This week's video script!

If you really want to be a 'comrade', you might want to share these scripts in a more secure, generic format like ODF (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenDocument), instead of the proprietary Microsoft one. 😉 Seriously, though, I'm glad you're covering this issue. I was only recently having an argument on Twitter about it. I skimmed over some sections of the script, but it looks good overall—I assume you mean mega-corporations, and not MAGA-corporations. 😉 (Then again, is there really any difference?) But in case it gives you ideas for more things to cover, I thought I'd share my experiences and opinions. I do find the corporate bent in US media quite striking. You might want to mention that even NPR and PBS, the closest thing the US has to networks like the ABC, BBC and CBC, need to have local stations 'underwritten' by corporations and large donors. I personally do trust the journalistic integrity of NPR and PBS, but they do champion capitalism rather one-sidedly. (I don't know if any system could work better than capitalism per se, but it needs to be regulated to benefit humanity, and a lot of harm has been done as it's broken from its shackles in recent decades. And if the media doesn't discuss alternatives, people are far less likely to even consider them.) Even if you don't trust state-owned media to be impartial, they can at least provide an alternative narrative. And, in practice, the ABC bites the hand that feeds it all the time, even as the current right-wing government has cut its funding in real terms, and applied pressure to stack the board with people sympathetic to its view. Everything I've heard about the ABC, NZBC, SABC and CBC is that they're quite impartial and independent. Some of my UK friends are dubious about the BBC's impartiality, though. Alternative media exist, of course, such as the Pacifica radio network here in the US, public access television (which I'm pretty sure is bigger in the US than other countries), and radio stations funded by listener sponsorship and universities. But the broadcasting range of these stations is very small in the US, and they're not nearly as popular as in Australia, Canada and Europe. Even NPR stations are unrecognisable in great swaths of the US, where they only play classical music and a handful of news programmes, not all the content I'm used to hearing in larger US cities. Anyhow, I hope my ramblings are helpful for you, even though I've mainly been talking about radio, and 90% of my experience has been with the US and Australia. P.S: If you're interested in hearing what truly noncommercial radio is like, you can stream stations like 2SER, FBI, 3RRR and 4ZZZ from Australia, along with ABC stations like Triple J and Radio National. A lot of my friends who live near the Canadian border in the US like to listen to CBC stations, too. I suspect you'll find them quite refreshing.

Mik Scheper