Renowned radio producer and author David Barsamian, the founder and producer of Alternative Radio, will speak at the University on Tuesday.
Barsamian’s lecture, “Another World is Possible: People Power in the Age of Empire,” will be held at noon in the EMU Fir Room and will cover his latest book, “Imperial Ambitions: Conversations on the Post 9-11 World,” in which he discusses United States policies with political theorist Noam Chomsky. The lecture will also touch on related foreign policy topics, propaganda and mass media.
Barsamian initially began broadcasting alternative news coverage because he was “fed up with the corporate media,” he said. He created Alternative Radio in 1986 and has written articles and conducted interviews for The Progressive, Z Magazine and International Socialist Review. Eugene Media Action employee David Zupan said Barsamian’s Alternative Radio show broadcasts “information and perspectives that are ignored or distorted” in mainstream media. Zupan coordinated the event because Barsamian “is such an amazing resource” for both students and faculty to learn to stop consuming media and “view themselves as media activists and media producers.”
Barsamian hopes college students walk away enlightened from this lecture with “a sense that individuals can make a difference,” he said.
Barsamian speaks on college campuses nationwide. He delivered his last lecture to Portland State University this weekend, but he has never before been to the University. Barsamian will also speak tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Harris Hall, 125 E. Eighth St.
George Beres, former Athletics Department spokesman, said he believes the event will encourage students to question authoritative viewpoints.
“College students especially value someone willing to give them the alternative point of view to counter the public relations spin we increasingly get from authorities and media.”
Barsamian’s hour-long talk show, which runs every Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. on KLCC, frequently features prominent political activists such as Howard Zinn, Arundhati Roy and Noam Chomsky. More than 125 public radio stations air the independent program, which is funded entirely by donations and radio transcript sales.
Students especially can benefit from this event because of their youthful activism to foster changes in media, Beres said.
“It will remind them how essential it is in a democracy for citizens to have questioning attitudes,” he said.