There are 2 cable-TV boxes on the hall table by the door. Dr. Dean was right; Media monopolies

[patrice]

have to go.

I'm sorry it took me so long to see, but the way things look NOW, with "Health" "Care" and DOMA and WH Visitors' Logs and such, it's pretty clear who owns whom.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

1. You know, I was just reflecting to myself , as I often do

that the media personalities, pundits, "reporters" "journalists" we all take so seriously pretty much look out for their own self-interests since they are in the upper income brackets in this country. It was pretty glaring during the Presidential debates when all Charlie Gipson could sputter about was capital gains rates - you could definitely see he had a personal dog in that race.

So, why be surprised when Scarborough, Hannity, Limbaugh, and almost all of the others push the right wing, conservative agenda? They do not face the same financial concerns as the average American. I'm sure their corporate overlords write the agenda, but they probably dish it up happily. I Got Mine, Sucker!

I think at some point in the near future my house will attempt to get off the cable addiction. I get most of my news online anyway, and can tell what a crock, I am being served daily, the rest of TV sucks unbelievably. I have a fair number of friends with no cable who are doing Netflix exclusively plus their online. Probable wave of the future.

[patrice]

2. I should put together an internet project to notify all of them that I'm not listening/looking at

them anymore. I think I'll do that and post my letter here.

We have a very good Community Radio here, KKFI and I intend to get XM radio (Thom Hartmann is on there and probably some others who will keep me informed). I will have PBS to watch, to whom I can now afford to give at least 1 month's worth of super-duper-cable-"platinum" (ha! ha!). I bought a TCM movie guide and will check out Netflix for entertainment.

On Edit: Actually, I'll be able to donate to KKFI now too and also our little pirate radio station Blue Barn News.

[necso]

3. I get like 70 over-the-air DTV channels

(when signal propagation is good, anyway; I could use a better antenna).

And while a large number are duplicates, foreign language (without english subtitles or an english language option) or "religious" channels, the number of programs I enjoy has increased dramatically.

[KharmaTrain]

4. Been That Way For A Long, Long Time

Good luck...there's precious little being said or done about who owns the media or about opening it up to more voices.

XM is just as corporate as the networks...a majority of the stock is now owned by cable guru John Malone. PBS also relies on large corporate donations and is known to include that company's viewpoint, subtly, in those shows.

Corporate media is deeply entrenched and has ruined radio is destroying television and driving millions to alternative media for news and entertainment. We don't have to break them up, many are on the verge of bankruptcy due to their own greed and arrogance and we could see an implosion of bankruptcies later this year.

Sadly little has been said or done about revising or repealing Telcom '96 that made all broadcasting the domain of the large coporates and drove out local and minority ownership.