Democracy Now! May 29, 2003

8:00-8:01 Billboard 8:01-8:06 Headlines 8:06-8:07 One Minute Music Break 8:07-8:20 No more Clear Channel! Stop the FCC Media Giveaway - Despite a national call for a delay, the FCC is poised to vote on media consolidation rules June 2nd No more Clear Channel! Stop the FCC Media Giveaway that s the cry today with the deadline for the FCC vote on new media regulations just days away. While Secretary of state Gen. Colin Powell led the U.S. invasion against Iraq, his son, Michael Powell, was clearing the way for further consolidation of the media in the U.S. Protest actions are planned today in San Francisco, New York City, Los Angeles, Portland Oregon and Pittsburgh against the new rules which would threaten independent voices in broadcast radio and television. But what is Clear Channel? Since the most recent FCC vote in 1996 to ease media ownership rules in the radio industry, Clear Channel has grown from a small-time operator of 40 stations to the nation's largest radio station owner, with more than 1,200 stations. * Eric Boehlert, Senior writer at Salon.com who has written extensively about Clear Channel Communications and its impact on the deregulation of media ownership rules. Links: http://www.salon.com 8:20-8:21 One Minute Music Break 8:21-8:58 Diverse Organizations from Around the Country Testify Against Media Consolidation From the National Rifle Association to the antiwar group, Code Pink, organizations around the country are speaking out against media consolidation. On June 2nd, the FCC is poised to overhaul decades-old rules governing media ownership allowing for further consolidation. Like the 1996 Telecommunications Act the most significant media act in 50 years the upcoming vote has received no attention in the mainstream corporate media. The corporate media itself has jointly-filed comments supporting the deregulation. Today we hear the latest gathering of journalistic organizations and other groups opposed to deregulation of media ownership rules. The gathering took place on in Washington DC May 27th. 8:58-8:59 Outro and Credits 9:00-9:01 Billboard 9:01-9:10 Headlines Amnesty International Condemns U.S. Policies Pursued in Response to September 11th. According to an Amnesty International report, Washington's "war on terror" has undermined human rights, weakened international law and shielded governments from scrutiny. The London based watchdog group released its annual report on global human rights abuses in 2002. It condemns policies pursued by the United States and Britain in response to the attacks of September 11, 2001. It said the war on terror that was supposed to make the world safer has failed and has given governments an excuse to abuse human rights in the name of state security. "The Bush Administration's war in Iraq has contributed to diminishing human rights for millions of others worldwide," said Amnesty International USA s Executive Director Dr. William F. Schulz, "While billions were spent to dethrone Saddam Hussein, dictators and rebels elsewhere wreaked havoc on millions of people across the globe with little attention and even less condemnation from the US government or the international community. Guest: Josh Rubenstein, Northeastern regional director of Amnesty Int. Link: http://www.amnestyusa.org/9:10-9:58: In March of this year, we were joined in our studios by the legendary musical act and Grammy Award winning Sweet Honey in the Rock. This year they are celebrating their 30th year together. It was 1973 when Bernice Johnson Reagon brought together a group of female singers to form an a cappella group. At the time Reagon was the music director of the old D.C. Black Repertory Theater Company. The first song they practiced was called Sweet Honey in the Rock. The tune referenced religious parable that spoke of a land so rich that when rocks were cracked open, honey flowed from them. They decided to take that name as their own. Reagon had come with a deep musical past. She was an original member of the SNCC Freedom Singers and also organized the Atlanta-based Harambee Singers, an ensemble of female vocalists who performed as part of the civil rights struggles of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Since 1973 Sweet Honey in the Rock has reinvented a cappella music and introduced a generation to the roots of African-American music: gospel, spirituals and hymns as well as the blues and jazz. The group has released 18 albums and has toured the world. They won a Grammy Award in 1989 for work on the recording, Vision Shared: A Tribute to Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly. They have even published a book examining a history of the group and the times. Alice Walker wrote the introduction. Over the years the group s membership has included 22 women. The current ensemble includes Bernice Johnson Reagon, Ysaye Maria Barnwell, Nitanju Bolade Casel, Aisha Kahlil, Carol Maillard and sign language interpretator Shirley Childress Saxton. * Sweet Honey in the Rock Special Part I 9:58-9:59 Outro and Credits Democracy Now! is produced by Kris Abrams, Mike Burke, Angie Karran, Sharif Abdul Kouddous, Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press with help from Noah Reibel and Vilka Tzouras. Mike Di Filippo is our music maestro and engineer. Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Emily Kunstler, Orlando Richards, Simba Rousseau, Rafael delaUz, Gabriel Weiss, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Karen Ranucci, Fatima Mojadiddy, Denis Moynihan and Jenny Filipazzo.