Non-Corporate News Sources
A Public Service Provided By The Microfreedom Index .
This originally started during "Operation Iraqi Freedom",
and now continues as a listing of alternative news sources.
(Thanks to Carl Zittrer for pointing out a major typo.)
UPDATED: 17 March 2008
"How do you argue that we're not worse off? The economy is in worse shape, unemployment is higher, we've got a war we're going to pay for. We're in worse shape - that's a fact."
Southern Rock star John Mellencamp
"At any given moment, there is a sort of all prevading orthodoxy, a general tacit agreement not to discuss large and uncomfortable facts."
George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair)
(Author: "Animal Farm", "Nineteen Eighty Four")
"Look at the past 25 years. We went downhill, and if people don't realize it, they don't have their f***ing eyes on...In 1960, when I came out of prison as an ex-convict, I had more freedom under parolee supervision than there's available to an average citizen in America right now...God almighty, what have we done to each other?"
Merle Haggard; Country Western Singer
Quoted by John Derbyshire in National Review online
"We have become a Nazi monster in the eyes of the
whole world, a nation of bullies and bastards who
would rather kill than live peacefully. We are not
just Whores for power and oil, but killer whores with
hate and fear in our hearts. We are human scum, and
that is how history will judge us... No redeeming
social value. Just whores. Get out of our way, or
we'll kill you... Who does vote for these dishonest sh*theads? Who among us can be happy and proud of having all this innocent blood on our hands? Who are these swine? These flag-sucking half-wits who get fleeced and fooled by stupid little rich kids like
George Bush? They are the same ones who wanted to have
Muhammad Ali locked up for refusing to kill gooks.
They speak for all that is cruel and stupid and
vicious in the American character. They are the
racists and hate mongers among us. They are the Ku Klux Klan. I piss down the throats of these Nazis. And I am too old to worry about whether they like it or not. F*** them."
Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (1937-2005) - Author, Novelist, Journalist - From his book Kingdom of Fear
"We need racist stereotypes right now of our enemy in order to encourage our warriors to kill the enemy."
"Conservative" radio talk show host Michael Savage (aka Michael Weiner)
"You know the world is going crazy when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, the tallest guy in the NBA is Chinese, the Swiss hold the America's Cup, France is accusing the U.S. of arrogance, Germany doesn't want to go to war, and the three most powerful men in America are named 'Bush', 'Dick', and 'Colin.' Need I say more?"
Chris Rock - Comic, Writer, Actor
"I understand when the government wants to brainwash the enemy, but bullsh*tting its own people is just sad."
"Venik", Aeronautics.Ru
"We paid $3 billion for these television stations. We will decide what the news is. The news is what we tell you it is."
David Boylan - Station Manager WTVT, Tampa, Florida (A Fox Network station) (Quoted by investigative reporter Steve Wilson)
"The government lies and the press lies. But in a democracy, they're not the same lies."
Anonymous
"Don't hate the media, become the media!"
Jello Biafra
"Reality has a well-known liberal bias."
Steven Colbert
For those who live outside the USA, it may appear both shocking and disturbing as to how much the average American is oblivious as to what the foreign press is saying about the USA.
Please keep in mind some facts about major USA media sources in specific, and Western media in general:
- Most (if not all) news sources are sponsored or underwritten by corporate interests, often with petrochemical and/or defense industry ties.
- General Electric, a major corporation with direct ties to the defense industry, owns the NBC television network, and partly owns the news channels CNBC and MSNBC, and the Spanish language Telemundo network.
- Many news sources have been pressured (directly or indirectly) by various interests to report within particular slants, leave out specific details or even to "bury" some news stories.
- Many Americans rely on the nightly network news broadcasts, often little more than a 30 minute encapsulation of major world and national affairs (with about 10 minutes of commercials), and do not engage in detailed research. Some even rely on heavily biased "talk radio" hosts to present opinion as if it were fact.
