Media monopoly.. Amy Goodman

[Bigmack]

Why media ownership matters

By Amy Goodman and David Goodman
Special to The Seattle Times
Edited...whole article at: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2002228040_sundaygoodman03.html

George Bush must have been delighted to learn from a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll that 56 percent of Americans still think Iraq had weapons of mass destruction before the start of the war, while six in 10 said they believe Iraq provided direct support to the al-Qaida terrorist network — notions that have long since been thoroughly debunked by everyone from the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee to both of Bush's handpicked weapons inspectors, Charles Duelfer and David Kay.

Americans believe these lies not because they are stupid, but because they are good media consumers. Our media have become an echo chamber for those in power. Rather than challenge the fraudulent claims of the Bush administration, we've had a media acting as a conveyor belt for the government's lies.

At the time of the first Persian Gulf War, CBS was owned by Westinghouse and NBC by General Electric. Two of the major nuclear weapons manufacturers owned two of the major networks. Westinghouse and GE made most of the parts for many of the weapons in the Persian Gulf War. It was no surprise, then, that much of the coverage on those networks looked like a military hardware show.

We see reporters in the cockpits of war planes, interviewing pilots about how it feels to be at the controls. We almost never see journalists at the target end, asking people huddled in their homes what it feels like not to know what the next moment will bring.

EDITED BY ADMIN: COPYRIGHT

[Upfront]

1. People Are Stupid?

Shocking!

[checks-n-balances]

2. Actually, Goodman said, "not because they are stupid"

"Americans believe these lies not because they are stupid, but because they are good media consumers."

Now, now, don't you know that twisting words and taking them out of context is a favorite pastime of GOP/freeper types? :)

I think it's fair to say, however, that she's guilty of understatement when calling this administration "fraudulent"!

[alittlelark]

8. They are not 'stupid', they are non-critical consumers of news and info.

[FiveGoodMen]

11. Yeah, but that's pretty stupid!

[katsy]

3. It boggles the mind that...

in spite of critiques of MSM by independent journalists and academia, MSM remains comfortable in their role as the propoganda arm of politics.

They have all the value of the Jerry Springer Show. The "news readers" do not investigate issues. They read from beltway press releases. MSM is a vehicle which delivers propoganda. Having said that, I apologize to the producers of the Jerry Springer Show for comparing them to the scourge a/k/a MSM.

You'd think that with their 24/7 cable news format, there would be plenty of time to vet an issue.

As most corporations, they have no conscience, no duty to anyone except their 401k plans and their shareholders. They have no duty to expose corruption. The ONLY role we serve is as the vehicle by which to measure their ratings.

The issues that affect Americans the most seem to have taken back seat to the tactics used by the rich & powerful to aquire more wealth & power.

[Jack Rabbit]

4. The media is serving us poorly

Polls that continue to show widespread misconceptions about the nature of the war against Iraq are exhibit A in that charge.

It is the function of a free and independent press to provide facts in order for citizens to make informed decisions. That is simply not being done in America today.

Perhaps most alarming of all is that other surveys show a direct positive correlation between voter ignorance and preference for Bush. Most of those who had misconceptions about the war voted for Bush and most of those who voted for Bush had misconceptions about the war. It isn't a coincidence that ignorant voters voted for Bush.

Consequently, when those who are guilty of waging wars of aggression predicated by lies are called to account, the media have a great deal for which to answer themselves.

This is not a classical totalitarian model where the government runs the press and tells it directly what it can and can't say. The situation is one where the people who own the media are the same ones who have signed the checks that have supported the political careers of Mr. Bush and corporate whores like him.

The effect on democracy is every bit as adverse. The public is not properly informed and dissent and discussion are limited as a result.

Until there is a remedy to this situation, American democracy must be considered broken.

[MichiganVote]

5. Well I know one way to get their attention

Cut the cable. If everyone dissatisfied with the result of the 2004 presidential election cut their cable, we'd have their attention. But how many of us are serious enough to cut our addiction to TV?

[MelissaB]

6. This is a great read from beginning to end!

Thank you, and nominated.

[CitySky]

7. Agreed.

Last Tuesday Amy Goodman spoke at an event for our Pacifica station here in Houston.

A fellow DUer blogged about that evening:

"In the documentary, Amy asked the question (in reference to the coverage of the Iraq war): 'If there was a state-run media in this country, what would be the difference?"

And after watching Sheperd Smith say 'Stay brave, stay aware, and stay with FOX', and Paula Zahn say 'We're savoring these pictures' as bombs explode in downtown Baghdad on the first night of 'shock and awe', and a parade of retired generals talk about 'rolling up the Republican Guard' and 'We're coming, and there's nothing you can do to stop us' as pictures of warplanes and battleships and missles flying into their targets in grainy black-and-white video play, and breathless embedded reporters say, 'It's just like a video game'...

... I have to answer, 'yes, what would be the difference?'"

Read the rest of this thoughtful blog here:
http://brainsandeggs.blogspot.com/2005/03/independent-media-in-time-of-war.html

Yesterday I finished the book, Exception to the Rulers, which is now available in paperback. The more people we have reading that, and listening to Democracy Now! (which is available via the website and satellite TV as on independent radio and TV stations), the better chance we have at waking up from this nightmare.

www.democracynow.org for more info.

Peace!

[Viva_La_Revolution]

9. She was in Portland Saturday....

report here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=109&topic_id=20166&mesg_id=20166

[Moderator]

10. Bigmack

Per DU copyright rules
please post only four
paragraphs from the
copyrighted news source.


Thank you.


DU Moderator

[struggle4progress]

12. kick