I'm still enjoying going though documentaries from the local video store. Mostly the DVDs from the Media Education Foundation (MEF). I thought The Myth of the Liberal Media: The Propaganda Model of News (1997) was good although I did notice the dating on the examples from the first term Clinton presidency. With interviews featuring Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman, it examines the pressures and filters through which "news" goes before reaching the consumer. Favorite factoid: approximate percentages of revenue from advertising for different media. For magazines, 50%; for newspapers, 80%; and for television, virtually 100%. With that sort of advertising pressure on TV, I'm surprised they do anything except entertainment programing. Or do they?

I also watched No Logo: Brands, Globalization & Resistance (2003)featuring Naomi Klein. This quote sums some of it up: "Analyzing how brands like Nike,The Gap, and Tommy Hilfiger became revered symbols worldwide, Klein argues that globalization is a process whereby corporations discovered that profits lay not in making products (outsourced to low-wage workers in developing countries), but in creating branded identities people adopt in their lifestyles." I especially liked the point about mall space being faux common space, designed to appear like it's a town square but with very specific restrictions on what can be done there (i.e., no pickets, strikers, freedom of speech, etc.) If it interferes with the shopping experience, it's not allowed.