-related issues appeared in only 17 of the articles. Yet, the study found that “debt” and “deficit” appeared in 1,848 of the articles. How can we talk about fiscal cliffs, scaling back social insurance programs, and improving the weak economic recovery without having a substantive conversation about poverty, the structural factors that are driving poverty, and how it affects us all? Read More…