While there is no official censorship of the press in this country, it does exist, in one form or another, in very subtle ways....and many Americans are unaware of it!
A classic example is that the report that Secretary of State Colin Powell gave to the United Nations in February 2003 concerning how Iraq "deceived" United Nations inspectors, reportedly with information supplied by British Intelligence, was plagiarized from a 12 year old report written by a college student, with additional material taken from internet sources.
Neither ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, CNN, Fox News Channel (especially their star "news" host Bill O'Reilly), any of the major newspapers and news magazines, nor those supposed bastions of "liberal media", NPR and PBS, felt that this was worth mentioning.
One of the few appearances of this in any of the USA media was the column "The Great Intelligence Fraud" by Alexander Cockburn in the March 3, 2003 issue of The Nation (Vol. 276, No. 8, Pg. 8).
Would it surprise you to learn that in 1994, soon-to-be Vice President Dick Cheney, who served as the U.S. Secretary of Defense from March 1989 to January 1993 under President George H. W. Bush, opposed military actions in Iraq?
By the way, Dick Cheney was a staunch supporter of the Vietnam War. Odd how he applied for and received military draft deferments from Selective Service five times!
Did you know that Monsanto pressured a Fox TV station, WTVT in Tampa, Florida, to re-write a report on a synthetic bovine growth hormone that appears in milk... and then Fox News FIRED the investigative reporters?
What about that photo of U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld shaking hands with Saddam Hussein?
Left: Donald Rumsfeld - Right: Saddam Hussein
This is a video still from their 20 December 1983 meeting.
(No, this is not a retouched or digitally manipulated photograph.)
Or even moreso, accusations that the rescue of Private Jessica Lynch may have been an act of "Wagging The Dog"?
AlterNet.Org
Cable News Network
Washington Post (via Information Clearing House)
Or the famous footage of the Saddam Hussein statue being toppled may have been a propaganda set-up?
Information Clearinghouse
The Memory Hole
Or that Bjorn Lomborg, author of the book "The Skeptical Environmentalist", has been discredited as scientific fraud by many of his peers?
Anti-Lomborg.Com
Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP)
CSICOP again
Grist Magazine
Info-Pollution.Com
Union of Concerned Scientists
World Resources Institute
...or what about those "mobile labs" that were supposed to be used for germ warfare development?
The Observer/Guardian Unlimited
So, I've done my best to track down some sources to read news that won't have much of a "military-industrial complex" about them. Some may have (painfully obvious) political biases, especially the "anti-war" sites, but you can easily read between the lines.
I want to express my sincere thanks to Eric Blumrich and "Timmy Ramone" for some of these links, as well as "Jon" from somewhere in the United Kingdom.
Photo from Democratic Underground
NOTICE
NEWS SITES
First and foremost:
Watching America
English language articles about the USA from foreign sources.
Al-Jazeera (English Language Site)
Americans Against Bombing - Americans Against World Empire
"A Conservative/Libertarian coalition for Peace, opposed to the bombing & hypocrisy which brings retaliation from enemies that we ourselves create, turning our free Republic into a military empire." - From the website
Includes links to articles on pro-war media bias.
Axis of Justice
(Run by rock musicians Tom Morello [ex-Rage Against the Machine, presently with Audioslave] and Serj Tankian [System of a Down])
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
BBC News
While "Auntie Beeb" is not the "marble model" of impartiality (then again, what is?), they are much more 'fair and balanced" than the Fox News Channel. You can listen to many of their radio channels on-line.
BBC Radio 4 (Talk Programs)
BBC Radio 5 (Live News and Sports)
BBC News 24 (Television News Clips)
BBC World Service (News and reports from an international perspective)
(Regrettably, the BBC World Service longer beams their shortwave signal to North America, but their excellent programming can still be heard for free on the internet (using RealPlayer), and to subscribers of both XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio. Both radio and TV broadcasting from the BBC airs on some Public Radio & TV stations in the USA. Check your local listings.)
