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Based on his searing new documentary film WMDs - Weapons of Mass Deception, former ABC News and CNN producer Danny Schechter will give you the inside scoop on how big media is undermining journalism dumbing-down news, and undermining our democracy. There were two wars going on in Iraq - one was fought with armies of soldiers, bombs and a fearsome military force. The other was fought alongside it with cameras, satellites, armies of journalists and propaganda techniques. One war was rationalized as an effort to find and disarm WMDs - Weapons of Mass Destruction; the other was carried out by even more powerful WMDs - Weapons of Mass Deception. The TV networks in America considered their non-stop coverage their finest hour, pointing to the use of embedded journalists and new technologies that permitted viewers to see a war up close for the first time. But different countries saw different wars. Why? For those of us watching the coverage, war was more of a spectacle, an around the clock global media marathon, pitting media outlets against each other in ways that distorted truth and raised as many questions about the methods of TV news, as it did the armed intervention it was covering-and it some cases-promoting.

Schechter is an investigative journalist, print reporter, on-air TV correspondent, network TV producer, Internet blogger and independent filmmaker. He has won Emmy awards and written seven books. His newest book "When News Lies", came out in September 2005 and "Embedded: Weapons of Mass Deception: How the Media Failed to Cover the Iraq War" in October 2003. He is the executive editor of MediaChannel.org, the world's largest online media issues network, and recipient of the Society of Professional Journalists Award for Excellence in Documentary Journalism among others He has produced and directed over a dozen TV specials and documentary films, including "Counting on Democracy" about the electoral fiasco in Florida; the post 9-11 film "We Are Family" (2002) shown at the Sundance Film Festival; and "Nkosi: A Voice of Africa's AIDS Orphans" (2001).

I wanted to thank you for all of your help in bringing Danny Schechter to UC Irvine last night. The event went incredibly well and the students were elated to have the opportunity to engage Danny in a meaningful dialogue. Danny's message truly resonated with the crowd and I believe that he has inspired a lot of students to take more action about the issues he raised. Danny was a pleasure to work with and we are looking at last night as a great success. Thank you again. We'll certainly be in touch for future events.

Alex Kushner
Programs Coordinator
University of California/Irvine