Will Tiger Woods finally talk to the police? Who will replace Oprah? (Not that Oprah can ever be replaced, of course.) And will Michaele and Tareq Salahi, the couple who crashed President Barack Obama’s first state dinner, command the hundreds of thousands of dollars they want for an exclusive television interview? Can Levi Johnston, father of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s grandson, get his wish to be a contestant on “Dancing With the Stars”?

The chatter that passes for news, the gossip that is peddled by the windbags on the airwaves, the noise that drowns out rational discourse, and the timidity and cowardice of what is left of the newspaper industry reflect our flight into collective insanity. We stand on the cusp of one of the most seismic and disturbing dislocations in human history, one that is radically reconfiguring our economy as it is the environment, and our obsessions revolve around the trivial and the absurd.

What really matters in our lives-the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the steady deterioration of the dollar, the mounting foreclosures, the climbing unemployment, the melting of the polar ice caps and the awful reality that once the billions in stimulus money run out next year we will be bereft and broke-doesn’t fit into the cheerful happy talk that we mainline into our brains. We are enraptured by the revels of a dying civilization. Once reality shatters the airy edifice, we will scream and yell like petulant children to be rescued, saved and restored to comfort and complacency. There will be no shortage of demagogues, including buffoons like Sarah Palin, who will oblige. We will either wake up to face our stark new limitations, to retreat from imperial projects and discover a new simplicity, as well as a new humility, or we will stumble blindly toward catastrophe and neofeudalism.

Celebrity worship has banished the real from public discourse. And the adulation of celebrity is pervasive. The frenzy around political messiahs, or the devotion of millions of viewers to Oprah, is all part of the yearning to see ourselves in those we worship. We seek to be like them. We seek to make them like us. If Jesus and “The Purpose Driven Life” won’t make us a celebrity, then Tony Robbins or positive psychologists or reality television will. We are waiting for our cue to walk onstage and be admired and envied, to become known and celebrated. Nothing else in life counts.

We yearn to stand before the camera, to be noticed and admired. We build pages on social networking sites devoted to presenting our image to the world. We seek to control how others think of us. We define our worth solely by our visibility. We live in a world where not to be seen, in some sense, is to not exist. We pay lifestyle advisers to help us look and feel like celebrities, to build around us the set for the movie of our own life. Martha Stewart constructed her financial empire, when she wasn’t engaged in insider trading, telling women how to create a set design for the perfect home. The realities within the home, the actual family relationships, are never addressed. Appearances make everything whole. Plastic surgeons, fitness gurus, diet doctors, therapists, life coaches, interior designers and fashion consultants all, in essence, promise to make us happy, to make us celebrities. And happiness comes, we are assured, with how we look, with the acquisition of wealth and power, or at least the appearance of it. Glossy magazines like Town & Country cater to the absurd pretensions of the very rich to be celebrities. They are photographed in expensive designer clothing inside the lavishly decorated set pieces that are their homes. The route to happiness is bound up in how skillfully we present ourselves to the world. We not only have to conform to the dictates of this manufactured vision, but we also have to project an unrelenting optimism and happiness. Hedonism and wealth are openly worshiped on Wall Street as well as on shows such as “The Hills,” “Gossip Girl,” “Sex and the City,” “My Super Sweet 16″ and “The Real Housewives of (whatever bourgeois burg happens to be in vogue).”

The American oligarchy-1 percent of whom control more wealth than the bottom 90 percent combined-are the characters we most envy and watch on television. They live and play in multimillion-dollar mansions. They marry models or professional athletes. They are chauffeured in stretch limos. They rush from fashion shows to movie premieres to fabulous resorts. They have surgically enhanced, perfect bodies and are draped in designer clothes that cost more than some people make in a year. This glittering life is held before us like a beacon. This life, we are told, is the most desirable, the most gratifying. And this is the life we want. Greed is good, we believe, because one day through our acquisitions we will become the elite. So let the rest of the bastards suffer.

The working class, comprising tens of millions of struggling Americans, are locked out of television’s gated community. They are mocked, even as they are tantalized, by the lives of excess they watch on the screen in their living rooms. Almost none of us will ever attain these lives of wealth and power. Yet we are told that if we want it badly enough, if we believe sufficiently in ourselves, we too can have everything. We are left, when we cannot adopt these impossible lifestyles as our own, with feelings of inferiority and worthlessness. We have failed where others have succeeded.

We consume these countless lies daily. We believe the false promises that if we spend more money, if we buy this brand or that product, if we vote for this candidate, we will be respected, envied, powerful, loved and protected. The flamboyant lives of celebrities and the outrageous characters on television, movies, professional wrestling and sensational talk shows are peddled to us, promising to fill up the emptiness in our own lives. Celebrity culture encourages everyone to think of themselves as potential celebrities, as possessing unique if unacknowledged gifts. Faith in ourselves, in a world of make-believe, is more important than reality. Reality, in fact, is dismissed and shunned as an impediment to success, a form of negativity. The New Age mysticism and pop psychology of television personalities and evangelical pastors, along with the array of self-help best-sellers penned by motivational speakers, psychiatrists and business tycoons, peddle this fantasy. Reality is condemned in these popular belief systems as the work of Satan, as defeatist, as negativity or as inhibiting our inner essence and power. Those who question, those who doubt, those who are critical, those who are able to confront reality, along with those who grasp the hollowness and danger of celebrity culture, are condemned for their pessimism or intellectualism.