Also, BBC America can be seen on some digital cable/satellite systems in the USA.
UPDATE The BBC can be picked up in the USA on frequencies from the Caribbean, and maybe Africa and Asia. Check frequencies and times here.
Try Prime Time Shortwave for possible listening times and frequencies in your area.
BlackBox Voting
"Ballot Tampering In the 21st Century"
Citizens for Legitimate Government
Daily Star
(An independent English language newspaper from Beirut, Lebanon.)
DEBKAfile
(Israel-based reports)
Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR)
Includes detailed articles on Fox News Network's biased reporting.
Fallout Shelter News (Florida Oriented News)
Free Speech TV
Can be seen in the USA on Dish Network Channel 9415 and a number of Community Access Cable Affiliates
"GoLeft.tv is not a website. It is a web-based television and multimedia center that uses video content to bring news, commentary and entertainment in a medium that gives sight, sound and passion to the issues most important to Americans." - Michael Lynch, a founding partner of GoLeft.tv, attorney with the premier national litigation law firm Levin, Papantonio, and GoLeft.tv Consumer Advocate.
Guerilla News Network (New URL)
In the late, lamented TV show "Max Headroom", the title character once said; "Have you any idea how successful censorship is on TV? Don't know the answer? Hmmmmm...successful, isn't it?" This site will blast holes in your concepts of what the corporate media and government are(n't) telling you. Broadband connections are suggested (but not mandatory) for the video presentations on this site.
Guardian Unlimited
(An independent British newspaper that has a list of anti-war websites.)
Independent Media Center ("Indymedia")
(Not to be confused with "Altermedia", a front for racists.)
International Action Center
(Founded by Ramsey Clark, the former Attorney General of the United States)
InvisableHand.nl
"InvisibleHand.nl is an independent private initiative, to promote:
- the economic and moral sides of international free trade and free enterprise;
- moral guidelines which stimulate private property and entrepeneurship, mutual respect and personal growth;
The main activity of InvisibleHand.nl is the blog, which will ask attention for actual or more classical articles in the realm of globalization, economic development and international trade. Mostly this site will be updated twice a week." - from the website
Mario's Cyberspace Station - The Global Intelligence News Portal
"Yes, the world is a sick place, and Mario Profaca is its webmaster." - New York Times, 16 December 1997
MediaLens
"MediaLens is a response based on our conviction that mainstream newspapers and broadcasters provide a profoundly distorted picture of our world. We are convinced that the increasingly centralised, corporate nature of the media means that it acts as a de facto propaganda system for corporate and other establishment interests. The costs incurred as a result of this propaganda, in terms of human suffering and environmental degradation, are incalculable." - from the website
In short, MediaLens is sort of a British version of the USA group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. (Thank you, Jon!)
The Memory Hole
(Edited by Russ Kick of Disinformation)
News Dissector
News blog run by Danny Schechter
News From Babylon (Web-Log with news articles)
News Hounds
"We watch FOX so you don't have to." (Thank you for doing so!)
GREG PALAST
Multiple award-winning investigative journalist who, while a USA citizen, writes for BBC-TV's "NewsNight" and the London newspaper, The Observer. While lauded throughout Europe with many of his reports making front page headlines, he has been effectively blacklisted in the USA. He is also the author and co-author of several books, including The Best Democracy Money Can Buy.
Political Strikes
(Political cartoons, photos with captions, news and lots of links!)
PRESS TV
State-run, but informative, news from Tehran, Iran. Streaming an English TV news service (Windows Media Player required).
Radical Radio
Web radio station. New program every Thursday.
The Real News Network
A full-format news service that does not accept advertising or corporate or government funding. Watch the video on the opening page and see how you can get involved.
Really News
"This page is dedicated to those who seek the truth. It is encouraged that all sources be reviewed and given consideration. Recognize Propaganda."
