ificandream

ificandream's Journal

March 26, 2022

Missouri station offering Russian state radio to listeners

Source: Margaret Stafford/AP

LIBERTY, Mo. (AP) — A man who runs a little-known, low-budget radio station in suburban Kansas City says he is standing up for free speech and alternative viewpoints when he airs Russian state-sponsored programming in the midst of the Ukrainian war.

Radio Sputnik, funded by the Russian government, pays broadcast companies in the U.S. to air its programs. Only two do so: One is Peter Schartel’s company in Liberty, Missouri, and one is in Washington, D.C.

Schartel started airing the Russian programming in January 2020, but criticism intensified after Russia invaded Ukraine in February. Schartel said people accuse him and his wife of being traitors to the U.S. and occasionally issue threats. Some critics say he is promoting propaganda and misinformation, but Schartel maintains most people who call to complain haven’t listened to the program.

“Some will talk to me, but others will still call me a piece of whatever,” he said. “What I am thankful for is we are still living in a country where they can call me up. Even if they aren’t thinking about free speech they’re exercising that right.”

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-entertainment-business-kansas-missouri-b6240ed4d6bada628e59c24b29d68669

Money grubber.

March 26, 2022

Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) health care tweet

https://twitter.com/RepKatiePorter/status/1507493194589687926?s=20&t=i-sMS7nhOuk_vyg9RVzGyA

March 26, 2022

We (all of us) need to stop playing Putin's game

These are my words, not someone else's.

As someone who worked in the media for more than half my life, I'm very disheartened by the opinions I continually see here of various reporters and commentators (Chuck Todd and Andrea Mitchell, to name two) about their discussions of the news. TV viewers need to pay attention to what's commentary, what's opinion and what's fact. I realize in today's 24-hour news cycle world, it can be difficult, especially when you have a 24-hour station (I will never use the word "news" in front of its name since it isn't and never will be "news&quot that hits its viewers with commentary and opinion and doesn't care if viewers think of it as fact when it isn't. A real news source does care.

I admit that the line between opinion/commentary and news has been blurred for decades now. But if a news anchor asks a question that doesn't fall in line with your beliefs, that doesn't mean they are incompetent or on Putin's payroll. The host of a show (or someone doing interviewing) needs to get to the facts. That doesn't always mean asking the questions you expect. Sometimes those questions can bring up unexpected answers that lead questioning elsewhere. That's not a bad thing at all.

Compare this with Fux. I don't waste my time watching Sean Hamburger, Tuckyo Rose and Looney Laura, but the little I have seen is nothing but sermonizing by nitwits who don't have a clue. Compare that with interviews and questioning on the major news networks and you'll find a different objective ... they're looking for answers ... and not preordained or scripted ones.

One final note: Vladimir Putin (and Trumpty Dumpty) want us to dump on the free press. Trumpty did it for four years while he was (fake) president. Vladmir Putin loved it. Don't play Putin or Trump's game. We need the free press now more than ever, especially with the continual revelations we're seeing (Ginny Thomas just the latest). The press is your friend and mine. We should not forget that.