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The Center for Creative Voices in Media, established by Jonathan Rintels in 2002, seeks to give a voice to independent voices, or those who are not a part of what Rintels calls �the concentrated and consolidated media.�
�These media-mergers had a direct impact on those who work in media and create media,� Rintels said. �The public is missing a lot, but they may not know what they�re missing, but people who create media know what they�re missing, because that�s what we do.�
Rintels, who grew up in the Washington area, had a 25 year career as a screenwriter, is an attorney, who graduated from the University of Virginia Law School in 1980, focusing on communications law. He also represented the Writer�s Guild of America-West Division in Washington on regulatory issues.
�I felt that there wasn�t a full-time consistent voice for artists in Washington, so that�s what I set out to create,� Rintels said.
The Center for Creative Voices in Media is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, which is supported heavily by donations from foundations, grants, and private donations from individuals. Donors include the Knowledge, Creativity & Freedom Program of the Ford Foundation, the Center for the Public Domain, the Anonymous Fund of the Philadelphia Foundation, and the Media Justice Fund.
�This is more than a full-time job,� he said. �We�re always scrapping to get by.�
Rintels feels that this concentration in Media has yielded �less rigorous news coverage.� He cites that the mainstream media in the post-9/11 environment failed to question the Bush Administration�s motives for invading Iraq, becoming a �government lapdog instead of a government watchdog.�
The news has become entertainment with shows like the O�Reilly Factor that featuring shouting matches without substance, Rintels said.
�The quality of work [on television] in the past should continue into the future,� Rintels said. �The Cosby Show and many made-for-T.V. movies often dealt with serious issues but this trend has declined in recent years.�
He believes former Vice President Al Gore�s Current.tv is an example of what the media can achieve, stating that his channel is �viewer-oriented, offering diverse news, but is in many ways liberal and in many ways not.� Rintels says the problem is that consolidated media outlets and cable providers, such as Comcast, offer a limited selection of what viewers can watch.
The Center for Creative Voices in Media is �completely about participatory democracy,� according to Rintels. �We�d like to see the return of media outlets to the local communities.�
LISTEN: To a 2005 conference panel which included Rintels:
Imaging a Media that Serves Our Democracy and Culture - Lauren Coletta, Common Cause; Danny Schechter, MediaChannel.org; Alyce Myatt, multimedia consultant; Jenny Toomey, Future of Music Coalition; Jonathan Rintels, Center for Creative Voices in Media (download mp3)
CONTACT:
Jonathan Rintels
President and Executive Director
Center for Creative Voices in Media
1220 L Street North
Suite 100-494
Washington, D.C. 20005
www.creativevoices.us