Russia Today
Streaming English-langauge television news from Russia. "Russia Today" is a branch of Novosti, the Russian News and Information Agency.
Connection (Windows Media Player) can be choppy at times.
Spin of the Day
(A project of PR Watch.Org.)
Truth Out
News, politics and commentary. A commentary comparing G.W. Bush to Adolph Hitler (archived here) caused serious ripples across the Internet in 2004.
"A Very American Coup"
Compiled articles from the New Zealand-based "Scoop".
Veterans Against the Iraqi War (VAIW)
Village Voice
(Independent weekly newspaper from New York City)
What Really Happened.com
"The History the Government Hopes You Don't Learn"
You may have to sift through some of the conspiracy theories to get to the meat on this site (Especially this little article).
Workers Independent News (LaborRadio.org)
World Socialist Web Site
(Published by the International Committee of the Fourth International [ICFI], this has a very heavy political bias, but you can sift the news from the rhetoric.)
COMMENTARY SITES
DOUG BASHAM & LYDIA CORNELL
Doug Basham, a local Las Vegas radio talk show host who openly locked horns with the conservative talk show hosts of the station he was on (KDWN, AM 720). Unfortunately, his political viewpoints were not shared by the station's management and several of the station's other show hosts (despite having very favorable ratings), and his show was, in Basham's own words, "Dixie Chicked".
He has returned to the air with a one-hour radio call-in show on KLAV (1230 AM), Weekday mornings at 8 AM Pacific (11 AM Eastern), co-hosted by actress and writer Lydia Cornell. His program can also be heard over the internet via his website.
Eric is a computer genius who has created some powerful anti-war Flash animations on the USA's involvement in world politics. They take a while a load, and some contain VERY GRAPHIC images, so be forewarned!
Also, he has a great selection of links.
THE BOONDOCKS
Aaron McGruder's comic strip that can be best described as a street-wise version of "Doonesbury", with much sharper (and double-edged) satire.
CapedMaskedAndArmed.com
Incredible detourned videos with news links, photos and art to download for stickers.
CHRISTIAN BUTTERBACH
His personal tri-lingual (English, French, German) website of his many articles and commentaries on individual sovereignty, anarchism, panarchism and exterritorialism ("The Exterritorial Imperative").
DANIEL ELLSBERG
The man who blew the whistle on how the US Government lied about Vietnam, by leaking "The Pentagon Papers". He gives his commentary on current events here.
DOONESBURY
Garry Trudeau's political strip, and a frequent target of conservative editorial writers. You can also visit the Doonesbury Town Hall and Web Presence.
THE EAGLE'S NEST
Links to various activist and environmentalist groups.
"The Fire This Time"
This review says it best:
"A terrifying and timely audio essay by documentary film-maker Grant Wakefield, which deconstructs Western foreign policy towards Iraq from the post-1918 British occupation to the Gulf war and ensuing economic sanctions. Splicing a wealth of news footage, political statements and narration into traditional Arabic music and new tunes donated by the likes of Aphex Twin and Speedy J, it's a judicious montage in which politicians, military advisers and a complicit media all indict themselves as wrong-headed, duplicitous or just plain evil. As well as its own coherent argument, it gives a too rarely heard voice to the Iraqi people, and has been assembled with such originality that it creates its own new genre of protest record. It comes packaged with an instrumental version, for when the aural assault of disc one becomes, as it should, too sickening and awful to bear."
- THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY - 16th February 2003 - 5 / 5
MIKE FLUGENNOCK'S "MICKEY'ZINE"
Political cartoons, posters, essays, commentary, news and lots of links.
THOM HARTMANN
Winner of the Project Censored Award, Thom Hartmann is a nationally syndicated Progressive call-in talk show host and author. His show (Weekdays, Noon-3PM Eastern time) is also heard over Cable Radio Networks (CRN Channel 1), Sirius Satellite Radio (Sirius Left, Ch. 143), and streamed over the internet via RadioPower.org.
