Reading the Media
Founded by a collective of radical media makers in 1981, Paper Tiger Television pioneered edutainment. Broadcast on public access television, the collective took a grassroots, DIY approach to media production that showcased how television was made through television, while critiquing corporate media and attempting to build a more equitable form of moving image. As one of the founders put it: “It is one thing to critique the mass media and rail against their abuses. It is quite another to create viable alternatives.”
Punk and experimental, Paper Tiger Television was such an alternative. The series, Reading the Media, featured all manner of intellectuals, artists, and activists analyzing, and satirizing newspapers, magazines, and even cigarette ads to decipher their hidden codes, messages, and ideologies. In a time of image overload, “fake news” and Fox News, YouTube conspiracy videos, and billionaire-owned newspapers, Paper Tiger TV’s radical shows and education in critical media studies are just as relevant today as they were decades ago.
DIS presents 5 legendary episodes featuring feminist cyborg scholar Donna Haraway, artist Martha Rosler, linguist and social critic Noam Chomsky, lawyer, actor, and activist Florynce “Flo” Kennedy, and political philosopher, environmentalist, and anarchist Murray Bookchin.
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Donna Haraway Reads 'The National Geographic'
No. 01
Paper Tiger Television
Watch NowHow do relationships between human and non-human animals reveal how we think about ourselves?
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Flo Kennedy Reads U.S. Press on South Africa
No. 02
Paper Tiger Television
Watch NowLawyer, actor, and activist Florynce “Flo” Kennedy investigates how the U.S. media uses a language of neutrality to obscure its ideological commitments.
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Noam Chomsky Reads the New York Times
No. 03
Paper Tiger Television
Watch NowIn order to responsibly read the news, one must ask oneself three questions...
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Martha Rosler Reads Vogue
No. 04
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Murray Bookchin Reads Time Magazine
No. 05