Resource: Media Links

Here are some of the websites that FAIR, the national media watch group, recommends to keep up with the news. FAIR publishes Extra!, a magazine of media criticism, and a weekly radio program, CounterSpin, about "the news behind the headlines."

Alternative News

• AlterNet. Syndicated writings from the alternative press.
• The American Prospect. Liberal political magazine; has a good blog.
• Common Dreams. Breaking news and links to highlights from the day's progressive press.
• CounterPunch. A bi-weekly muckraking newsletter edited by Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair.
• Democracy Now!. The web version of the daily radio show.
• Free Speech TV. Towards more democratic television; site features downloadable independent video.
• Eschaton. Popular blog is perhaps the best round-up of the progressive blogosphere, with much media criticism.
• In These Times. A nonprofit political magazine featuring news and analysis that challenge the corporate media.
• Indymedia.org: Independent media organizations and journalists offering grassroots, non-corporate coverage.
• Left Business Observer. Monthly newsletter on economics and politics edited by Doug Henwood.
• The Nation. America's oldest weekly news magazine, featuring political news and commentary.
• OneWorld Online. Global news with a focus on the developing world.
• The Progressive. Political magazine with commentary and news advocating for peace and social justice.
• Raw Story. Alternative news site that highlights stories that get underplayed by the corporate media. It also features some original reporting.
• Sam Smith's Progressive Review. "Washington's Most Unofficial Source."
• Truthout. Independent progressive website with original reporting, analysis as well as articles from around the web.
• WorkingForChange. Left-oriented phone company Credo has a remarkably good roster of columnists.
• World Socialist Web Site. News from a Marxist perspective; frequent media criticism.
• ZNet. Z Magazine's site for progressive news and organizing.

Mainstream News

• BBC World News.
• The Independent. A U.K.-based newspaper.
• Le Monde Diplomatique in English. A French monthly news magazine focusing on global politics (French edition).
• The Los Angeles Times
• The New York Times. Registration required.
• Reuters. British-based news service.
• Salon Magazine
• Slate Magazine. The Washington Post's online magazine.
  Includes Today's Papers, a review of national newspapers' front pages.
•  The Washington Post.
• World Press Review, a monthly magazine offering analyses and English-language translations of the international press.

Media Criticism and Resources

• Abyz News Links. An enormous database of national and local U.S. news publications.
• Adbusters. Examines and parodies advertising culture.
• Center for Investigative Reporting.
• Crooks and Liars. Liberal blog that features video.
• The Daily Howler. An often insightful web-based column on media inaccuracy and arrogance.
• Freedom Forum. Formerly the Gannett Center.
• Index on Censorship. Promotes free expression around the world.
• Institute for Public Accuracy. Seeks to broaden public discourse by gaining media access for those whose perspectives are commonly drowned out.
• Jim Romenesko's MediaNews. Up-to-date media news and gossip. With links to media writers.
• JournalismNet. Online resources for investigative journalists -- search tools and much more.
• Media Bistro. Journalists' site features a daily round-up of media news.
• Media Channel. A media criticism site critical of corporate ownership, with links to articles on media from around the world.
• Media Matters. An organization dedicated to exposing conservative media misinformation.
• Project Censored. Identifies and promotes the most undercovered stories of the year.
• Center for Media and Democracy's PR Watch. Investigates and counters corporate and government spin.
• This Modern World. The weekly cartoon of social and political satire by Tom Tomorrow.
• TomPaine.com. Aims to encourage debate on issues like media, the environment and campaign finance reform.
• Vanderbilt University's TV News Archive. The best free resource for studying TV news.
• world-newspapers.com Exhaustive links to international newspapers online.
  

FAIR distributes regular Action Alerts to an international network of over 50,000 activists.  What's Wrong with the News? is an overview of FAIR's critique of the mainstream media. See, also: What's FAIR? by FAIR founder Jeff Cohen.

Wind Power: A new turbine design

Solar Aero Research is a Greenville, New Hampshire non-profit that is conducting research in the areas of alternative energy, energy independence and development of renewable resources. The organization has won a patent on what they call the Fuller Wind Turbine, a new type of boundary-layer, bladeless wind-powered generator based on a 1913 Tesla patent that they have modified for wind generation applications.

According to Solar Aero, the completely enclosed design retains high efficiency ratings while avoiding such drawbacks of bladed turbines as noise, radar interference, visual pollution and wildlife injuries. With only one rotating component -- a turbine/driveshaft/alternator assembly -- and no heavily loaded bearings, the device is expected to deliver power at a cost comparable to coal-fired power plants.

The turbine itself has lower maintenance requirements than bladed turbines and, since all generation equipment can be located at ground level while the turbine is supported on magnetic bearings, the need for up-tower routine maintenance is eliminated. Reduced life-cycle costs make the unit desirable for urban rooftops and for use where support and maintenance infrastructure is limited.

The non-interfering nature of this design makes it suitable for erection near military surveillance and radar installations. And, of course, there are no blades to blenderize birds and bats, a big drawback of traditional wind generators.

Primum non nocere

Shouldn't there be some form of Hippocratic Oath for planners, designers and architects?

It is as tragic as it is absurd that we are eating the dust of Europe and Asia in the development of green technology. Take this light 'triple-zero' house in the EU that produces more energy than it uses.

Overlooking the city of Stuttgart in southern Germany, a four-story modern glass house stands like a beacon of environmental sustainability. Built in 2000, it was the first in a series of buildings that are "triple-zero," a concept developed by German architect and engineer Werner Sobek, which signifies that the building is energy self-sufficient (zero energy consumed), produces zero emissions, and is made entirely of recyclable materials (zero waste).

Since the construction of the first triple-zero home, Werner Sobek's firm of engineers and architects, based in Stuttgart, has designed and built five more in Germany, with a seventh planned in France. The energy used by these buildings, including the four-story tower where Sobek resides, comes from solar cells and geothermal heating.

The most recent addition to triple-zero house raises the bar for energy efficiency: It produces more energy than it uses.

The rest of the story: Lightweight 'triple-zero' house produces more energy than it uses by Carina Storrs (Scientific American 2009-12-05)

Clip File: President Orders Federal Agencies to Use Smart Energy

"President Obama has just signed an Executive Order that compels the largest consumer of energy in the US economy to invest in energy efficiency improvements to get to huge reductions in energy use by 2020.

"Every Federal agency must measure, manage, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to meet specific targets by 2020. They have just 90 days to lay out a plan to meet these targets:

"Use 30% less gas by 2020...

"Immediately implement net-zero energy for all new government buildings...

"They’ll need efficient windows, geothermal ground heat exchanges, efficient air conditioning, solar hot water heating, radiant flooring, tankless water heaters, great insulation...."

The rest of the story: Obama’s Executive Order Enforces Smart Energy by Susan Kraemer (CleanTechnica 2009-10-06)