www.NewsOnDemand.org
 News and Intelligent Media for the Thinking Class
 Information->Knowledge->Insight->Wisdom
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NewsOnDemand.org needs your help!
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About NewsOnDemand.org
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Just to give you a little background, this web site started out as a curiosity. Back in the mid-1970's, I (Rich Sayer, Executive Director of www.NewsOnDemand.org) owned a shortwave receiver that I used to tune in to broadcasts from all around the world from my little apartment in a small suburb of Los Angeles, California. It was so cool and thrilling to be able to listen to music, news, and variety shows that no one else in my family or in my neighborhood had heard before. Then, I began to realize that there were many perspectives out there that differed significantly from what I encountered in the local media outlets, and that they seemed to be quite interesting. Not all perspectives were necessarily for or against what I'd learned as I grew up, they were just different, and very enlightening. It was as if I'd awakened and gone off to college all over again after having just lived what seemed at times to be a lifetime sequestered in high school. That's when I realized that there were not just two sides to every story, but there were quite often many sides to every story.  [Please follow to these links, Washington Post and New Press, for more background information.]  What a revelation!

Then, after a couple of years or so, my receiver was stolen. I never replaced it with another receiver, until just recently. The difference is that the new receiver is my computer and the antenna is my Internet connection. One night, I decided to check to see if these same external broadcasting services had begun to present their materials on the Internet. Lo and behold, almost all of them had already been webcasting for years! WOW! So I started to list the hyperlinks to their web sites in my favorites folder. The folder got to be too cumbersome to work with, so I decided to create a web site for myself to use. Then, I started to look for other news and information outlets around the country and around the world that also presented their materials on the Internet. I began to put all of them on my web site, too. Thus, www.NewsOnDemand.org was born.
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The mission of NewsOnDemand.org is to provide links to Intelligent Media for the Thinking Class.  Members of the Thinking Class include those who prefer to think for themselves, those who wish to make up their own minds instead of having their minds made up for them, and those who prefer to reserve judgment until they've had a chance to review as many pertinent sides of the issue as are available through more than just a little research.  Thomas Jefferson is often quoted as having said that "Information is the currency of democracy." However, having the information is only the beginning. What you do with it is what really matters. Verifying it and putting it in context are the next logical steps, which amounts to creating knowledge. This is hopefully followed by a relationship between that information and knowledge with other personal experiences to generate insight - the proverbial light bulb that illuminates a new idea. Acting upon the information, knowledge, and insight in a manner that improves the human condition shows wisdom, our ultimate goal.
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If you're tired of getting your news and information from the same old sources, then www.NewsOnDemand.org might be just what you're looking for.  NewsOnDemand.org offers a refreshing mix of links to news, information, and cultural activities from all corners of the earth.  Don't just settle for what's filtered through the eyes of the super-sized multinational conglomerate corporations that own the vast majority of today's media outlets, get the real information that you need to be a critical thinker and a wise decisionmaker in this increasingly complex world of ours!
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Here's a relevant statement (dated April 13, 2005) by none other than Rupert Murdock, Chairman and CEO of The News Corporation, which in turn owns the Fox News Channel:
"What is happening is, in short, a revolution in the way young people are accessing news. They don’t want to rely on the morning paper for their up-to-date information. They don’t want to rely on a god-like figure from above to tell them what’s important. And to carry the religion analogy a bit further, they certainly don’t want news presented as gospel.
Instead, they want their news on demand, when it works for them.
They want control over their media, instead of being controlled by it.
They want to question, to probe, to offer a different angle. Think about how blogs and message boards revealed that Kryptonite bicycle locks were vulnerable to a Bic pen. Or the Swiftboat incident. Or the swift departure of Dan Rather from CBS. One commentator, Jeff Jarvis, puts it this way: give the people control of media, they will use it. Don’t give people control of media, and you will lose them."
(Please click here to read the entire press release.)
Wow, I couldn't have said it better, myself!  Here's one of the most influential people in the world lending credence to our mission statement, and I'll lay you better than 1000 to 1 odds that he doesn't even know that this web site exists!  Does he see the writing on the wall, or what?
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NewsOnDemand.org is not intended to be a profit-making enterprise.  It is exclusively an enterprise of passion presented to a worldwide audience by the Executive Director.  The only financial support received by NewsOnDemand.org comes from the proceeds of the exceptionally low-priced long distance phone services provided through the links offered on this web site.  No advertising other that what has already been provided will be accepted.
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NewsOnDemand.org attempts to be as impartial as possible, presenting as many media perspectives as are available on the Internet, so that our visitors can make their own decisions based upon as broad as possible a base of information.
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NewsOnDemand.org invites you to read this commentary that was published on October 15, 2003 in the Washington Post (more details at www.pipa.org; press release; full report).  After reading it, then we invite you to review the wide range of news resources that we've placed at your fingertips.  One of the best ways that you can make sure that you're not misled by opinion that parades as news is by understanding its source and its intent!  Those who control the media obviously have some influence regarding what is available for you to read and to hear, especially when it might refer adversely to themselves, to their favorite causes, or to those who support them through advertising or other means.
Please click here to find out more about Who Controls the Media!
Please click here to find out more about Media Ownership!
Please click here to find out more about Female & Minority Media Ownership!
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So, who actually controls the U.S. media?  The answer is:

Time Warner (AOL/WB/TBS, $42B),
the Walt Disney Company (ABC, $30.7B),
the News Corporation (FOX, 20.4B),
Bertelsmann AG (Random House, 23.2B),
Viacom (CBS/UPN, $22.5B).
Click here for a detailed description of the 10 largest media corporations and their holdings.
Check out these web sites - NOW Foundation and Media Reform Information Center - for details.
Click here for a list of the largest broadcast and cable companies.
Click here for a list of the largest printing and publishing companies.
The same companies that control the media also control the news.  So, where does NewsOnDemand.org, with NO SALES and less than $500.00 per year in expenses, fit in?  According to a 2002 Gallup Poll, from 1995 to 2002, the number of people who get their daily news from sources on the Internet has gone from 3% to 15%, a fivefold increase.   NewsOnDemand.org is proud to be a completely independent and free service that attempts to address the needs of those increasing number of people who seek more information than is typically provided by mainstream media's 'infotainment' programming.  NewsOnDemand.org is not beholden to any outside monetary, corporate, ideological, or political influences.  Good luck trying to get statements like that from any of the aforementioned corporate conglomerates.
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Is your favorite news source a political "megaphone"?
Click here to see how the media plays such a huge role in politics.
Click here to see how the media companies contributed to the political campaigns.
Click here to see how the media companies lobbied congress.
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I invite you to click on this link to an audio interview of Amy Goodman, the anchor of the daily newscast at www.DemocracyNow.org and author of The Exception to the Rulers, to get a glimpse of the background of big media reporting: http://www.fair.org/realaudio/cspin052104.ram
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This Web site is updated often.
Feel free to visit often for the latest about what's new in the world around us.

If you ask me, it's not a question of whether or not more or less government is better for us, the owners of our own government.  Instead, it's a question of whether or not we can develop better governments at the federal, state, and local level - that's my primary concern! - Richard J. Sayer

We hope you enjoy these free resources!
If you have comments or suggestions about this web site, they would be most welcome.
Please email the Executive Director, Richard Sayer, by using this form.

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