Anti-War

By Betty Yu, Reposted from centerformediajustice.org

“I am a daughter of an [Afghan] refugee, and my taxpayer dollars are being used to kill my family.  The media is playing this [Afghanistan war] as a “good war” and that it is helping to liberate Afghan women. Bombing Afghanistan into oblivion is not going to help these women.  NATO occupation out of Afghanistan!”

-Samira Sayed –Rahman, Afghans for Peace

By Betty Yu, Center for Media Justice / Reposted from NAMAC.org

As I wind down my adventures at the South By Southwest’s (SXSW) Interactive Festival in Austin, Texas this week, I reflect on the fact that the most powerful and poignant moments  didn’t actually take place in halls of the Convention Center.  The Media Action Grassroots Network (MAG-Net), Brown Paper Tickets, and Prometheus Radio Project co-hosted a Sunday brunch with a half a dozen local groups located in and around Austin who were interested in taking advantage of a once in the lifetime opportunity to start a Lower Power radio station thanks to the Local Community Radio Act that was passed back in December 2010.  Prometheus Radio Project led a 10-year grassroots fight to win the Local Community Radio Act. The new law mandates the government to expand the Low Power FM (LPFM) service, creating the potential for thousands of new community based organizations to start radio station across the country, including availability for the first time in big cities!