In today’s society, journalists all around the world are under scrutiny. For people like Abby Martin, that statement couldn’t reign truer. Martin is an independent journalist from Pleasanton, California.  Martin spoke at Diablo Valley College on Thursday, Oct. 25 about what she does as an independent journalist to bring light to the big issues that aren’t being reported on, not only in the United States but also around the world.

Martin has her own TV show that airs in Latin America on teleSur called “The Empire Files”. Martin is forced to produce the show in Latin America because of the U.S. sanctions regarding reporting on corporate media within the country.  In her show she discusses major issues around the world, that are not shown in mainstream media. Martin also strongly criticizes the current journalism climate in the United States saying, “Our brains have been collectively destroyed by the Trump Administration.”  She voiced her opinion strongly about what she believes the United States is coming to.

When talking about President Trump, Martin provided some light to why she believes journalism has gone under so much scrutiny. 

Martin’s feelings about corporate media were not only heard but they were visible as well.  Throughout her presentation audience members could visibly see how passionate, but also knowledgeable, she was about the topic. Martin said that if she was in the corporate media reporting, “they would shut off my mic within 10 seconds.”  She emphasized the fact that the corporate media works hand in hand with the government by protecting the ruling people.

Martin moved out of U.S. topics as her presentation moved on and wanted to provide some light on what goes on outside the country that the majority of society doesn’t see.

Martin used Israel’s recordings of journalist killings as an example.  Although Martin told the audience that the corporate media is recognizing these events, she pointed out that the way that these companies reported did not provide the complete information of what happened.  Martin said sarcastically, “Israel is our biggest middle eastern ally because they have the strongest democracy. They are killing journalists because they are a collaborator with the U.S. corporate media.” said Martin. 

At the end of her presentation, Martin gave suggestions on changes that she would like to see to the U.S. media make.  Martin formerly worked at Russian news channel, Russia Today, which she believes the U.S. media should take from their approach on reporting to the public. Russia Today features a style of straight reporting, where there is no censorship, according to Martin.  Martin emphasized that the audience of these types of articles are adults, and people who are old enough to understand what is going on and can comprehend the details completely and correctly.  Martin said, “Russia Today gave the power to the radical journalists.”

Another issue of Martin’s was censorship in media, using Google’s new search algorithm as an example, saying the search engine, “acquiesced to the government to censor media without a law being passed.”  The new algorithm inserts more noteworthy news sources, such as the Wall Street Journal or Washington Post, which suggests that similar sources are more credible. Martin cited that this plays right into the government censoring information because major news articles are apart of the corporate media protecting the higher up government officials of this country.

Martin wanted to provide a method for anyone willing to listen to go and look for the types of stories she spoke about to help spread awareness of the corporate media censoring important articles and information that the public deserves to read about.