I added links to the United Kingdom's The Independent and to Independent Media Center.
It is important to support independent media and that's why we do so on Thursdays in an entry dealing with just independent media. It's also why we spotlight Democracy Now! each week, Monday through Friday.
In the perfect world, "support" would include money. If you have it to spare, that's great. But you can support independent media by utilizing it and by making sure your friends are aware of it. Getting the word out on it can be one of the best things you can do.
And getting the word out on Amy Goodman's Un-Embed the Media tour is very important.
I will not remember to do an update all the time. So while it is going on, it's the last link of our permalinks. You can show your "support" for independent media by getting the word out on the Un-Embed the Media tour. Maybe the tour isn't coming to your area but you see that it's going where a friend or family member lives. You can pass the word on to that person and explain why it's worth attending.
The mainstream media has failed us. They lined up, overall, ready to go to war, content to silence dissenting voices. And they've suffered a fall out for that. Not just in terms of credibility and trust, but also in terms of people tuning them out.
Democracy Now! is an alternative show only because our mainstream failed us. It actually presents voices that aren't so lonely, voices that are closer to what the majority of the country feels. But we're led to believe that we're alone in feeling that way. (Read Noam Chomsky's Manufacturing Consent, if you haven't already.) There is no reason in the world that Democracy Now! can't have more viewers, listeners, readers that make up a larger audience than the audience the mainstream media currently has. The only thing preventing it from achieving that level is the fact that so many don't know it's out there.
(For all the jaw-boning CJR Daily will do about the network news, they've been strangely silent regarding Democracy Now!)
Getting the word out on independent media is one of the best ways you can show support.
(For the record, Amy Goodman & David Goodman's book The Exception to the Rulers is now out in paperback. Regardless of whether or not the name of the tour changes, as long as it goes on in some form, or if the show continues to travel to other areas, we'll keep the link active.)