The illusionists who shape our culture, and who profit from our incredulity, hold up the gilded cult of Us. Popular expressions of religious belief, personal empowerment, corporatism, political participation and self-definition argue that all of us are special, entitled and unique. All of us, by tapping into our inner reserves of personal will and undiscovered talent, by visualizing what we want, can achieve, and deserve to achieve, happiness, fame and success. This relentless message cuts across ideological lines. This mantra has seeped into every aspect of our lives. We are all entitled to everything. And because of this self-absorption, and deep self-delusion, we have become a country of child-like adults who speak and think in the inane gibberish of popular culture.

Celebrities who come from humble backgrounds are held up as proof that anyone can be adored by the world. These celebrities, like saints, are examples that the impossible is always possible. Our fantasies of belonging, of fame, of success and of fulfillment are projected onto celebrities. These fantasies are stoked by the legions of those who amplify the culture of illusion, who persuade us that the shadows are real. The juxtaposition of the impossible illusions inspired by celebrity culture and our “insignificant” individual achievements, however, is leading to an explosive frustration, anger, insecurity and invalidation. It is fostering a self-perpetuating cycle that drives the frustrated, alienated individual with even greater desperation and hunger away from reality, back toward the empty promises of those who seduce us, who tell us what we want to hear. The worse things get, the more we beg for fantasy. We ingest these lies until our faith and our money run out. And when we fall into despair we medicate ourselves, as if the happiness we have failed to find in the hollow game is our deficiency. And, of course, we are told it is.

I spent two years traveling the country to write a book on the Christian right called “American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America.” I visited former manufacturing towns where for many the end of the world is no longer an abstraction. Many have lost hope. Fear and instability have plunged the working class into profound personal and economic despair, and, not surprisingly, into the arms of demagogues and charlatans of the radical Christian right who offer a belief in magic, miracles and the fiction of a utopian Christian nation. Unless we rapidly re-enfranchise these dispossessed workers, insert them back into the economy, unless we give them hope, these demagogues will rise up to take power. Time is running out. The poor can dine out only so long on illusions. Once they grasp that they have been betrayed, once they match the bleak reality of their future with the fantasies they are fed, once their homes are foreclosed and they realize that the jobs they lost are never coming back, they will react with a fury and vengeance that will snuff out the remains of our anemic democracy and usher in a new dark age.

Source: Chris Hedges © 2009 TruthDig.com / http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/11/30-7

In early 2010 Gil Scott-Heron will release a brand new album entitled ‘I’m New Here’ on XL Recordings. For more info and to download the track ‘Where Did The Night Go’ for free go to http://imnewhere.net/

Originally broadcast on BBC2 on Monday 16th November 2009

Scott-Heron began the set by himself, with his song dedicated to voting rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer in honor of her Oct. 6 birthday, “95 South (All of the Places We’ve Been).” He was then joined by his band,  including saxophonist Leon Williams, guitarist Ed Brady, bassist Robert Gordon, keyboardist and vocalist Kim Jordan and drummer Kenny Powell. They launched into another song, “We Almost Lost Detroit” (also from the 1977 album “Bridges”), after Scott-Heron’s shout-out to a “brother named Common” who sampled the song for 2007’s “The People.”

It was a meditative and exuberant night. The set continued with the rousing rebuke to “the military and the monetary” in “Work for Peace,” the vivacious musicological query “Is That Jazz?,” his stirring national elegy “Winter in America” and “Your Daddy Loves You,” which Scott-Heron dedicated to his own daughter in the audience.  The singer who boldly derided Ronald Reagan in “B Movie” and “Re-Ron” refrained from mentioning any specific political figures. This was not an evening for discussion of how “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” or an open letter to rappers in a “Message to the Messengers.”

The melancholy addiction opus “The Other Side” from 1994’s “Spirits” meshed flawlessly into his 1971 classic “Home Is Where the Hatred Is” (younger listeners may know it from the sample on Kanye West’s “My Way Home”). The singer closed the evening by entreating us with Latin-inflected rhythms to “Celebrate, celebrate, celebrate” as he carried the crowd aloft with that danceable parable about the mayhem of alcoholism, “The Bottle,” but what the audience at the El Rey was truly celebrating was being back in the masterful presence of Gil Scott-Heron.

– Anthony Miller

Source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2009/10/live-review-gil-scottheron-at-the-el-rey.html

Update:

Gil Scott-Heron Signs to XL for His First Album in over a Decade
9/16/2009 By David Dacks

Maybe lightning will strike twice for XL Recordings. The venerable British indie label scored critical and commercial success with M.I.A.’s politically-charged musical eclecticism, so why not take a chance on a new album by one of the original iconoclasts of proto-hip-hop culture, Gil Scott-Heron? That’s exactly what the label is doing, inking a deal with Scott-Heron for his first album since 1994.

According to NME, the record will be entitled I’m New Here and XL confirms that it will be ready for release in early 2010.

This decade, Scott-Heron has been better known for personal troubles with drugs and the law than his music, which makes this some welcome, unexpected news. One of the most incisive lyricists of the ’70s shows that he still has literary skills in a four-song preview of the new record, which is free to listen to at imnewhere.net.

His voice, on the other hand, sounds significantly different — both his speech and singing voice have suffered and sound deeply weathered, which adds additional gravitas to the lyrics. As for sound, the advance tracks range from stark electronic loops to folksy acoustic guitar; Scott-Heron hasn’t lost his taste for diverse musical inspiration.

Content-wise, Scott-Heron recently told the BBC: “There’s some kindness, as well as some anger, there’s some disappointment, as well as some victories. You want to be 360 degrees. You want to see the point of view of people who stand at all different angles on that.”

NME reports that Scott-Heron has been working on the album in New York since his 2007 release from jail on parole for drug-related charges, and that he is working on an as-yet unpublished book, entitled The Last Holiday.

