National Security Cinema: This is a book about secrecy, militarism, manipulation, and censorship at the heart of the world’s leading democracy—and about those who try to fight them. Using thousands of pages of documents acquired through the Freedom of Information Act National Security Cinema exclusively reveals that the national security state—led by the CIA and Pentagon—has worked on more than eight-hundred Hollywood films and over a thousand network television shows. The latest scholarship has underestimated the size of this operation, in part because the government has gone to considerable lengths to prevent data emerging, especially in the 21st Century, as the practice of government-Hollywood cooperation has escalated and become more aggressive. National Security Cinema reveals for the first time specific script changes made by the government for political reasons on dozens of blockbusting films and franchises like Transformers, Avatar, Meet the Parents, and The Terminator. These forces have suppressed important narratives about: CIA drug trafficking; illegal arms sales; military creation of bio-weapons; the interaction of private armies and oil companies; government treatment of minorities; torture; coups; assassinations, and the failure to prevent 9/11.

Dr. Matthew is a Teaching Fellow at the University of Bath in England. His doctoral thesis applied Ed Herman and Noam Chomsky’s Propaganda Model to the contemporary Hollywood film industry. His first book, Reel Power: Hollywood Cinema and American Supremacy, was published by Pluto Press in 2010 and has since been translated into Chinese. In 2014, Dr. Alford produced a documentary film of his research, The Writer with No Hands, which premiered at Hot Docs in Toronto and won the Tablet of Honor at the Ammar Popular Film Festival in Tehran.

Tom Secker is a private researcher who runs spyculture.com— the world’s premier online archive about government involvement in the entertainment industry. He has used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain unique government documents since 2010, which has been reported on by Russia Today, Salon, Techdirt, The Mirror, The Express and other outlets. He has authored and co-authored articles for Critical Sociology and the American Journal of Economics and Sociology and hosts the popular ClandesTime podcast.

Buy Paperback of National Security Cinema

Please donate to Media Roots Radio on Patreon, we wouldn’t be able to do this show without your support!

@AbbyMartin | @FluorescentGrey

Robbie Martin interviews Abby Martin about her recent trip to Venezuela, where she explains the reality on-the-ground, dissects the corporate media’s propaganda campaign against the government and describes firsthand the fascistic, violent nature of opposition protesters carrying out daily barricades, known as “guarimbas”. They also discuss the legacy of Hugo Chavez and why his brand of socialism poses such an enormous threat to the US Empire.

Please donate to Media Roots Radio on Patreon, we wouldn’t be able to do this show without your support!

@AbbyMartin | @FluorescentGrey

Robbie and Abby Martin discuss Trump’s recent trip to Saudi Arabia, the “Russia Gate” scandal reaching an impeachment fever pitch, the alt-right’s free speech “trolling”, Assange and Wikileaks’ role in the information war and breaking down the Seth Rich conspiracy theory.

This podcast is the product of many long hours of hard work and love. If you want to encourage our voice, please consider supporting us on Patreon. Listen to all previous episodes of Media Roots Radio on soundcloud or subscribe on itunes.

@AbbyMartin | @FluorescentGrey

Listen to “US News Propaganda Silences Dissenters; ‘MOAB’ used in Afghanistan” on Spreaker.

“By Any Means Necessary” host Eugene Puryear is joined by Abby Martin, journalist and host of The Empire Files, a weekly investigative news program on teleSUR to talk about the shocking ways in which mainstream media outlets have created a witch hunt against alternative news outlets that challenge US imperialism and militarism actions around the world. The pair also talk about the ways in which “Russia” scapegoating has been used to critique and silence social, economic and political the American and global left as well as the bipartisan media and political support for Trump’s militarism.

Later in the show host Eugene Puryear is joined by Daniel McAdams, Executive Director, Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity to talk about the bipartisan support for Donald Trump’s bombing campaign in Syria, the usage of a MOAB in Afghanistan, and what we should expect next from an aggressive and militaristic Trump administration.

Today’s talking points touch on the first ever usage of a “Mother of All Bombs” by the US in Afghanistan, Trump’s flip flopping, and more cases of police brutality in Ohio and California.

**

@AbbyMartin | @EugenePuryear

Oregon State University Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights hosted a panel discussion with independent journalists Rania Khalek, Abby Martin (The Empire Files), and Mnar Muhawesh (MintPress News) to discuss Syria, Palestine, and Yemen in a way the mainstream media refuses to cover.

Perspectives on Palestine, Syria, and Yemen – Abby Martin, Mnar Muhawesh, Rania Khalek

**

@AbbyMartin | @MnarMuh | @RaniaKhalek