ASHEVILLE - Radio host and media critic Peter Hart will discuss "The Myth of the Liberal Media" at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 14 at Jubilee! community center at 46 Wall Street in downtown Asheville. Admission is free.

Hart is co-host and producer of "CounterSpin," the weekly media analysis program from the media watchdog organization, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR). CounterSpin" is broadcast on more than 125 non-commercial radio stations nationwide.

Hart will discuss how the growing concentration of media ownership by conglomerates such as General Electric, Viacom, Fox, AOL/Time-Warner and Clear Channel have greatly reduced the range of news, ideas and political perspectives available through mainstream mass media.

He is co-author of "Fear and Favor 2001: How Power Shapes the News," the annual FAIR review of news coverage influenced by the needs and priorities of corporate owners and their primary clients, advertisers. Hart will also discuss the critical need for American democracy to create an independent, non-commercial media sector that is free
of corporate and advertiser influence.

In addition to his radio work, Hart has appeared on NBC Nightly
News and Fox News Channel's O'Reilly Factor.

Hart's talk is sponsored by the nonprofit Mountain Area Information Network (MAIN), which serves 14 counties of WNC with dial-up Internet access, web hosting, online news and community information.

For more information, contact MAIN at 255-0182.