CHICAGO MEDIA ACTION ALERT, October 9, 2004 http://www.chicagomediaaction.org ************************************************* ------------------ SAVE THE DATE !!! ----------------------- ----------- SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24th / 3:00 PM ---------------- ************************************************* TOPIC: A PRE-ELECTION TOWN HALL MEETING ON THE WAR IN IRAQ Why Didn't The Media Tell Us Everything They Knew? FEATURING: ********** The DOCUMENTARY FILM: ********** HIJACKING CATASTROPHE: 9/11, FEAR & THE SELLING OF AMERICAN EMPIRE; Narrated by Julian Bond; Directed by Sut Jhally & Jeremy Earp ***** A discussion panel including,COMMENTARY by: ***** - JOHN NICHOLS (author of highly acclaimed new book on VP Dick Cheney, "Dick: The Man Who Is President") - SALIM MUWAKKIL (journalist, In These Times, Chicago Tribune) - CLIFF KELLEY (radio talk show host, WVON-1450 AM & V103-FM) ********* DISCUSSION & DEBATE ********* An audience microphone for discussion & debate with the panel, working toward solutions to this ever-growing national crisis. WHEN: Sunday, OCTOBER 24TH, 2004 WHERE: 77 W. Washington Street The First United Methodist Church (THE CHICAGO TEMPLE) Chicago, IL (across the street from Daley Plaza Picasso sculpture.) TIME: 3:00 - 6:30 pm Film (68 minutes); Panel Commentary & Audience Questions / Comments Session (2 hours) ADMISSION: FREE (However, any donation attendees can afford to help cover expenses would be appreciated.) ************************************************* PRESS RELEASE: Chicago Media Action October1, 2004 http://www.chicagomediaaction.org ************************************************* CHICAGO MEDIA ACTION PRESENTS: A PRE-ELECTION TOWN HALL MEETING ON THE WAR IN IRAQ CHICAGO, Illinois - Chicago Media Action is inviting the entire community to a discussion and debate on the war in Iraq, entitled A PRE-ELECTION TOWN HALL MEETING ON THE WAR IN IRAQ, taking place on Sunday, October 24. The truth of how this situation evolved and the controversy over why the media failed to better inform the public on these issues will be highlighted. A one-hour documentary HIJACKING CATASTROPHE: 9/11, FEAR & THE SELLING OF AMERICAN EMPIRE will be shown. This groundbreaking film, narrated by Julian Bond and directed by Sut Jhally & Jeremy Earp, examines how a radical fringe of the Republican Party (Cheney, Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld,etc.) has used the trauma of the 9/11 terror attacks to advance a pre- existing agenda to radically transform American foreign policy while rolling back civil liberties and social programs at home [as described by Peter Phillips - see film reviews copied below]. A distinguished panel of experts will then provide commentary. These experts include John Nichols, Salim Muwakkil, and Cliff Kelley. - JOHN NICHOLS is Washington correspondent for The Nation magazine, one of the lead commentators in the documentary "Outfoxed" and a co-founder of the media reform group Free Press. His highly acclaimed new book on Vice President Dick Cheney, "Dick: The Man Who Is President" was released earlier this year. He is also the author of Jews for Buchanan, which examined the Florida vote recounting disaster of 2000, and co-author of two books with Robert W. McChesney, It's the Media, Stupid! (2000) and Our Media, Not Theirs (2002). - SALIM MUWAKKIL is a Senior Editor of In These Times magazine, an op-ed columnist for the Chicago Tribune and an Open Society Institute Criminal Justice Initiative Fellow. - CLIFF KELLEY, the panel moderator, has been active in Chicago's political arena for over 30 years. He is an attorney, political commentator and Chicago radio talk show host on WVON (1450 AM) and V103- FM. Following commentary from the panel, there will be a microphone available to the audience for discussion and debate of the evenings topic with the panelists. Chicago Media Action urges the public, including the Chicagoland college student population, to come, speak their mind on this issue, and work on solutions to this ever-growing national crisis. The Town Hall Meeting will be held at the Chicago Temple (77 W. Washington Street) at 3:00PM on Sunday, October 24, 2004. Admission is free, but donations will be welcomed. Please visit the CMA website at: http://www.chicagomediaaction.org or call (toll-free) 1-866-260-7198 for more information. ************************************************* REVIEWS OF THE FILM: Hijacking Catastrophe: 9/11, Fear & The Selling of American Empire Narrated by Julian Bond; Directed by Sut Jhally & Jeremy Earp (68 minutes) Hijacking Catastrophe: 9/11, Fear & the Selling of American Empire examines how a radical fringe of the Republican Party has used the trauma of the 9/11 terror attacks to advance a pre-existing agenda to radically transform American foreign policy while rolling