Dec 29, 2017

Does Films For Action Have Bias? - a Statement About Neutrality and Our Values

By Films For Action / filmsforaction.org
Does Films For Action Have Bias? - a Statement About Neutrality and Our Values
We don't do breaking news. We do breaking knowledge.

It's hard to believe Films For Action has been around since 2006. From our early years focusing on local film screenings in Lawrence, Kansas to our more recent years, focusing on raising awareness globally via our website and social media, our mission has been to provide a DIY alternative to the corporate mass media, which censors, sanitizes, attacks and ignores the diverse voices of humanity in favor of a narrow spectrum of elite consensus that puts the interests of profit over people and planet.

The mass media claims to be neutral and strives to be objective, but it has always been anything but. This problem has been extensively documented. Chris Hedges called it "The Disease of Objectivity." Noam Chomsky is famous for outlining "the propaganda model of news." Meanwhile, FOX News is famous for claiming they're "fair and balanced" - a line of propaganda so transparent it's been mocked for years. But the deeper truth is that all media has some form of bias. The major news networks and newspapers of the old media - ABC, CNN, MSNBC, CBS, the Washington Post, and the New York Times, to name a few, all mask their bias for elite perspectives (both corporate and state) behind a guise of "objectivity." To present oneself as unbiased, while having bias is, of course, one of the hallmarks of any good, persuasive propaganda.

But the old media is lying to itself for another reason. As one of our heroes, Howard Zinn, once famously said, "You can't be neutral on a moving train." Neutrality in the face of injustice, in the face of environmental destruction, corruption, racism, colonialism, empire, and plutocracy, cannot and will never be neutral.

Media cannot be neutral on this moving train. Too much is at stake when we are quite literally facing a planetary emergency that is reaching its major turning point. We must pick a side.

Does this mean Films For Action has bias? Yes it does. But it is a bias rooted in universal humanitarian principles. Our bias is rooted in our love for Pachamama, our Mother Earth, and all living beings. Our bias is rooted in our desire for a society that's just, compassionate, egalitarian, peaceful, healing and truly participatory in ways that the present system will never offer. Our bias is rooted in a disdain for the logic of war, violent extremism and nationalism, and the hypocrisy of opposing some war crimes while supporting others. 

To put it simply, our bias is rooted in our values, which we share openly and honestly.  That is the big difference between the old media and the new media. Whereas the old media feigns neutrality and objectivity while promoting a spectrum of thought that benefits their bottom line, the new media is transparent about its values and who it stands for.

The problem with the media isn't bias itself - it's the values, interests, and funding sources that shape and inform that bias. 

Accuracy, however, is another story. Accuracy is of the utmost importance and something we treat with the greatest responsibility, as all journalists and media outlets should. With the rise of "fake news," discussion over which media outlets we can trust has become a central concern.  While profit-driven alternative media exploded during the 2016 US election, and a vast array of sketchy sites sprung up to take advantage of heightened political concern, we haven't forgotten that the corporate mass media has been responsible for some of the most dangerous and consequential "fake news" stories of our time, including most notably the false story of Weapons of Mass Destruction, which successfully helped take the US to war at a time when alternative media was critical of these "facts" and knew them to be false.  Fake news by the "credible, respectable" mainstream press, which often originates by simply repeating government claims uncritically, has been far more disastrous for the planet overall than anything that unethical bloggers have managed to accomplish. 

That said, inaccurate and false information is harmful regardless of whether it comes from corporate or alternative sources, and there is plenty of bad information coming from the entire spectrum of media, from the far left to the far right, and from corporate outlets to the smallest indie operations. 

While our values and the diversity of perspectives we share naturally put us somewhere left of center, we're committed to always putting accuracy first, and holding ourselves accountable to the 5 core values of journalism

Activism   Media   Media Literacy
Rate this article 
Media
Planet Local: A Short Film Series about the Beautiful Alternatives to Industrial Agriculture
Solidarity Theory
Trending Videos
Louis Theroux: The Settlers (2025)
62 min - Fourteen years after his first visit and 2011 film The Ultra Zionists, Louis Theroux meets some of the growing community of religious-nationalist Israelis who have settled in the West Bank.Louis...
All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace (2011)
174 min - Adam Curtis directs this 3-part series about how humans have been colonised by the machines we have built.The series begins by unraveling the surprising influence of Ayn Rand's objectivist...
Project 2025 Explained in Schoolhouse Rock Style!
5 min - The song that could save America. Share widely.Written, animated and performed by Jason KravitsProduced and mixed by Sean Dixon withJason Kravits, Christopher Walz, and Brian ONeill
Earthlings (2005)
95 min - EARTHLINGS is a feature-length documentary about humanity's absolute dependence on animals (for pets, food, clothing, entertainment, and scientific research) but also illustrates our complete...
So Close to America: Undocumented Farm Workers & The Myth of The 'Free Ride'
24 min - Farmworker Realities vs Immigrant Fear Mongering in the Days of Trump and Beyond. "They steal our jobs" "They don't pay taxes" "They all get on welfare" "They don't pay taxes!" "They all come...
TraumaZone
350 min - An epic documentary by British director Adam Curtis illustrating in seven parts state and decline of the Soviet Union and the development in Russia 19851999 using material from the BBC archives.
Visualizing The Edible City in 3 Minutes
3 min - Watch an animation that shows how to turn a conventional community into an edible city. Learn how to transform unproductive spaces into agricultural landscapes that help fight obesity and reduce...
Trending Articles
Carl Sagan
Intersections of Science and Spirituality
Subscribe for $5/mo to Watch over 50 Patron-Exclusive Films
Subscribe $5/mo View All Patron Films

 

Your support keeps us ad-free and financially independent

Our 10,000+ video & article library is 99% free, ad-free, and entirely community-funded thanks to our patron subscribers!


Want to double your impact? You can subscribe for $10/mo or more as an extra show of support.