Report on 2004 Town Hall Meeting on the War in Iraq

Some 150 people attended a town hall meeting organized by Chicago Media Action and held on October 24, 2004. The meeting, entitled "A Pre-election Town Hall Meeting on the War in Iraq: Why Didn't The Media Tell Us Everything They Knew" took place at Chicago Temple in downtown Chicago.

The event opened with some remarks by CMA organizer Ron Kunde. Then audience participants were treated to the noted film Hijacking Catastrophe, narrated by Julian Bond, and directed by Jeremy Earp and Sut Jhally (who played a part in CMA's founding).

The event then turned to presentations and a discussion panel by three noted speakers -- John Nichols, political commentator with The Nation magazine and author of the book "Dick: The Man Who Is President"; Salim Muwakkil, journalist with "In These Times" magazine and a past columnist with the Chicago Tribune; and Cliff Kelley (the event's moderator), radio talk show host with WVON-AM and V103 FM.

CAN-TV videotaped the entire presentation for future rebroadcast, and CMA audiotaped the presentation for later radio and web rebroadcast. Download Nichols, Muwakkil, and Kelley presentations. (MP3 format; 36.3 MB; 63 minutes, 58 seconds)