Thom has also written a number of books on politics and Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). They are available on his website.
KILLRADIO.ORG
Back-Up Link (in case the main link is down)
An internet radio station based in Los Angeles, also known as "Kill Corporate (or Monopoly) Radio", "K.I.L.L." and "K-ILL". To quote their website: "Killradio.org is a collective organization committed to using media production and distribution as a tool for promoting social and economic justice. We intend to promote the proliferation of radio in whatever form is necessary in order to challenge the corporate domination of our airwaves.
CARLOS LATUFF
Brazilian political cartoonist whose works have created a firestorm of controversy, especially his works critical of the USA and Israel, his works supporting Palestine independence, and his support for the Zapatistas in Mexico.
His works are archived on a number of sites. The following may or may not work:
here, here, here, here,
here here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
There are a large number of his works scattered across the internet on various activist websites. Use a good search engine like Dogpile, and type in the name "Latuff". You're bound to find many links.
"All images are copyright-free and can be reproduced/forwarded free-of-charge, since it's a non-profit action. I beg you to promote this art as much as you can. You don't need even to give me credit for this. I don't care about credits. The only thing I have in mind is to make Palestine visible for the world, since Jewish/Israeli lobby is always trying to deny existence of Palestine as nation, people and culture." - Carlos Latuff
Above drawing by Carlos Latuff
referring to Michael Moore's confrontation with Charleston Heston (Actor/President of the NRA)
in Moore's internationally acclaimed documentary "Bowling for Columbine".
MICHAEL MOORE
Author of the books "Dude, Where's My Country?", "Stupid White Men" and "Downsize This!" and director of "Roger and Me", "TV Nation", "Canadian Bacon", the Oscar winning documentary "Bowling for Columbine", and the (in)famous documentary "Fahrenheit 911". He gives his commentary here, as well as links to other sites.
PROPAGANDA REMIX PROJECT
Micah Ian Wright's controversial detournment of WW2 propaganda posters into modern messages against the Iraq war and the Bush administration.
Many of his re-workings are available as t-shirts, posters, coffee mugs, and even two books, You Back the Attack! We'll Bomb Who We Want! and If You're Not A Terrorist...Then Stop Asking Questions!.
ED SCHULTZ
A nationally syndicated Progressive radio call-in talk show host, his market is quickly expanding. In the USA, "Big Eddie" can be heard on 30 affiliates, on both XM (America Left, XM 167) and Sirius Satellite Radio (Sirius Left, Ch. 143) , and via his website (Weekdays, 12 Noon-3 PM Eastern time). He's also written a book entitled Straight Talk From the Heartland, available from his website.
"The Unseen Gulf War"
Peter Turnley's photo essay of the First Gulf War, with very graphic photographs of combat aftermath. Not for the squeamish.
THE USUAL SUSPECTS
"This is a new weblog run by three friends who will spout-off on politics." - from the website
What Liberal Media?
A promotional website for Eric Alterman's book "What Liberal Media?: The Truth About BIAS and the News". This website also has a number of articles and refutations concerning Ann Coulter, the acid-tongued news commentator on Fox News Channel (Where else?), and her books "Bias" and "Slander".
WhiteHouse.Org
A parody news site, not to be confused with the real White House site.
WNMR - War No More Radio
Web radio station streaming anti-war music. A streaming MP3 player like WinAmp is required. (A limited number of people can tune in at one time, so if it's busy, or the connection is down, try again later.)
ANTI-WAR SONGS
What amazes me is that there are a number of major label artists who are writing songs that openly oppose the war, yet NONE of them are getting any airplay (I won't mention names, Clear Channel!) or even being mentioned in the major media!
Examples:
JYNKZ
Fine artist and independent musician who has written and recorded the moving anti-war anthem "We Don't Want Your War", which has been played and sung at protest rallies around the world. You can hear and download it free from his website, as well as other songs he has composed and recorded. His CD's are also available for sale at this website.