Source: http://www.exclaim.ca/articles/generalarticlesynopsfullart.aspx?csid1=115&csid2=844&fid1=41154

Michael Moore: Capitalism – A Love Story 2009

Oliver Stone’s South of the Border 2009

The postal workers’ fight is crucial for every worker, student, pensioner and unemployed person in Britain.

It is part of a much bigger war – over public services, jobs, union rights, and pay and conditions at work. It’s about who will be made to pay for the economic crisis.

A victory for the postal workers would show everyone else that resistance is possible and that workers can win. It would help develop the strength needed to beat back the assaults.

A defeat would encourage further attacks.

Pampered politicians, both Labour and Tory, are bidding to see who can force us to work the longest before claiming a measly state pension. They both want to slash billions of pounds from public spending while they lecture workers to accept redundancies, pay freezes and assaults on benefits.

Royal Mail bosses are out to cut thousands of jobs, and to bring in an army of casualised, part-time workers.

Tens of thousands of postal workers have already struck against such attacks. Now national action is on the cards – the result of a strike ballot is set to be announced this week.

Postal workers must not be left on their own to face the bosses, and the politicians that stand behind them. Their enemies in management, government and the media will unite in an effort to crush them. Our side must unite, so that we can win.

We need to create networks of solidarity in every area. Picket lines should be bolstered by delegations from local workplaces, universities and colleges. Donations and messages of support must flood in to the strikers.

The whole movement must swing behind the members of the CWU union when mass pickets are needed to stop management’s ­scabbing operation.

The resistance at workplaces such as Visteon, Linamar, Lindsey oil refinery, Vestas, Leeds bins and Tower Hamlets College has given new hope to the working class.

Now everyone needs to help deliver a national victory for the postal workers.

The following should be read alongside this article:
» ‘Let’s beat the post bosses with hard-hitting strikes’
» Unionised Royal Mail union-busters
» Solidarity appeal: Everyone must back our battle for a public service
» Diary of a postal striker in the north: History lessons
» Massive yes vote for national post strike

© Socialist Worker (unless otherwise stated). You may republish if you include an active link to the original.

News International announced last week that it planned to close its afternoon freesheet, the London Paper having lost £12.9m in year to end of June 2008. The last edition will likely be printed on September 18th 2009.

The announcement signals an end to the London freesheet wars, which began almost exactly three years ago in August 2006.

Bala Fria says:

“Good riddance! September 18th 2009 will truly be a day to celebrate.

It is scary when you climb onto an underground train and see almost every person in the carriage reading one of these free papers. It echoes of George Orwell’s 1984 and thought control.

Now we just need the London Lite and Metro to disappear from the streets!’

See earlier article The London Paper

(Laugh? I nearly cried!!…)

James Murdoch, The Chairman and Chief Executive for Europe and Asia of News Corporation and son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, speaking last week at the Edinburgh International Television Festival attacked the BBC and its online expansion claiming it is a threat to “independent journalism”, and called for an “overhaul of regulation”.

Mr Murdoch also said in his lecture that the BBC is “dominant” and that its “income is guaranteed and growing.”…

Below is a comprehensive (but not exhaustive) country by country list of all Rupert Murdoch’s media holdings:

Books

• HarperCollins book publishing company
  • HarperCollins India (40%)^{[clarification needed]} joint venture with India Today Group
• Zondervan Christian book publisher
  • Youth Specialties – organisation helping youth workers worldwide through training seminars and conventions, resources and the internet.
  • Inspirio – religious gift production.

Newspapers

• Australia published by News Limited.
  • The Australian (Nationwide)
  • Community Media Group (16 QLD & NSW suburban/regional titles)
  • Cumberland-Courier Newspapers (26 suburban/commuter titles)
  • The Courier-Mail (Queensland)
  • The Sunday Mail (Queensland)
  • The Cairns Post (Cairns, Queensland)
  • The Gold Coast Bulletin (Gold Coast, Queensland)
  • The Townsville Bulletin (Townsville, Queensland)
  • The Daily Telegraph (New South Wales)
  • The Sunday Telgraph (New South Wales)
  • Herald Sun (Victoria)
  • Sunday Herald Sun (Victoria)
  • The Weekly Times (Victoria)
  • Leader Newspapers (33 suburban Melbourne, VIC titles)
  • MX (Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane CBD)
  • The Geelong Advertiser (Geelong, Victoria)
  • The Advertiser (South Australia)
  • The Sunday Mail (South Australia)
  • Messenger Newspapers (11 suburban Adelaide, SA titles)
  • The Sunday Times (Western Australia)
  • The Mercury (Tasmania)
  • Quest Newspapers (19 suburban Brisbane, QLD titles)
  • The Sunday Tasmanian (Tasmania)
  • Northern Territory News (Northern Territory)
  • The Sunday Territorian (Northern Territory)
  • The Tablelands Advertiser (Atherton Tablelands and the Far North, Queensland)
• Fiji
  • Fiji Times (National)
  • Nai Lalakai
  • Shanti Dut
• Papua New Guinea
  • Papua New Guinea Post-Courier (National)(62.5%)
• UK and Ireland newspapers, published by subsidiaries of News International Ltd.
  • News Group Newspapers Ltd.
    • the tabloid The Sun (published in Ireland as The Irish Sun)
    • the tabloid News of the World
  • Times Newspapers Ltd.
    • the broadsheet The Sunday Times
    • the ‘ex-broadsheet‘ (Now in compact form) The Times
    • The Times Literary Supplement
  • NI Free Newspapers Ltd.
    • the free newspaper thelondonpaper
• US newspapers and magazines
  • The New York Post
  • Dow Jones & Company
    • Consumer Media Group
      • The Wall Street Journal – the leading US financial newspaper.
      • Wall Street Journal Europe
      • Wall Street Journal Asia
      • Barron’s – weekly financial markets magazine.
      • Marketwatch – Financial news and information website.
      • Far Eastern Economic Review
    • Enterprise Media Group
      • Dow Jones Newswires – global, real-time news and information provider.
      • Factiva – provides business news and information together with content delivery tools and services.
      • Dow Jones Indexes – stock market indexes and indicators, including the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
      • Dow Jones Financial Information Services – produces databases, electronic media, newsletters, conferences, directories, and other information services on specialised markets and industry sectors.
      • Betten Financial News – leading Dutch language financial and economic news service.
    • Local Media Group
      • Ottoway Community Newspapers – 8 daily and 15 weekly regional newspapers.
    • STOXX (33%)- joint venture with Deutsche Boerse and SWG Group for the development and distribution of Dow Jones STOXX indices.
    • Vedomosti (33%) – Russia’s leading financial newspaper (joint venture with Financial Times and Independent Media).
    • SmartMoney (50%)
  • The Timesledger Newspapers of Queens, New York:
    • Bayside Times, Whitestone Times, Flushing Times, Fresh Meadows Times, Little Neck Ledger, Jackson Heights Times, Richmond Hill Times, Jamaica Times, Laurelton Times, Queens Village Times, Astoria Times, Forest Hills Ledger, Ridgewood Ledger, Howard Beach Times
  • The Courier-Life Newspapers in Brooklyn
  • The Brooklyn Paper
  • Caribbean Life
  • The Times-Herald Record (Middletown, New York)

