Z Nightly Commentaries
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Recent Z Nightly Commentaries
Shalom: Political Correctness
Oct 13, 1999
Conservative pundits and their frequent liberal allies have been complaining for years about "Political Correctness" -- the intrusion of left-wing ideology into the academy, supposedly subverting academic standards.
Solomon: Media Time Capsule
Oct 11, 1999
On the first day of January, many public ceremonies will feature time capsules -- sealed long ago, when "the year 2000" sounded incredibly futuristic. Those containers, intended for opening at the start of the new millennium, presumably hold evocative sym
Schechter: Fighting for the Soul of the BBC
Oct 08, 1999
British television has become a battleground--literally. On Labor Day, an enraged intruder vaulted over the BBC's new upgraded security barriers, raced up a set of stairs, threw a table through the window of a newsroom, jumped inside and started tossing c
Shah: Young and Younger
Oct 06, 1999
As a child, on every birthday morning, I was meant to touch the feet of each of my parents to show my gratitude and respect. This simple and brief act would overwhelm me with its nakedness, its confession of my own powerlessness, its reference to an India
Solomon: The Enduring Spirit of a Dissident Senator
Oct 03, 1999
The black-and-white TV footage is grainy and faded, but it still jumps off the screen -- a portentous clash between a prominent reporter and a maverick politician.
Solomon: Big Media Applaud Big Media Merger
Sep 24, 1999
When the story about Viacom and CBS broke a few days ago, news accounts quickly depicted a match made in corporate heaven -- at more than $37 billion, the largest media merger in history. With the public kept outside the frame, it was a rosy picture.
Shalom: State of the World
Sep 14, 1999
This summer, the United Nations Development Programme issued its annual Human Development Report. The document is a stinging indictment of globalization and its horrific impact on the well-being of so many of the world's people.
Shiva: Stopping Biopiracy
Sep 06, 1999
The patents on the anti-diabetic properties of karela, jamun, brinjal once again highlight the problem of Biopiracy - the patenting of indigenous biodiversity related knowledge.
Schechter: China on My Mind
Aug 31, 1999
In less than two months, on October 1st, the People's Republic of China turns fifty. Mao's long march liberated a country which in a half century has gone from championing world revolution to building "socialism with Chinese characteristics."
Solomon: In the Nation's Capital, Media Fixations Prevail
Aug 21, 1999
Few phrases in American politics have more negative connotations than "inside the Beltway." In this rarified and unreal zone, we often assume, the activities of politicians and bureaucrats are disconnected from the main concerns of most Americans. But it
Solomon: Broadcasting and Democracy: Oil and Water
Aug 18, 1999
Is it really possible for broadcasting and democracy to mix? In theory, yes. But right now, the prospects look bleak.
Shalom: Affirmative Action
Aug 14, 1999
In the present dreary political climate, another court decision against affirmative action might not warrant special comment. But a ruling last month by a Federal District judge in Savannah, Georgia, is worth considering if only because it illustrates the
Shah: What Are You On? Hormones?
Aug 07, 1999
I am not proud, but not ashamed either, to admit I am humbled by hormones. I used to pride myself on being logical: as a philosophy major, I got an A+ in deductive logic in school. But under the powerful effect of estrogens and other biochemicals coursing
Solomon: Journalists Inspire Support for Community Radio / Pacifica Continues
Jul 18, 1999
Last Wednesday afternoon, radio journalist Aileen Alfandary stood on the sidewalk in front of the building where she has worked for many years. She looked out of place. The deadline for the KPFA evening news was fast approaching -- but all the doors were
Shiva: Monsanto's Expanding Monopolies From Seed to Water
Jul 17, 1999
Over the past few years, Monsanto, a chemical company, has positioned itself as an agricultural company through control over seed the first link in the food chain. Monsanto now wants to control water, the very basis of life.
Solomon: The Public is Secondary
Jul 15, 1999
Across the country, PBS stations are in denial. And if we think the programming they provide is worthy of the name "public television," then maybe we're in denial, too.
Schechter: Our Profile and Theirs
Jul 11, 1999
When Dr. W.E.B DuBois predicted the question of color would become the problem of the twentieth century, he was writing before the advent of television, the proliferation of the mass media, and the many uses (and abuses) of the idea of racial profiling.
Solomon: Big Name Candidates Bow To Media Power
Jul 02, 1999
Every modern presidential contest generates a lot of discussion about how the nation's most prominent journalists cover major candidates. But there's not much analysis of how candidates get along with the media conglomerates that employ those journalists.
Shalom: Kerala
Jun 21, 1999
Are there alternatives to the dominant economic model that consigns increasing numbers of people to lives of misery? One such alternative is offered by the state of Kerala in southern India which has been the site of fascinating social experimentation for
Oct 16, 1999
On October l, thousands of New York artists, activists and politicians rallied outside the Brooklyn Museum against threats by the city's Mayor Rudolph Giuliani to defund one of the city's preeminent cultural institutions because of one painting on display