JOHN FOGERTY
The former front-man for Creedence Clearwater Revival is now a soloist and has released the single "Deja Vu (All Over Again)", a commentary on contemporary American politics, from the album of the same name.
(Ex-Revival members, Stu Cook [drums] and Doug “Cosmo” Clifford [bass] have teamed up to form Creedence Clearwater Revisited.)
JOHN MELLENCAMP
The former Mr. John Cougar and long-time Southern Rock star ("Hurts So Good", "Little Pink Houses", "Small Town", "Scarecrow"), has recorded an anti-war folk song! You can download an MP3 file of his song "To Washington" from his website (Go to the "Trouble No More" page and scroll down. You can see the video for the song there in Real Video, QuickTime and Windows Media Player formats (Scroll down the page).
The song, a reworking of Woody Guthrie's "From Baltimore to Washington", also appears on his latest CD, "Trouble No More".
STOP THE WAR BIRGADE
Led by Stephen Darnell Summers, this rap group, consisting of U.S Army veterans based in Germany opposed to what they see as "American Imperialism", recorded a song entitled "Just Say No". It was recorded in 1990, during the FIRST Gulf War, but still packs a punch. It can be listened to from this website.
A new song, "Hey Joe (George)", recorded in 2003, has been added to this website (Explicit Lyrics).
Note: This site plays a segment of the song when opened.
Riot Folk Records
"We are a collective of radical musicians acting as an anti-profit record label/performance troupe. We're participating in the resistance by writing and distributing music that teaches, provokes, heals, and inspires." - from the website
Musicians include Anna Roland, Evan Greer, Mark Gunnery, Brenna Sahatjian, Tom Frampton, Ryan Harvey, Kate Boverman, and Ethan Miller.
U.S.A. BOYCOTT CAMPAIGNS
These links are provided for information only and do not reflect the opinions of this website.
It appears that the rest of the world does not stand with us.
Just in case you think I'm somehow "anti-American" for listing these,
I have provided a list of Sources of USA Made Items.
Boycott the USA (British site)
Boycott the USA (StopUSA.org) (New Zealand site)
Consumers Against War (German multi-lingual site)
Cultural Boycott
(A project of England's fROOTS magazine.)
Reverand Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping
(Guerilla theatre protest group featuring a "street preacher" decrying the evils of unrestrained capitalism and sweatshop labor.)
Spend For Peace (New Zealand site)
StopUSA (Belgian multi-language site)
Why the USA? (Page from a British personal website)
Victoria Peace Coalition (Canadian website)
RELATED WEBSITES
MICHAEL SAVAGE BOYCOTT
(Banner designed by Eric Blumrich)
Michael Savage Sucks - Savage Stupidity - Take Back the Media
And finally...
How You Can Change the World
"This site is for all those people who despair at the problems that face our planet, but feel helpless and unable to act. You are not powerless."
"I think I got this Iraqi war all figured out. We are ignoring the United Nations in order to make clear to Saddam Hussein that the United Nations cannot be ignored. We're waging war to preserve the U.N.'s ability to avert war.
We are not taking the U.N. seriously in order to show the world the U.N. must be taken seriously.
In order to bring democracy to Iraq, we are ignoring the democracy of the U.N. Security Council, because democracy is too important a thing to be stopped by a little thing like democracy.
Also, in bringing democracy to Iraq, we are ridding Iraq of a leader who does not allow opposing voices to be heard, meanwhile, we are told there must be no opposing voices here at home in our democracy. Somehow, we're to believe that exercising our own democracy here at home would somehow not support our troops' imposing democracy in Iraq.
In order to prove to Saddam Hussein that might does not make right, we've got our military over there to prove that might makes right.
And finally, we cannot leave a leader in power who ignores his own people. And if our own people don't understand that, unfortunately, we have no choice but to ignore them. Have I got it?
A mind is a terrible thing... period." - Doug Basham
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