Magazines

• News America Marketing (Smartsource) (weekly Sunday newspaper coupon insert/website)
• Australian
  • Alpha Magazine
  • Australian Country Style
  • Australian Golf Digest
  • Australian Good Taste
  • Big League
  • BCME
  • Delicious
  • Donna Hay
  • Fast Fours
  • GQ (Australia)
  • Gardening Australia
  • InsideOut (Aust)
  • Lifestyle Pools
  • Live to Ride
  • Notebook
  • Overlander 4WD
  • Modern Boating
  • Modern Fishing
  • Parents
  • Pure Health
  • Super Food Ideas
  • Truck Australia
  • Truckin’ Life
  • twowheels
  • twowheels scooter
  • Vogue (Australia)
  • Vogue Entertaining & Travel
  • Vogue Living
• InsideOut (UK Based Magazine)

Music and radio

• MySpace Records
• India
  • Radio City (India radio station)(20%)held through STAR TV- commercial FM network with stations in 20 cities.
• Russia
  • Nashe (50%)
  • Best FM (50%)
• Fox Film Music Group

Sport

• 50% of the National Rugby League (Australia and New Zealand)
• Majority ownership of the Brisbane Broncos (68.9%) and, full ownership of the Melbourne Storm rugby league team.
• Colorado Rockies (15%)

Studios

• Fox Filmed Entertainment: 20th Century Fox’s parent company
• 20th Century Fox: a film production company
• 20th Century Fox Television – primetime television programming.
• 20th Television – television distribution (syndication).
• Fox Searchlight Pictures – specialised films.
• Fox 2000 Pictures – general audience feature films.
• Fox Television Studios(productions)- market specific programming eg. COPS.
• Fox Television Studios International
  • Fox World Productions
  • Fox World Australia
  • Fox TV Studios France
  • Fox TV Studios India
  • Natural History New Zealand – natural world documentaries, non-fiction programming.
• Fox Atomic – produces theatrical films, comics, and digital content targeting the 17-24 year olds. Aiming to produce/acquire eight films per year over a range of genres, specifically action and horror
• Fox Faith – Promotion and distribution of Christian and related “family friendly” movies on DVD and some theatrical release.
• Fox Studios Australia, Sydney, New South Wales
• Blue Sky Studios – production of CGI films eg. Ice Age.
• Fox Entertainment Group
• New Regency Productions (20%) – general audience feature films.
• Regency Enterprises (20%) – parent company of New Regency Productions (50%).

TV

News Corp agreed to sell eight of its television stations to Oak Hill Capital Partners for approximately $1.1 billion as of 22 December 2007. The stations are US Fox affiliates.^[18]

Broadcast

• Fox Broadcasting Company (FOX), a US broadcast television network
• My Network TV, a US broadcast television network
• Fox Television Stations Group, a group of owned and operated Fox television stations
• Saeta TV Channel 10, channel of Uruguay
• ITV plc (17.5%), a British broadcast television network and the UK’s largest advertising revenue based broadcaster via BSkyB, although a recent legal decision will require this stake to be cut.
• News Corp Europe
  • bTV, a broadcast television network in Bulgaria
  • B1 TV (12,5%), a broadcast television network in Romania, in partnership with Ismar International NVkkkk
  • Fox Televizija, a broadcast television network in Serbia (49%)
  • Fox Turkey, a Turkish terrestrial channel (56,5%) (formerly TGRT)
  • Imedi Media Holding (100%), a Georgian radio and TV broadcaster.
    • Imedi Television
    • Radio Imedi
  • Israel 10 (9%), a terrestrial channel in Israel.
  • LNT (100%), a terrestrial channel in Latvia
  • TV5 Riga (100%), a terrestrial channel in Latvia
• ANTV (20%), a private television station in Indonesia, under the administration and label of STAR TV
• Prime Television New Zealand – commercial TV station, interest held through stake in SKY Network Television

