The Written Word: Rafe Mair August 8

Wednesday, August 08, 2007 03:45 AM

Online newspapers like this one and thetyee.ca are becoming all the rage. I’m sure the editor will not mind me telling you that I open up a talk show on September 4 called www.rafelive.com. Why are these things happening?

Several reasons. In the first place British Columbians like information that they can respond to and online does that. Not that everyone responds, of course, but the reader/listener can get a damned good idea of how the community sees things. That information goes to the proprietor as well.

The TV/radio programming on the traditional shows is awful. When Americans I meet ask about my show I respond “I’m just like Larry King but I ask real questions. Owners don’t want to make waves in the government or business communities. When you have newspapers like the Toronto Globe and Mail and Torstar owning radio and TV stations you have owners not daring to ruffle the feathers of those to whom they must look for licenses. They employ invisible censorship whereby editors don’t need to be told to avoid certain areas and certain subjects and if they must be covered, as lightly as possible. This has meant that fine columnists and commentators must self censor or they won’t keep a job. Three examples spring to mind.

Stevie Cameron, probably the best writer in Canada gets no work from the major media because she has attacked the government, especially the Mulroney one, with vigour and accuracy.

Claire Hoy is toast because when he was part of the Parliamentary press gallery he called it as he saw it.

Andrew MacIntyre, once the coming star of the Canwest chain, got too close to the bone in the Chretien/Shawinagate affair and now plies his trade with the Sacramento Bee.

Perhaps I can also immodestly add myself to that list.

All this has added up to this –proprietors of webcasting know that there is a huge need out there and hire people with opinions and don’t interfere with them except if they are libelous. That’s why you like Opinion250 – the writers do not self censor but call it like it is and the owners applaud.

This new medium is not out of the woods yet. More and more are charging members modest fees to watch and listen – in my case it will be a miniscule $5 per month. It’s not the best medium for ads, called :banner” ads because they tend to clutter the pages and irritate viewers/listeners. But the public has a role in keeping this incredibly medium alive. And there is no other way but a small fee.

I’m reminded of the story of the famous American lawyer, Clarence Darrow, who was once asked by a very satisfied client, how she could repay his kindness. Darrow’s response was “Madam, ever since the Phoenicians invented money there has only been one answer to that question”.

It will eventually come clear to all, that genuine free speech will not come from the traditional sources and that a small fee ensures free comment.

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Posted on Wednesday, August 08, 2007 03:45 AM in Views by Rafe Mair

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Comments

Posted by: diplomat on August 8 2007 8:00 AM

"This new medium is not out of the woods yet. "

No kidding!

Posted by: Bridge on August 8 2007 10:13 AM

Great plan and we will not see any banners. Its worth five bucks not to see them. How about it Ben? Wonder if it will also take care of the whiners?

Cheers

Posted by: Chadermando on August 8 2007 3:54 PM

Fraud
'War On Terror' A Fake
From Henry Makow, PhD
6-1-7

In April, John Gleeson, the Editor of the Winnipeg Sun wrote a groundbreaking column entitled "War on Terror Looks Like a Fraud" which circulated widely on the Internet and got more positive response from readers than any that have appeared in this newspaper. Apparently, this breath of fresh air took place because Gleeson had been fired as part of a plan to standardize Sunmedia newspapers, and thereby increase profits. He was given two-weeks-notice and decided to use the opportunity to speak the truth. He penned this article and another about 9-11 Scholars. In recognition of his heroic gesture, we are reposting his article. --Henry Makow

War On Terror Looks Like A Fraud
By John Gleeson
Winnipeg Sun
April 15, 2007

Contrary to the "patriots" who try to use the deaths of our soldiers in Afghanistan to stifle debate on Canada's involvement in the War on Terror, I would say that as new evidence presents itself, we would indeed be cowards to ignore it simply because we've lost troops in the field and are therefore blindly committed to the mission.

And new evidence is piling up around us, arguably strong enough to declare the whole War on Terror an undeniable fraud.

Virtually ignored by mainstream media, the Americans showed their hand this year with the new Iraqi oil law, now making its way through Iraq's parliament.

The law - which tens of thousands of Iraqis marched peacefully against on Monday when they called for the immediate expulsion of U.S. forces - would transfer control of one of the largest oil reserves on the planet from Baghdad to Big Oil, delivering "the prize" at last that Vice-President Dick Cheney famously talked about in 1999 when he was CEO of Halliburton.

"The key point of the law," wrote Mother Jones' Washington correspondent James Ridgeway on March 1, "is that Iraq's immense oil wealth (115 billion barrels of proven reserves, third in the world after Saudi Arabia and Iran) will be under the iron rule of a fuzzy 'Federal Oil and Gas Council' boasting 'a panel of oil experts from inside and outside Iraq.' That is, nothing less than predominantly U.S. Big Oil executives.

"The law represents no less than institutionalized raping and pillaging of Iraq's oil wealth. It represents the death knell of nationalized Iraqi resources, now replaced by production sharing agreements, which translate into savage privatization and monster profit rates of up to 75% for (basically U.S.) Big Oil. Sixty-five of Iraq's roughly 80 oilfields already known will be offered for Big Oil to exploit."

While the U.S. argues that the oil deal will give Iraqis their shot at "freedom and stability," the International Committee of the Red Cross reported this week that millions of Iraqis are in a "disastrous" situation that continues to deteriorate, with "mothers appealing for someone to pick up the bodies littering the street so their children will be spared the horror of looking at them on their way to school."

Four years after the invasion, it's becoming pretty clear that Iraq has been "pacified" solely for the purpose of economic aggression. Humanitarian considerations are moot. The awful plight of Iraq's one million Christians, who have no place in the new Iraq, underscores this ugly truth.

Afghanistan, meanwhile, has given the U.S. a strategic military beachhead in Central Asia (which "American primacy" advocates called for in the '90s) and it was quietly reported in November that plans are being accelerated for a $3.3-billion natural gas pipeline "to help Afghanistan become an energy bridge in the region."

With many Americans (including academics and former top U.S. government officials) now questioning even the physical facts of 9/11 and seriously disputing the "militant Islam" spin, with the media more brain-dead than it's been in our lifetimes, now is not the time for jingoism and blind faith in the likes of Cheney, George W. Bush and Robert Gates.

Our young men are worth more than that - aren't they, Mr. Harper?

Copyright � 2006, Canoe Inc.

http://thefilter.ca/articles/canada/war-on-terror-looks-like-a-fraud/