Journalist Chris Hedges on Current Economic & Political Affairs

(Tropic-7's photostream/Flickr)

With the abundance of TV channels from the U.S. networks, cable TV channels, and even the public broadcasting system, it still is not easy to find programming that delves into serious and newsworthy subjects, or lengthier programming  dedicated to people who usually do not show up at the 6 o'clock news. Luckily, the Internet often compensates for this lack of diverse news, and one such online venue is the Real News Network, a television news and documentary network focused on providing independent and uncompromising journalism." It is  viewer supported and does not accept advertising, government or corporate funding." Its senior editor, Paul Jay, recently interviewed the journalist Chris Hedges in a seven-part series on his show Reality Asserts Itself.  Hedges is a journalist and author with quite a unique background: he spent two decades as a foreign correspondent in Central America, the Middle East, the Balkans and Africa, working for the New York Times, the Christian Science Monitor and National Public Radio.  In 2002, when at the New York Times, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. He currently is a senior fellow at The Nation Institute and writes a column for Truthdig. Also interesting to note,  Hedges is a socialist, not something which you hear often in U.S. media.

The following seven-part interview (approx. 15 minutes each) will cover Hedges' background; the state of journalism in the U.S.; how he was pushed out of The New York Times after a controversial commencement speech against the Iraq War; the bleak economic and environmental situation; whether there will be a mass movement against the current government's policies; how the liberal class is missing in action; and what people should do now in dealing with current challenges and corporate policies. Whether one agrees with everything Hedges says or not, and sometimes his views seem too bleak, it still is refreshing to hear important issues to be discussed in a thorough and open manner. It is a shame that no U.S. politician of name is able to acknowledge and articulate the challenges facing the U.S. and to a large extent the rest of the world. Have a look at this interview:

                              Part 1/7 - Introduction                              

                        

                          Part 2/7 - Journalism Should Be About Truth, Not Career

                                                       Part 3/7 - Our Reality is Bleak

 

                                                  Part 4/7 - Will there be a mass movement?

 

                                    Part 5/7 - The Liberal Elite's Betrayal of Labor and the Poor

                                    Part 6/7 - As a Socialist, I Have No Voice in the Mainstream

 

                                                  Part 7/7 - Anwers Questions from Viewers


For some background reading: