Democracy Now! March 25, 2002

ANGELS OF THE PUBLIC INTEREST GATHER IN FRONT OF THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION TO DEMAND AN END TO MEDIA CONSOLIDATION 9:01-9:06 HEADLINES MUSICIANS: JOLIE RICKMAN, singer COLLEEN KATTAU, singer CONTACT: www.jolierickman.com 9:06-9:07 ONE-MINUTE MUSIC BREAK 9:07-9:20 FREE TRADING DEMOCRACY FOR PROFITS Yesterday was the 22nd anniversary of the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero, one of El Salvadors great human rights leaders. It was also the last day of President Bushs so-called tour of Latin America a tour that ended in a six-hour visit to El Salvador. During that visit, Bush met and dined with President Francisco Flores, the same man who famously dedicated his presidency to the army major responsible for Romeros assassination. Bushs visit was met by protests both in and outside the country. The presidents 3-day tour of Latin America began on Friday, in Monterrey Mexico, at the tail end of the UN summit on poverty. He then flew to Lima, Peru, where he was surrounded by tight security in the wake of a car bomb that exploded in front of the US embassy just three days earlier. Finally, Bush headed to El Salvador. There he reiterated his call for free trade and "democracy. Well, today we will take our own tour of Latin America, shadowing the footsteps of President Bush. We will head to Mexico, Peru, and El Salvador, where we will speak with a journalist, politician, and activist. We will begin with El Salvador. GUEST: JAVIER DIEZ-CANSECO, fourth vice president of Peruvian Congress GUEST: WILLIAM HERNANDEZ, Farabundo Marti para la Liberacion Nacional (FMLN) representative CONTACT: www.angelfire.com/fl/fmln/ GUEST: CHERRENE HORAZUK, Executive Director, CISPES (Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador) CONTACT: www.cispes.org GUEST: DAN KOVALIK, Attorney, United Steelworkers of America CONTACT: www.uswa.org GUEST: JOHN ROSS, journalist and activist speaking from Mexico City. John Ross is the author of War Against Oblivion: Zapatista Chronicles, 1994-2000 and Rebellion from the Roots. He just returned from Monterrey, Mexico, where he was covering the UN summit on poverty. VIDEO: ROMERO: OSCAR ROMERO 9:20-9:21 ONE-MINUTE MUSIC BREAK 9:21-9:40 FREE TRADING DEMOCRACY FOR PROFITS CONT'D 9:40-9:41 ONE-MINUTE MUSIC BREAK 9:41-9:58 ANGELS OF THE PUBLIC INTEREST GATHER IN FRONT OF THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION TO DEMAND AN END TO MEDIA CONSOLIDATION Last night was the 74th annual Academy Awards the entertainment industrys Big Night, Hollywoods prom. This years event had all the glitz and glamour of years past, combined with a solid dose of flag-waiving, sentimentality, and self-congratulation. There were also overwrought tears, long speeches, and not a few declarations of the industrys continued relevance, even in the wake of 9/11. But there were also some significant firsts last night. Halle Berry won the award for best actress, becoming the first African American woman to win that award in the Oscars 74-year history. She won for her role in the movie, Monsters Ball. In the best actor category, Denzel Washington took home the golden statue. It was only the second time in Oscar history that an African American man had won that award. The first was Sidney Poitier, who was honored last night for his brilliant and barrier-breaking career in film. Still, lest anyone think that too much had changed in the world of Hollywood, the Oscars last night also served up plenty to disturb as did the year in movies in general. It was a year dominated by just three or four big production conglomerates as well as more multi-million dollar mediocrities than one cares to mention. Its a trend that will no doubt be repeated and even intensified in the years to come, as the Federal Communications Commission and its chief, Michael Powell, push for ever more industry consolidation. Michael Powell, who is charged with overseeing the entire spectrum of electronic media and communications, is the son of Secretary of State Colin Powell. He has come down decidedly on the side of big business. Last year, for example, Congress overturned a long-standing rule limiting the percentage of the market a cable operator can control. Powell could have appealed the order, but instead, he launched a study to see if any cap is justified at all. Shortly after his appointment, Powell ironically declared: "The night after I was sworn in, I waited for a visit from the angel of the public interest. I waited all night, but she did not come." Well this weekend, the angels of the public interest descended on the Washington office of the Federal Communications Commission. On Friday afternoon, media activists gathered to serve Powell notice that they will oppose his efforts to further consolidate big media. They say Powell was appointed to serve the public interest; instead he does the bidding of the media elite. GUEST: WARCRY, Information Liberation Front ON VIDEO CONTACT: www.informationliberationfront.net GUEST: PETE TRIDISH, Prometheus Radio Project, a not-for-profit dedicated to the democratization of the airwaves through the proliferation of non-commercial, community based, micropower radio stations. CONTACT: www.prometheusradio.org LINKS: www.mediatank.org www.americanresurrection.com GUEST: JEFF CHESTER, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy CONTACT: www.democraticmedia.org 9:58-9:59 OUTRO AND CREDITS