back civil liberties and social programs at home. At the same time, the documentary argues that the Bush Administration has sold this radical and controversial plan for aggressive American military intervention by deliberately manipulating intelligence, political imagery, and the fears of the American people after 9/11. Narrated by Julian Bond, Hijacking Catastrophe features interviews with more than twenty prominent political observers,...who witnessed first-hand how the Bush Administration set up a sophisticated propaganda operation to link the anxieties generated by 9/11 to a pre- existing foreign policy agenda that included a preemptive war on Iraq. At its core, the film places the deceptions of the Bush Administration within the larger frame of questions seldom posed in the mainstream: What, exactly, is the agenda that drove the administration's pre-war deceptions? How is 9/11 being used to sell this agenda? And what are the stakes for America, Americans, and the world if this agenda succeeds in being fully implemented during a second Bush term? - PETER PHILLIPS - DIRECTOR PROJECT CENSORED Cheney, Wolfowitz, and Rumsfeld spent the Clinton years hanging out together at this think tank, Project for a New American Century, cooking up radical plans for America to rule the world by force. They thought it would take a long time to convince the American people to go along with breaking international agreements, adopting a pre-emptive strike policy, suspending the Bill of Rights, giving tax breaks to the privileged few, making bankrupting investments in defense and stomping Iraq as a signal that America now dominates the world, and everybody else better stay in line. This movie...tells the tale very convincingly, with great appearances by Norman Mailer, Noam Chomsky, and a band of intellectuals who are incredulous that most of America is buying the [story] being spread by these spin doctors. 9/11 was good news/bad news for these characters. Too bad thousands of people had to die and all, but the upside was that the emotions following 9/11 provided cover for the Administration to wheel in the policies of the New American Century . - JAY CROSS - INTERNETTIME.COM/JAYBLOG/ARCHIVES/ "The next Presidential election will be a watershed mark in our history and the urgency of producing and distributing materials that show exactly what is at stake has never been higher. Hijacking Catastrophe will be a vital tool in the campaign to rescue American democracy from its internal enemies. It will enrage and empower as it enlightens and explains." - ROBERT MCCHESNEY - AUTHOR, The Problem Of The Media "The Media Education Foundation has been carrying out vitally important work on major issues of the day, in a highly meritorious effort to raise public awareness and understanding, work that is particularly crucial in advance of the coming election, which may well cast a long shadow over the country's future." - NOAM CHOMSKY - PROFESSOR OF LINGUISTICS, MIT *********************************************** "What it really comes down to is this: Are the American voters going to sit still for this? Are we going to treat our democracy like some sort of spectator sport, like watching the Super Bowl, or are we going to ask a little more of ourselves this time? Are we going to explore the Bush Administrations claims? Are we going to look at the details of what this administration has actually done?" - WILLIAM HARTUNG -SENIOR FELLOW, WORLD POLICY INSTITUTE *************************************************** CONTACT: Karen Bond, Chicago Media Action Boardmember- (847)328-4849 Jennifer Reft, Chicago Media Action Boardmember - (773)588-6972 *********************************************** SPONSORED BY: CHICAGO MEDIA ACTION Chicago Media Action (CMA) is an activist group dedicated to analyzing and broadening Chicago's mainstream media and to building Chicago's independent media. CMA monitors and analyzes media in the Chicago area in order to expose the economic and political interests which control them. CMA is presenting a series of forums because the public has a right to hear all sides of these issues. Hundreds have attended CMA Forums during the past year and the viewing audiences have given extremely positive feedback on these events. CHICAGO MEDIA ACTION / P.O. Box 14140 / Chicago, IL 60614 EMAIL ADDRESS: cma@chicagomediaaction.org WEBSITE: www.chicagomediaaction.org PHONE NUMBER (toll free): 1-866-260-7198 *** *** *** *** *** *** *** This is an email from Chicago Media Action, a Chicago activist group devoted to media issues. Chicago Media Action, P.O. Box 14140, Chicago IL 60614-0140 Call toll-free: 1-866-260-7198 Web: http://www.chicagomediaaction.org E-mail: cma@chicagomediaaction.org To unsubscribe from this mailing list, simply send an email requesting removal to mailinglist@chicagomediaaction.org