RUSSIAN TV AND ME, MICHAEL MOORE, AND USING CAPITALISM TO CHALLENGE CAPITALISM: OH, THE IRONIES!
By Danny Schechter
Author, The Crime Of Our Time
When the CBS suits shuttered WBCN in Boston, the radio station I used to work for, one more institution that at time was known for offering critical and independent news was snuffed out.
A former reporter and DJ there, Bill Lichtentsein wrote, "From the moment it hit the air, the station helped define, as well as promote, popular culture and politics in Boston for the '60s/boomer generation in a way that nothing had before. And its impact quickly spilled over nationally.
The station is gone but the memories lived on last week at a rock wake in Beantown attended by a large crowd of listeners and volunteers for whom the station was a community-building touchstone for 41 years. It was part of what was then considered a popular alternative radio movement that combined independent news with commercial music formats.
That movement was crushed by corporatization and media concentration. It has gotten to the point that with a few exceptions like Pacifica outlets, Community Access TV stations, and small chains like Air America, we have as much uniformity of approach on the airwaves here as existed in the old Soviet Union where the Master's Voice was not RCA Victor but the Politburo.
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