Who Stole Television News?

[Judi Lynn]

Published on Tuesday, September 30, 2014
by PR Watch

Who Stole Television News?
by Joel Silberman

BREAKING NEWS—They're selling us another war on television.

As a Washington media strategist, people ask me, "Who's offering alternatives to war on the Sunday morning news shows?" As reported by the New York Times, military analysts dominating the Sunday airwaves, marshaling support for war in the Middle East, have been ex-military employed by defense industry contractors profiting from war. They appear with current administration officials/apologists, former members of the Bush Iraq War team, and politicians scoring points by being for a war on ISIS but against the president.

Dissenting voices are few: Katrina vanden Heuvel, Editor of The Nation, Rep. Raul Grijalva and Michael Shank in The Guardian. But their viewpoint is often obliterated by the drumbeat of war. Or... they're simply not booked to appear.

Has television news failed us completely?

In today's 24-hour/7-day/22-minute news cycle, the repeated becomes the truth because everyone's saying it. The golden rule is—those with the gold rule. In television, those spending the most money, control the media narrative.

But not that much has changed. In the beginning, television was an advertising agency dominated medium. Nothing went on the air that didn't please the sponsors. Sponsors had complete control.

More:
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2014/09/30/who-stole-television-news

[Prophet 451]

1. It's gone to the corporates

These days, it's entirely about ratings. Anything that drives numbers is legitimate. People get the wrong idea about television, they think it's a product that we consume. It's not. We are the product, advertisers are the consumers. Higher ratings equals higher advertising costs so anything that pushes ratings up is a good thing and few things drive ratings like a war. That's how tv works in your country and most of mine. If the BBC didn't have a duty to educate the people in it's charter, it would have gone the same way.

[cui bono]

2. I was listening to Phil Donahue on the radio a few days ago, he was a guest on...

I don't remember but I think it was the Thom Hartmann show. It was really interesting. He was talking about when he was against the war and he could only have one anti-war person on. I didn't catch the whole thing. Wish I could hear it.

[navarth]

4. That was on Thom Hartmann.

I'm a subscriber, so I haven't had to check to see if this is still true, but Thom's show used to be shared at the White Rose Society website, it might still be there.

That Donahue interview was really good; mostly rehashing stuff he's said in the past, but: it is information that should be repeated. Over and over.

I'll see if I can pinpoint which show it was for you.

[cui bono]

7. Thanks. I don't think the White Rose Society does that anymore.

Iirc, couldn't get any shows there when I last checked quite a while back.

[navarth]

8. Ok.

That Donahue interview was really good, sorry it's not available for non-subscribers.

I was surprised to hear that Donahue had started here in Michigan. As crazy as things have been lately, The Great Lakes State is still blue.

[Enthusiast]

3. It's clear gone.

I refuse to watch it for one minute.

We always used to watch our local NBC, CBS and ABC affiliates—no longer.

Why would we subject ourselves to constant misinformation?

They had a guy on the local ABC that launched into an anti-liberal/Democrat monologue diatribe every evening. It was like listening to Ann Coulter or Glenn Beck. This is the kind of shit they expected us to watch.

I'm clear done.

[blkmusclmachine]

5. Media, tell us lies, tell us lies, tell us sweet little lies.

14 Defining
Characteristics Of Fascism


#6. Controlled Mass Media - Media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.



http://rense.com/general37/char.htm

[santamargarita]

6. What's television news? That's what the Internet is for...

[Blue_Tires]

9. The Telecom Act of 1996 stole it

no big mystery there...