Satellite television

• BSkyB, United Kingdom (39.1% holding).
• Foxtel (25%), Australia, a joint venture with Telstra and Publishing and Broadcasting Limited
• SKY Network Television , New Zealand (44%)
• Sky Italia, Italian satellite TV service
• Fox Channels Italy, Italian Broadcast and Production Company (with 2 HDTV)
• Sky Latin America, Latin American satellite TV service
• Sky Deutschland (39.96%), Germany’s largest pay TV provider
• STAR TV, an Asian satellite TV service having 300 million viewers in 53 countries (it acquired Vijay TV and Asianet, two prominent south indian networks)
• Phoenix Television (17.6%), satellite TV network with landing rights in Hong Kong, and select provinces on Mainland China
• Tata Sky (20%), an Indian DTH TV service (in partnership with Tata Group)

Cable

Cable channels owned (in whole or part) and operated by News Corporation include:

• Fox Business Network, a business news channel.
• Fox Classics, a channel airing classic TV shows & movies
• Fox Movie Channel, an all-movie channel that airs commercial-free movies from 20th Century Fox film library
• Fox News Channel, a 24-hour news channel
• Fox Reality, a ‘Reality TV‘-themed channel
• Fox Sports Net, a chain of US regional cable television networks broadcasting local sporting events linked together by national sports news programming. Local channels include “Fox Sports Southwest“, “Fox Sports Detroit“, etc. (some affiliates are owned by Cablevision).
  • SportSouth, a regional sports network in the United States, with its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, and affiliate of Fox Sports Net.
  • Sun Sports a regional sports network in the United States, with its headquarters in Miami, Florida, and affiliate of Fox Sports Net.
• Fox College Sports, a college sports network consisting of three regionally-aligned channels, mostly with archived Fox Sports Net programs but also some live and original content.
• Fox Sports International
  • Fox Soccer Channel, a United States digital cable network specializing mainly in soccer.
  • Fox Sports Middle East – English language sports network airing in Middle East countries including Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, UAE & Yemen.
  • Fox Pan American Sports (37.9%) – joint venture with Hicks, Muse, and Tate & Furst.
    • Fox Sports en Español (50%), a Spanish-language North American cable sports network; its sports lineup is tailored to appeal to a Latin American audience.
    • Fox Sports en Latinoamérica, a Mexico-based Latin American satellite and cable sports network.
• FX Networks, a cable network broadcasting reruns of programming previously shown on other channels, but recently creating its own programming, including the Emmy Award-winning programs The Shield and Damages.
• SPEED Channel
• FUEL TV
• Big Ten Network, cable and satellite channel dedicated to The Big Ten Conference, launched Aug 2007 (49%)
• National Geographic Channel (joint venture with National Geographic Magazine) 67%
• National Geographic Channel International 75%
• Fox International Channels, domestic cable channels offering different formats of Fox programming in over thirty countries worldwide.
  • Fox
  • Fox Life
  • Fox Life HD
  • Fox Crime
  • FX
  • Fox Horror
  • Fox Movies
  • Fox Sports
  • Speed Channel
  • National Geographic Channel
  • National Geographic Channel HD
  • National Geographic Wild
  • National Geographic Adventure
  • National Geographic Music
  • National Geographic Junior
  • Cult
  • Next:HD
  • Voyage
  • Real Estate TV
  • BabyTV
  • Fox Toma 1 – Spanish language television production.
  • Fox Telecolombia – Spanish language television production. (51%)
  • Utarget.Fox – European and Latin American online ad company, plus now handles TV ad sales.
• Latin America
  • Fox Latin American Channels – channels available in over 17 countries in Latin America
    • Baby TV
    • Canal FOX
    • Canal FX
    • Canal Fox Life
    • Canal Fox Reality
    • Canal Fox Sports
    • Canal Speed
    • Canal National Geographic Channel
    • Fox One-Stop Media – advertising sales for company owned and third party channels in Latin America
  • LAPTV (22.5%) (Latin American Pay Television) operates 8 cable movie channels throughout South America excluding Brazil.
    • Movie City
    • Cine Canal
    • Cine Canal Classics
    • City Vibe
    • City Mix
    • The Film Zone
    • Movie City HD
    • Movie City On Demand
  • Telecine(12.5%) operates 5 cable movie channels in Brazil.
    • Telecine Premium
    • Telecine Action
    • Telecine Light
    • Telecine Pipoca
    • Telecine Cult
• Australia
  • Premier Media Group (50%)
    • Fox Sports One
    • Fox Sports Two
    • Fox Sports Three
    • FoxSportsNews
    • FUEL TV (Australia)
    • How To Channel
  • Premium Movie Partnership (20%) – movie channels, a joint venture between 20th Century Fox, Sony Universal Pictures, Paramount and Liberty Media
    • Showtime 1 & 2
    • Showtime Greats

PLATFORMS

• India
  • Hathway Cable & Datacom (22.2%), India’s 2nd largest cable network through 7 cities including Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai & Pune
• Taiwan
  • Total TV (20%), Pay TV platform with JV partner KOO’s Group majority owner (80%). News Corp also has a 20% interest in the KOO’s Group directly

