Veracifier is an independent, internet-age news network started in April 2007. It comes complete with all the blogs, webisodes, and content that one would expect from any self-respecting 21st century web source. Part of the Next New Networks community, Veracifier is quickly gaining a following with videos from Joshua Micah Marshall of Talking Points Memo Media – an independent news media bulletin board of sorts curated by Marshall – and appearances by citizen journalist Brian Conley and others whom have already impacted the news on a national level.
Next New Networks’ aim is “micro-television networks over the internet for targeted communities, bringing together elements of tv programming and internet philosophy to allow viewers to contribute, share and distribute content.” Fitting into that template, Veracifier has a couple main web shows it broadcasts. The first, “TPM TV”, airs Monday to Thursday. Headed by Joshua Micah Marshall, a widely published journalist, it features interviews and commentary as well as news clips and on-site content, such as reports from the Personal Democracy Forum. Marshall’s politics are left-leaning, and Marshall’s interviews with such guests as Lower Manhattan’s Representative Jerrold Nadler (D) and Democratic Senate candidate Al Franken illustrate his political leanings.
Veracifier’s Fridays were given to hosting “Alive in Baghdad: A New Look”, a revisiting of the original episodes with commentary by director by Brian Conley, which go beyond the mainstream media’s filtered view to the streets of Iraq with American and Iraqi civilian correspondents. But after a short-lived stint, “A New Look” was replaced by shows highlighting a broader ranger of political topics, including the “’08 Roundup” and “Sunday Showdown Roundup.”
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The desperate need of Iraqis to get their message to the larger world is conveyed by Conley as he describes the dangerous and hostile environment facing those who work on Alive in Baghdad and Iraqi journalists in general. He explains how they must brave kidnappings, gunfire and other threats in this episode.
