San Francisco-The next time you are watching TV or are on your computer and think, there are a lot of ads for banks and financial companies, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, CitiBank, Charles Schwab, E-Trade etc. Think about the fact that millions of dollars are being spent with corporate media.

Elder Holds Sign on Affordable Housing Day, Yes on Prop C News Conference, October 6, 2012.

On the front lines of covering the attempted land grab by "predatory lenders" and now "predatory buyers" out for a quick buck while flipping homes, I see little action being taken to help the homeowners flipped out of their homes.   The added insult to injury of this foreclosure crisis is that families put out of their homes have little choice in affordable housing, especially in San Francisco.

Action is being taken to give some relief to those seeking some place safe to recreate "Home Sweet Home." Amid The America's Cup, Fleet Weekend, music festivals and more,alast weekend over 100 dedicated workers, volunteers and concerned citizens gathered at the Crocker Amazon Senior Apartments on "Affordable Housing Day" in San Francisco.

Although media advisories went out to all corporate media, there were none present. More and more, little by little, "Freedom of the Press" seems to mean corporate media is free to have a blind eye turned to what is happening in local communities. The advocates for Prop C are not forestalled. Prop C reads:    

Shall the City amend its Charter to: create a Housing Trust Fund that supports affordable housing for low-income and moderate-income households; and change the affordable housing requirements imposed on some private residential developments?

Here's a link to the League of Women's Voters that gives both sides of the coin on Prop C. (http://www.smartvoter.org/2012/11/06/ca/sf/prop/C/).

Mayor Ed Lee and Supervisor John Avalos were on hand for the community action and news conference. Organizations represented at the

Alejandro Guzman, youth member from PODER told the crowd "We love our city and the variety of people who make it up and want everyone to be able to live here" as Supervisor John Avalos looks on. "

event included: AACE,(Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment), Bernal Occupy, Council on Community Housing Organizations, PODER (People Organizing to Demand Environmental and Economic Rights), ECS, (Episcopal Community Services), TNDC, (Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation) HRC, (Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco) AND, (Asian Neighborhood Design) ALRP, BHNC (Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center), Hospitality House, Dolores Street Community Services, and Senior and Disability Action.

Community Leaders Espanola Jackson, Chris Jackson, Ed Donaldson, Vivian Richardson, Buck Bagot were among those present and advocating for community issues.

Community Leaders: SF Filmmaker Jacquie Taliaferro, Vivian Richardson, Espanola Jackson (seated) and Chris Jackson with his child at the Affordable Housing Day event.

Ed Donaldson, although no longer with SFHDC ( San Francisco Housing and Development Corporation), is still working for the rights of people being foreclosed. " Prop C is about building needed affordable housing. But lets keep our eye on the fact that we can't just sit on our hands as people's homes are being auctioned off on the City Hall steps," said Donaldson. "We're working on putting together private financing to buy homes at auction and lease them back to the homeowners until they get their financial footing again," added Donaldson.

As you look at the financial ads left and right, consider what would happen if financial institutions used their billions of dollars and their foundations to rework mortgages to give homeowners another chance at the American Dream.

Getting back to "Freedom of the Press"-Here's a reminder of the fact that our corporate media are too often chained downed by financial institutions financial ads.   Not one corporate media outlet covered this action by the SEIU  December 17, 2009.

Wells Fargo Protest (San Francisco)

Wonder if the Occupy Movement would have come along a lot sooner, if the public had been informed sooner. 

What else are we missing? The old adages "consider the source" and "get your news from more than one source" come to mind. And just maybe it's time to re-read that sophomore high school classic "1984" by George Orwell. 

As a media sidebar, Media Alliance reports Tavis Smiley and Cornell West were pulled off the PBS Channel in Chicago. Here's a link to that story.

by Jacquie Taliaferro  

contributions from  

Jackie Wright,  

Wright Enterprises 

www.wrightnow.biz.

Related Story:  

"Reverend Jesse Jackson Makes Predatory Buyers Prey." 

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