Internet

• Fox Interactive Media
  • Foxsports.com – website with sports news, scores, statistics, video and fantasy sports
  • MySpace – Social networking website, general interest website acquired through purchase from Intermix Media
  • MySpace TV, a video site which will host amateur videos, contents from net and studios that competes with Google’s YouTube
  • Photobucket – Photo sharing website.
  • Beliefnet – Largest online faith and spirituality network.
  • Hulu (45%) – online video download site in partnership with NBC Universal and The Walt Disney Company.
  • Flektor – provides Web-based tools for photo and video editing and mashups.
  • IGN Entertainment – Internet entertainment portal (Includes the sites IGN, GameSpy, Rotten Tomatoes, TeamXbox, and Askmen.com)
  • Slingshot Labs – web development incubator (Includes the sites DailyFill).
  • Strategic Data Corp – interactive advertising company which develops technology to deliver targeted internet advertising.
  • Scout.com
  • WhatIfSports.com – sports simulation and prediction website. Also provides fantasy-style sports games to play.
• Indya.com – ‘India’s no. 1 Entertainment Portal’
• ROO Group Inc (5% increasing to 10% with performance targets)
• News Digital Media
  • News.com.au – Australian-oriented news website
    • News Lab
  • CareerOne.com.au (50%) – recruitment advertisement website in partnership with Monster Worldwide.
  • CarsGuide.com.au
  • in2mobi.com.au
  • TrueLocal.com.au
  • Moshtix.com.au
  • Learning Seat
  • Netus (75%) – investment co. in online properties.
• REA Group (60.7%)
  • Realestate.com.au
  • Casa.it (69.4%), Sky Italia also holds a 30.6% share
  • atHome group, operator of leading realestate websites in Luxembourg, France, Belgium and Germany.
    • Altowin (51%),provider of office management tools for realestate agents in Belgium.
  • Propertyfinder.com (50%), News International holds the remaining 50%
    • Sherlock Publications, owner of hotproperty.co.uk portal and magazine titles ‘Hot Property’, ‘Renting’ and ‘Overseas’
    • ukpropertyshop.co.uk, most comprehensive UK estate agent directory.
  • PropertyLook, property websites in Australia and New Zealand.
  • HomeSite.com.au, home renovation and improvement website.
  • Square Foot Limited, Hong Kong’s largest English Language property magazine and website
    • Primedia – Holding co. of Inside DB, a Hong Kong lifestyle magazine.
• TadpoleNet Media (10%) Hosts of ArmySailor.com
• New Zealand
  • DVD Unlimited – leading online DVD subscription service (ownership through stake in Sky Network Television).

Other assets

• NDS – Conditional access technology and personal digital video recorders (PVRs) (49%)
  • Jungo
  • Timothy Coville
  • ITE, publisher of Playstation and Mobile games, and interactive television
  • Orbis Technology, supplier of online gambling software
• Broadsystem Ltd (UK) – Telephony provider for media companies, bought in 1991
• Broadsystem Australia (Australia)
• Broadsystem Ventures (UK) – provider of cheap-rate telephone calls, particularly for customers of Sky Television. Bought outright in 1999.
• Jamba! – Mobile Entertainment/Mobile Handsets Personalisation/Games.
• News Outdoor Group – Largest outdoor advertising company in Eastern Europe with over 70,000 ads including billboards and bus shelters, operating in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, India, Israel, Poland, Romania, Russia (96 cities), Turkey & Ukraine.
  • Maximedia Israel (67%)
  • Mosgorreklama (50%) – Russia sign and marketing material manufacturer
  • Kamera Acikhava Reklamclik (?) – leading outdoor advertising company in Turkey
• Australian Associated Press (45%) – real time news service.
• Stats Inc (50%) – worlds leading provider of sporting information and statistical analysis (a JV with Associated Press)
• Fox Sports Grill (50%) – Upscale sports bar and restaurant with 7 locations – Scottsdale, Arizona; Irvine, California; Seattle, Washington; Plano, Texas; Houston, Texas; San Diego, California; and Atlanta, Georgia.
• Fox Sports Skybox (70%) – Sports fan’s Bar & Grill at Staples Center and 6 airport restaurants.
• News America Marketing (US) – (100%) – nation’s leading marketing services company, products include a portfolio of in-store, home-delivered and online media under the SmartSource brand.

Did someone say monopoly????

See:

Murdoch’s War on Journalism

Inside The World of Rupert Murdoch

Boycott Murdoch’s Media Monopoly!

The London Paper

John Richard Pilger is an Australian journalist and documentary maker. He has twice won Britain’s Journalist of the Year Award, and his documentaries have received academy awards in Britain and the US.

See also:

• Murdoch’s War on Journalism
• Propaganda, the Press, Censorship and Resisting the American Empire
• The Rising of Latin America – The Genesis of the ‘War on Democracy’
• The War on Democracy by John Pilger
• War By Media
• Stealing  A Nation – The Story of Diego Garcia and the Chagossian People
• The Truth Game

By the author: “The goal of giving form to a complex situation like the credit crisis is to quickly supply the essence of the situation to those unfamiliar and uninitiated. This project was completed as part of my thesis work in the Media Design Program, a graduate studio at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. For more on my broader thesis work exploring the use of new media to make sense of a increasingly complex world.”

See http://www.crisisofcredit.com

To watch this short animation in HD click here http://www.vimeo.com/3261363

The Colombian government has agreed to grant US forces the use of three Colombian military bases for South American anti-drug operations. The move has heightened tensions between Colombia, the largest recipient of US military aid in the Americas, and its neighbors, particularly Venezuela and Ecuador. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez warned that the US Army could invade his country from Colombia.

Clip courtesy of Democracy Now

Venezuela’s President blamed the CIA for the coup in Honduras

President Hugo Chávez urged his US counterpart Barack Obama’s Administration to stop shilly-shallying and condemn the coup d’état against Honduran President Manuel Zelaya.

During his weekly radio and TV program Aló Presidente (Hello President) last Sunday, Chávez avoided holding the US ruler responsible for the events in Honduras. He rather pointed to “the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the US Department of State and the Pentagon,” Efe reported.

Chávez claimed that if Obama moved to withdraw the US troops from the Honduran military base of Palmerola, revoke the visas and seize the properties that the members of the de facto government own in the United States, the situation for the coup leaders would become untenable.

Obama “is not going to trick us with an ambiguous discourse or with a smile,” warned Chávez. He added that Obama wants to be seen “as a peaceful dove, as an innocent lamb.”

