Promotion help needed for "Weapons of Mass Deception"

[sarahlee]

America has never been more ready for a national debate on the failures of our media system.

We're still emerging from an election cycle that left many in a quandary about the mainstream media's supposed service to our democracy. Before these questions can be answered sufficiently, mainstream media services have moved on to business as usual -- serving up a toxic blend of news, entertainment and propaganda that is itself a testament to their demise as serious news sources.

It's time we put a stop to the media status quo. MediaChannel.org and our activist arm Media for Democracy stand ready to place you in the midst of the global campaign for a more democratic and diverse media system MediaChannel.org offers media critical news and information every day. Media for Democracy engages citizens in direct action to reform America's failed media system. In the last year, more than 75,000 people have joined us in what TomPaine.com has called the "best resource for anyone who hates being manipulated." I am pleased to count you as one of them.

We'll be contacting each of you soon with an outline of MediaChannel and Media for Democracy's objectives for the years ahead, with the hope that you will join us in an active discussion about making our future media more diverse, democratic and accountable to the public.

WMD in Theaters

Today, I am writing you about a new film that raises several of these issues. Directed by MediaChannel.org's "News Dissector" Danny Schechter, WMD (Weapons of Mass Deception) is a hard-hitting feature length documentary is inspired in part by Danny's study of mainstream media's reporting of the Iraq War. The film opens this weekend in selected theaters in three cities and soon will be "rolling out" nationwide.

Like Fahrenheit 911 and Outfoxed, WMD can reach large audiences with a powerful critique of a media failure. Two weeks ago, the presidents of the news divisions of NBC, CBS and ABC admitted for the first time that their coverage of the run up to the war was not critical enough. "Simply stated," says ABC News President David Westin now, "we failed the American people."

But the networks did more than that. They helped sell the war in the guise of reporting it. That's why Danny Schechter's WMD is so important -- it raises the issues that the mainstream media avoids. A former CNN and ABC producer, Danny couples an insider's experience with an outsider's analysis to chip away layer by layer at the media's fa?ade of service to the American public.

We need your help in spreading the word about WMD. We want it seen everywhere. The Cinema Libre studio that distributed OutFoxed has begun to get WMD into theaters but we want it shown in your community too.

WMD opens December 3 in Austin (Landmark Dobie Theater), Cambridge (Landmark Kendall Square) and Denver (Starz Theater). On December 10, it opens in San Francisco (Landmark Embarcadero), Berkeley (Oak Theater), St. Louis (Tivoli Theater) and Washington, DC (Landmark E-Street Cinema).

You can help us promote these screenings and set up other ones by visiting the WMD website (www.wmdthefilm.com) and downloading our outreach tools, flyers, flash animations and press releases (http://tinyurl.com/5p7o7).

You can also volunteer your time. Contact WMD Outreach Coordinator David DeGraw at [email protected]. David aims to present WMD in more than 100 theaters nationwide but he needs your help.

Thanks again and stay tuned for more,

Tim Karr
Executive Director
MediaChannel.org
Media for Democracy