The liberal citizens group Committee for Democracy Now on Thursday in Medford charged that public radio news — and the media generally — is dominated by government, corporate and professional experts and spinmeisters to the exclusion of citizens groups, workers and the public.

The salvo came at the introduction of a report calling on Southern Oregon University’s Jefferson Public Radio to add "Democracy Now!," an independent, syndicated news show, to its programming.

"‘Democracy Now!’ covers stories the mainstream media ignore or report with a corporate or government bias," said Ralph J. Temple of Ashland, one of the 27-page report’s authors.

Temple and Terrell DeVilbiss, also of Ashland, said the group met with JPR Executive Director Ron Kramer and Associate Director Paul Westhelle to present the report. According to a study of more than 840 NPR news stories with more than 2,000 sources, 64 percent of the sources were government, corporate or professional experts, Temple said.

"Who you have on is the spin of the news," said Temple, a retired Washington, D.C., lawyer who taught at Harvard and Georgetown.

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Volunteers gave JPR a list of more than 100 local businesses and more than a dozen community groups who support adding the program to JPR’s existing news lineup, most of the programming for which comes from National Public Radio International.

Westhelle said Thursday that JPR has no plans to run the show, although the option remains open.

"Democracy Now!" is an independent program that airs on more than 300 stations in North America. It is broadcast on Pacifica and some NPR stations, public access cable television stations, satellite television, Rupert Murdoch’s DirecTV (Channel 375), Dish Network, short-wave radio, the Internet and Ashland Fiber Network (Channel 81).

It is hosted by Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez and produced out of the Downtown Community Television Center in New York City. Goodman is a winner of the Robert F. Kennedy Award for International Reporting. Gonzalez is a columnist for the New York Daily News and president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

Goodman plans a talk at 8 p.m. Saturday at SOU’s Britt Ballroom. The talk is sold out, but Ashland Mayor John Morrison proclaimed April 17-23 as Independent Media Week and encouraged people to explore a diversity of independent media.

Westhelle called Goodman’s show "advocacy journalism," a label Temple disagrees with.

"This isn’t about liberal activism," Temple said. "It’s about getting the news."

The group charged that a longtime trend toward corporate consolidation of the media has left ownership in a few hands and tends to exclude diverse viewpoints. Most major newspapers and TV outlets are in the hands of 10 corporations, Temple said.

"Ralph and I could agree" (about some of Temple’s criticism of the media), Westhelle said. "But I think he thinks public radio should balance a conservative media. We don’t agree with that."

Susan Walsh, chairwoman of the Communications Department at SOU, said there’s no doubt that a consolidation of media ownership has happened over the past couple of decades, although she noted the U.S. Congress turned down a move to further deregulation last year.

Walsh said she couldn’t speak to programming decisions at the university-operated station. She acknowledged that public stations have turned more to corporate and private funding as public money has dried up over a period of years.

"We don’t want NPR to go away," she said. "That would happen if corporate and listener support were not in the mix."

Westhelle said he would attend Goodman’s talk at SOU.

Walsh said SOU students have been encouraged to attend, although the university is not involved beyond the talk.

"I’d encourage them to continue to make their case," she said of the advocates. "Make it a conversation."

Reach reporter Bill Varble at 776-4478 or e-mail bvarble@mailtribune.com