Another Hustler
Saturday, June 11, 2005
[We do not agree with the anonymous aspect of this site, however we are including it because our site is an archive and also because their introductory article makes some very fine points about
Amy Goodman will have an article in next month's edition of Hustler (July), according to Kirsten Anderberg (see below). You can bet it will be about (yawn again) "independent media in a time of war." By design or not, this new form of exposure appears to be a nice quid pro quo for Goodman's polite interview with Hustler publisher, Larry Flynt, that lasted for the entire show:
The Country's Greatest Defender of Free Speech or a Woman-Hating Pornographer?
The interview pissed off a lot of regular democracy now listeners/viewers: "Soon afterwards we received a large number of responses from our listeners and viewers around the country - Many were concerned that Democracy Now! had interviewed Larry Flynt." --a rare example of listener feedback.
The response, two weeks later, was supposed be a "debate on pornography" with two feminists: But right out of the gate, Susan Brison says: "Well, I was going to say when you introduced this as a debate between two leading feminists about porn that I'm not sure you're going to get much of a debate between me and Susie Bright." Gloria Steinem was invited onto democracy now and she was deeply offended by how DN suggested a debate for feminists while the man (Flynt) got a one-on-one interview.
Aura Bogado of KPFK and FSRN fame, wrote an article for ZNet on why she is the target of a year long racist attack by Hustler Magazine: "In another edition of Hustler, the magazine goes far beyond words and uses caricatures of me in a desperate attempt to further speak vilify me. I have not made any public statements regarding Hustler or anyone related to its publication since August 2004, yet after half-a-year of me remaining silent on the issue, Hustler continues to attack me, featuring horrific images of me: . . . yet another cartoon includes a line of 'Aura Bogado Jewelry'- in it, I have a penis pierced through my tongue."
Just to be clear, though most of the focus on Hustler lately has been about "women-hating" or misogynistic images, Hustler is also famous for its racism. For instance, the cartoon described above is africanized and tribal; another cartoon in the same issue glorifies the KKK. Would Amy Goodman let an article be printed in something like "White Supremicist Magazine"? (a made-up name). Stan Goff asks: "What if Amy Goodman was interviewd by Southern Partisan?" The KKK is another famous supporter of freedom of speech (BTW, KKK members had a show on Pacifica Station KPFA back in the very beginning; 20 years later the KKK bombed Pacifica's KPFT in Houston). When democracy now celebrates the birthday of Malcom X, it's a good thing he's dead, because in a live interview, what would Malcom say?
Kirsten Anderberg's insightful rant, "Amy GoodMAN, Spread Your Legs For Us!" says "If Amy is willing to put her articles between women in degrading crotch shots, then it is time Amy herself, was subjugated in similar manner so she, herself, can be reduced to what every other woman in Hustler is reduced to, "pussy." I mean, come on, what are women besides "pussy?" Right? Right, Amy?"
Besides Goodman, the other major lefty writer to have a symbiotic relationship with Hustler and Larry Flynt is Greg Palast. Not only is he a regular featured guest on Democracy Now, but his articles have appeared in Hustler. His interview with Guerrilla News Network is revealing for its subtle racism (as the white-male über-defender of black people) and sexism: " I think the Left is too fucking stiff. The Left hasn't had an erection in years." (because, the Left is like a box of penis, you never know what you're going to get)--those without penises need not apply. Bogado's article mentions the same interivew, but the whole thing is worth reading.
Stan Goff also blogged Bogado's article, and it prompted a small flood of responses plus a few more from vancouver at resist.ca.
Now we know, DN is independent media but just not independent of the porn industry. And has democracy now ever received a donation from Larry Flynt?
posted by Democracy Now Watch at 12:24 AM
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