Can Democracy Survive Without Independent Media? Can Democracy Survive Without Independent Media?
The Nation commemorated its legacy as the oldest continuously published weekly magazine at this year's Tucson Festival of Books.
Apr 2, 2015 / Nation in the News / Press Room
Danny Schechter Was Our News Dissector Danny Schechter Was Our News Dissector
He criticized old media, he created new media and he knew the necessity of a free and freewheeling press.
Mar 20, 2015 / Blog / John Nichols
True Grit? True Grit?
Nation contributor and TV host Laura Flanders isn’t the first feminist to face down some gun-toting cowboys, but her battle is a little unusual. Since 2008, Flanders’s GRITtv has broadcast the voices of marginalized experts and grassroots activists on cable, satellite and public television, as well as online. “I interview people with grit,” Flanders explained in a phone interview. But last summer, she received a phone call asking if she was aware that there was another Grit TV station in town. Flanders jumped online, where she discovered the new Grit (grittv.com), an “action-oriented” digital channel targeting men between 25 and 54 (sexagenarians, beware!). Launched on August 18, the new Grit is “built around the classic male hero, with a focus on western, war and action movies,” said Jonathan Katz, president and CEO of Katz Broadcasting, which operates the network. Please support our journalism. Get a digital subscription for just $9.50! No sane person is likely to mistake Harrison Ford for Naomi Klein—but viewers might find it difficult to separate the near-identical branding. Flanders says her voicemail and e-mail have been filled with messages from viewers frustrated with the quality of Grit’s digital signal. Viewers confuse contact information on her website for Grit’s—and even the programming. One disgruntled viewer wrote to Flanders: “Your channel showing war films is propaganda!” Last fall, GRITtv’s lawyer sent Grit a cease-and-desist letter. GRITtv has applied for a trademark; Grit has, too. Legally, Flanders’s longtime prior use of “GRIT” gives her the right to the brand. The Grit guys have yet to acknowledge the consumer confusion, but even a cowboy could tell you that intellectual property law no longer resembles the Wild, Wild West. That frontier mentality goes by another name now: theft. Read Next: Greg Grandin on Venezuela after Chávez
Mar 4, 2015 / Editorial / Ava Kofman
Is Pacifica Radio Worth Saving? Is Pacifica Radio Worth Saving?
Once a beacon of progressive programming, the network is now beset by financial woes and infighting.
Feb 11, 2015 / Feature / Matthew Lasar
Why It’s OK for ‘The New York Times’ to Not Be Charlie Why It’s OK for ‘The New York Times’ to Not Be Charlie
While the Times frequently needs pushing on its watery language, there are real ethical reasons to exclude Charlie’s Mohammad cartoons.
Jan 15, 2015 / Blog / Leslie Savan
Project Censored Honors Stephen F. Cohen Project Censored Honors Stephen F. Cohen
Project Censored, the media research, literacy and education organization established in 1976, is honoring Nation contributing editor Stephen F. Cohen for his articles on the crisis involving Ukraine and Russia, as well as the mainstream media’s hypocrisy in its coverage of the conflict. Cohen’s article “Distorting Russia: How the American Media Misrepresent Putin, Sochi and Ukraine” appeared in The Nation’s March 3, 2014, issue and will be included in the collection Censored 2015: Inspiring We the People.
Jan 7, 2015 / Editorial / The Editors
We’re Living in a Golden Age of Investigative Journalism We’re Living in a Golden Age of Investigative Journalism
Newspapers in America may be closing up shop, but muckrakers around the world are holding corrupt officials and corporate cronies accountable like never before.
Aug 26, 2014 / Anya Schiffrin
Can a Free Press Flourish Behind Bars? Can a Free Press Flourish Behind Bars?
For 127 years, prison newspapers have struggled to speak truth to the outside world.
Jun 25, 2014 / Wilbert Rideau and Linda LaBranche
Can Al Jazeera America Save Cable News? Can Al Jazeera America Save Cable News?
The network wants to reshape the market. But first it must reach—and win over—its viewers.
Apr 8, 2014 / Feature / Reed Richardson