The Venezuelan ruler said that he would rather deal with former US President George W. Bush than with Obama. In Chávez’s words, “you better face the head of the empire assuming his role as such, than face someone who is off and on.”

Chávez recalled that US President John F. Kennedy was killed by US “imperial” forces. “I hope they do not kill Obama, because Obama is biting off more than he can chew.”

Furthermore, the Venezuelan ruler admitted that he has “talked with several Honduran military officers.” He said that he knows that middle and low rank officers in the Honduran Army are unhappy with the current situation. Therefore, Chávez predicted that Zelaya would return to his country.

“Zelaya will return to his country. The government of Honduras will decide whether to kill him or not. He is willing to die,” the Venezuelan Head of State said.

Finally, he drew the attention of the de facto government about the arrest of a group of Venezuelan journalists in Honduras. Chávez said that “if anything happens” to the staff of the Venezuelan TV channels who are currently working in Honduras, the de facto authorities shall take responsibility for their actions.

Chávez added that despite the US military power, political changes in Latin America will not cease.

“The process of change in Latin America is not going to stop, President Obama. You can send the Fourth and the Sixth Fleet, or the world’s largest bombers, but changes will not end,” Chávez said.

Translated by Gerardo Cárdenas

Source: El Universal

Call centre workers from across Britain came together at a meeting at last month’s CWU conference. The meeting was unlike most others at the conference, with many of the participants far younger than the average delegate, and most at firms that do not recognise the union.

Nevertheless, the picture of how activists are recruiting included stories of great creativity in the face of bosses that are determined to keep call centres union-free zones.

For obvious reasons, activists’ names have been changed.

“Four years ago the very mention of the word ‘union’ would have got you targeted by management,” said Tracy, who works for a major mobile phone company in the west of England.

“But today the atmosphere is very different. We walk around the building with our company ID badges on CWU ribbons around our necks.

“We really got up and running when we decided to set up a formal committee among the activists. From there we could plan our next move on recruitment, but we also started working out how we could represent people when they were facing disciplinaries.

“Now the company is forced to deal with the union, whether they like it or not. And believe me they don’t.”

Julie, who works at the same call centre, has recently become the young members’ officer of her union branch. She talked about the specific problems facing young workers.

“It can be really intimidating when you are trying to deal with a manager who is 30 years older than you,” she said. “But the union provides a counter-weight.

“You know that you have people behind you, people you can get good advice from. That makes you feel strong enough to stand up for yourself and others.”

Others in the session talked about the way the union is engaging with new media in order to get its message across.

“I found out about the union from a friend on Facebook,” said a young worker at a major telephone directory service in Wales. “From there I started getting hold of union material and handing it around at work.

“Now I’m known as the ‘union man’ and people are always coming to me with their problems. When they do, I tell them that we need a union and I ask them to join.”

Graham, who works for a mobile phone company in the north of England, explained that half the challenge of building the union is being able to start small and deal with setbacks.

“A few of us decided the union should organise a social event,” he said. “The first was not very good – only four people turned up. That could have left us feeling despondent, but it didn’t.

“I said to the people who came, there might not be many here but we don’t know the effect we’ve had on people just by trying to make the event happen.”

Graham was right. Returning to work after the social he realised that he had become a well-known figure around his office.

Many of his colleagues started seeking his advice about workplace matters and asked for representation in meetings with management. From that point on the union started to grow.

Other activists in the session talked about how they’d used similar tactics, and as a result had engaged with lots of younger workers on political subjects.

Collection

One described how in her workplace charity collections were a regular occurrence. She had decided to do one too – using literature from the CWU’s humanitarian aid. It was the first time a union-endorsed leaflet had ever been distributed at her office.

She told the meeting how taking a collection meant getting into lots of discussions with her colleagues about Third World debt, the threat to the environment and racism.

The process made the CWU seem relevant to many who are politically minded but did not instantly see the union as having something to offer them.

It also gave the union a “legitimate” means of getting a profile in a workplace where simply issuing union leaflets would have got you the sack.

Everyone who spoke in the session had faced management intimidation. Some had even been sacked and only returned to work after serious union campaigning.

But the determination of the activists shows two things very clearly – first, there are no “no-go zones” for the unions, and second, management intimidation may hold collective organisation back for a time, but it cannot do so indefinitely.

The following should be read alongside this article:
» Fighting for the union in call centres
» Fighting union-busting: ‘Carphone won’t cut off the union’

Source: http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=18376

© Socialist Worker (unless otherwise stated). You may republish if you include an active link to the original.

Hiromi Uehara (上原ひろみ, born 26 March 1979) is a jazz composer and pianist born in Hamamatsu, Japan. She is known for her virtuosic technique, energetic live performances and blend of musical genres such as jazz, progressive rock, classical and fusion in her compositions.

Hiromi started learning classical piano at age 5. She was introduced to jazz by her piano teacher Noriko Hakita when she was 8. At age 14, she played with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. When she was 17, she met Chick Corea by chance in Tokyo, and was invited to play with him at his concert the very next day. After being a jingle writer for a few years for Japanese companies such as Nissan, she enrolled to study at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. There, she was mentored by Ahmad Jamal and had already signed with jazz label Telarc before her graduation.

Since her debut in 2003, Hiromi has toured the world and appeared in numerous jazz festivals. She will be performing live at the 2009 edition of the TD Canada Trust Toronto Jazz Festival on June 29th. She performed in London on 10th July at the Barbican, City of London.

