Not all of Wal-Mart's overseas factories are in China. The government of Bangladesh recently signed a six-month, $330,000 contract with Ketchum's The Washington Group, to "open doors at the senior levels of major U.S.

"It seems strange, in our day of multiple 24-7 news channels, the always-on Internet, and RSS to say that we don’t have enough news," writes Lisa Williams. "But in most cities and towns that happen to be more than 500 feet outside a major media market, the local people suffer more from media anorexia than information overload. It’s hard to find good information about the place where you live." Williams describes her own experiences trying to fill the gap with H2Otown, her citizen journalism website for Watertown, Massachusetts.

With so many television and film producers churning out reality TV shows and big budget action movies, there often seems to be little space on the screen for relevant, critical documentaries. The films produced by the Media Education Foundation, however, are just that.