Tuning Out the Left

Posted by Scott - June 18, 2007 (entry 551)

wood chipper machine Tuning Out the Left
Your TV might have 500 channels, but media consolidation has all but guaranteed that progressive, alternative channels like Free Speech TV are not among them | By Mindy Farabee


Free Speech TV accepts neither corporate sponsors nor government funding. A rabidly independent national news and arts outlet, the network is one of the few places to watch the video component of Amy Goodman’s popular radio show Democracy Now! – a sitting-in-the-studio affair that gives the radio experience a fuller context and encapsulates FSTV’s progressive stance. But Goodman’s political Molotov cocktails are just one weapon in FSTV’s eclectic guerilla approach. On any given day, viewers can tune into a smorgasbord of you-won’t-see-this-anywhere-else fare, be it installments from its Monkeywrench Cinema series of experimental short films, a documentary in which lefty investigative journalist Greg Palast connects the dots between the White House and California’s recent energy crisis, or in-depth news analysis from a gay and lesbian perspective.

FSTV bills itself as the only national progressive network in the country, and there was a time when it was readily available in Los Angeles. This was back in the 1990s, when the Denver-based station was aptly called The 90s Channel and carried by cable provider United. But in 1992, a company called TCI bought out United and, suddenly and without explanation, made clear its desire to shut The 90s Channel down...

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