For more information on Hiromi Uehara see

• Official web
• Official web (Japanese)
• Official Hiromi Fanclub
• Hiromi Uehara wikipedia page
• HiromiJazz An unofficial website about Hiromi with news, CD reviews, interviews and a discussion forum.
• Hiromi Uehara Tour Dates at Telarc
• Hiromi Uehara at MySpace
• In-depth Hiromi interview with Anil Prasad of Innerviews
• Tony Grey
• Dave Fiuczynski
• Martin Valihora
• Keyboard Magazine – The Upward Spiral
• Live Performing Spain with Chick Corea

Source: Youtube & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiromi_Uehara

This is a ten minute excerpt from the Cuban documentary ‘Fidelity’. The film offers an  insight into Cuban life from the perspective of the people. A fascinating portrait of a complicated society, balanced precariously between past and future, revolution and capitalist penetration.

Whilst the international press speculates on the imminent death of Fidel Castro and the Cuban community of Miami is already celebrating his funeral, on the island the condition of his health is a state secret.

As the umbilical cord that ties every Cuban to the revolution is beginning to be severed, a new energy is emerging in the country. An ex-fighter of the Sierra, a television actress, a gigolo, a young ballet dancer, the custodian of a church and many other Cubans give voice to the moods, aspirations and fears of the islands people – the old warn against the risks of the penetration of imperialism, whilst the young dream of a freer society, economically efficient and open.

The film will be showing next Wednesday 15th July at the Barbican in the City of London as part of the Cine Cuba film festival.

For more information see

http://barbican.org.uk/film/event-detail.asp?ID=9374

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Here is the final timetable for Marxism 2009 with full details of speakers and meetings.

If you are looking to attend some of these workshops and meetings here is some useful information.

Location

Marxism takes place in Bloomsbury, a quiet and leafy part of central London. Tube stations are close by, and all the venues are within walking distance of each other. Here is a map with details.

Tickets and Box Office

Royal National Hotel, Alexandra A, South Wing
A ticket office will be open during Marxism where tickets can be bought for the whole event and for individual days and sessions. You can also collect pre-paid tickets.

Ticket upgrades and Cultures of Resistance
You can upgrade your day or session ticket to a full ticket simply by paying the difference at the box office. You can also get tickets for the Cultures of Resistance gig on Monday night.

Box office opening times
Thurs: 12 noon – 10pm
Fri, Sat and Sun: 9:15am – 9pm

Extra Box Office

Friends Meeting House
Opening night: 6pm – 9.30pm
Mon: 9:15am – 3:30pm

There will be an extra box office open at Friends Meeting House outside the main hall on the opening night and final day of Marxism.

Accommodation Office

Royal National Hotel, Alexandra A, South Wing
If you need to find out where you are staying or have any queries relating to your accommodation visit us during the following times:

Thurs: 12 noon – 10pm
Fri: 9:15am – 9pm
Sat and Sun: 9:15am – 10:30am and 5 – 7pm
Mon: 1 – 2pm (At Friends Meeting House)

Outside opening hours:
If you have any accommodation queries outside office hours call or text James on 07766 516 166.

Crèche

Thurs and Mon:
We will be running a crèche for under fives only.

From Thursday to Sunday the crèche will be in the Institute of Education.
Children up to 18 months: Committee Room 4, IE
Children 18 months to 5 years: Elvin Hall, IE
Children 5 to 11 years: Drama Studio, IE (Not Thursday)

On Monday the crèche will be in Friends Meeting House
Children up to 18 months: Room 2, Friends
Children 18 months to 5 years: Room 3, Friends

Crèche opening times:
Fri, Sat and Sun (all children, in Institute of Education):
Morning 9.45am – 1pm
Afternoon 1.45 – 5pm
Evening 6.45 – 8.45pm

Mon (under 5s, in Friends Meeting House):
9:45 am – 1:15pm and 1:45 – 3:30pm

Kids’ Activities

Michael Rosen presents “Socialists Have Kids Too!” for adults and kids at 5:30pm on Saturday in the Jeffery Hall. There will be other activities for children in the crèche.

Outdoor cinema

A new addition to this year’s Marxism! Weather permitting, films will be shown on the balcony of the Institute students’ union. Look out for posters and leaflets around Marxism for more information.
Fri, Sat & Sun evenings, Institute students’ union balcony

Refreshments

SOAS
Bar: 5pm until late, Thursday – Sunday
Hot food: 5 – 7pm, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Delicious Ugandan food provided by SOAS Detainee Support Group.

Institute of Education
Hot food and snacks: Institute Students’ Union Cafe
8am – 7:30pm every day.
Bar: Thurs, Fri, Sat 11am – 12 midnight; Sun 12 noon – 10.30pm.

Marxism Team

If you have any problems during Marxism 2009, please approach a member of the Marxism team – they can be identified by their distinctive T-shirts.

Meeting Places

There are regional meeting places so you can arrange to meet friends and comrades from particular areas, and where picnics will be held. Look out for posters advertising the meet-ups for your area or ask a member of the Marxism Team for help finding people.

Prayer Room

SOAS Islamic Society will kindly be hosting the prayer room at Marxism 2009. The women’s prayer room is located on the Brunei Gallery first floor. The men’s is in the main SOAS building basement.

Cloakroom

A cloakroom will be available in the North wing of the Royal National Hotel.

Wheelchair Access

All venues are wheelchair accessible.

For more information see http://www.marxismfestival.org.uk/

In the first military coup in Central America in a quarter of a century, the Honduran military has ousted the democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya. Former Parliamentary speaker Roberto Micheletti, who was sworn in as Zelaya’s replacement on Sunday, has imposed a two-day nationwide curfew. But hundreds of Zelaya supporters remain on the streets, and shots were fired at protesters near the presidential palace early Monday morning.

See latest from Democracy Now