Background Briefing: April 17, 2023
How Americans Alarmed by the Murdoch Propaganda Machine and Appalled by Trump, Subsidize Fox News
We begin with the delay in the Dominion case against Fox News which indicates there may be a settlement before Rupert Murdoch and Tucker Carlson and other top propagandists in the network have to go on the witness stand where they would have to avoid lying under oath, something serial liars and bullies might find uncomfortable. Furthermore, while paying out a billion or more might not be painful for the Murdochs, issuing an on-air apology to their listeners for lying to them about an election Trump lost apparently is too much for a propaganda outfit posing as a news operation for which telling the truth is bad for business. Joining us is Angelo Carusone, president and CEO of Media Matters for America, a media watchdog and non-profit described by Bill O’Reilly as “the most dangerous organization in America.” Angelo was profiled by The Guardian as a leader of the grassroots resistance activism in the age of Donald Trump and we discuss how Americans who are alarmed that Trump is still a menace to America who also find Fox a danger to American democracy, are subsidizing the Murdochs via their cable bills which generate the bulk of revenue for Fox News.
Speaker McCarthy Declares War on the Poor Before the New York Stock Exchange
Then we examine the speech today before a wealthy audience at the New York Stock Exchange by House Speaker McCarthy who threatened to hold the debt ceiling hostage to cut funds from Medicaid and SNAP food aid for the poorest Americans while vowing to protect tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. Joining us is Dave Kamper, a senior state policy coordinator for the Economic Analysis and Research Network at the Economic Policy Institute whose work focuses on the Midwest, helping to bring together policy thinkers and grassroots leaders to build collaborative relationships that empower communities in America’s heartland. We discuss his article at the Economic Policy Institute, “State and local governments have spent less than half of their American Rescue Plan fiscal recovery funds: Recovery funds should be used to rebuild the public sector.”
The Callous Barbarism of Duelling Warlords in Sudan
Then finally we look into the callous barbarism of duelling warlords in Sudan supported by the Saudis and the Emiratis who are duking it out with bombs and tanks for dictatorial control of the country across Sudan and in the capital Khartoum where innocent civilians are collateral damage. Joining us is Steve Howard, a Professor and Associate Director for Graduate Studies at the Ohio University School of Media Arts and Studies. A sociologist by training whose work focuses on social change in Africa and social movements in the Muslim world, he was a Visiting Professor at the Ahfad University for Women in Khartoum and is the author of Sudan: Scenes From a Youthful Uprising, and his forthcoming book is We are Mahmoud: On the Path of the Prophet in Unsettled Times.