As I write, Democracy Now is pouring words into my ears. More and more people are seeking other news sources than the prime TV channels and the local newspapers and radio, so often owned by the same entities, which have the same goal: keep Americans lobotomized and pablum-fed. I recently read that Amy Goodman's radio news shows is being picked up by more and more radio stations, public access tv, direct tv, and, of course, streaming on the web.
Monday morning the show included excerpts of Bill Moyers' closing address to the National Conference on Media Reform on May 15, 2005, held in St. Louis, Missouri. I heard most of it and Moyers did not hold back from speaking truth to power, describing the past half century of change in the ways of public media and journalism and calling on his American listeners to Take Public Broadcasting Back!
If you didn't watch the PBS's NOW show when Moyers hosted it, you missed what became the highlight of my week...an hour of Bill's superb interviewing, probing, giving voice to a pantheon of viewpoints and digging into tragedies and travesties. His commentaries at the conclusion of some of the programs were always pungent and precise, and I always agreed with them. I've not forgotten one program where he introduced Condoleezza Rice's cousin, a far more erudite and compassionate woman than Condi herself, who works to help those in need rather than bomb them, once again proving that genes don't always make the difference.
Please take some minutes and read the text of his speech which has been posted on CommonDreams.org: Bill Moyers' "Take Public Broadcasting Back".
I miss his presence on NOW. It's been cut to half an hour and David Brancaccio just doesn't create the same ambiance that Bill Moyers did.