Corporate ownership of media -- the reason we don't see real journalism

[JDPriestly]

more often. Cramer is a smart guy. He knew the score. But, if he had told the truth on his show, the corporation that employs him would have fired him. Cramer would have lost his job. That's true for everybody on TV. I ask myself how long Maddow and Olbermann will be tolerated by their corporate masters.

Jon Stewart gets by with what he does because his corporate masters' gig is to be nonconformists.

Forget the Fairness Doctrine. Get the big corporations out of the media. Media should, by law, be managed by independent companies formed only to hold and manage local media. The big networks, the conglomerates should be owned by independent corporations run by people who specialize in media management. They should feed into local stations, and at the local level, the management of local stations should choose which individual shows they want to buy and which they don't want to buy.

The secret is not in imposing fairness in programming, but in requiring independence in ownership at the local level.

[AndyTiedye]

1. Kicked and Recommended!

[Selatius]

2. One thing people overlook is enforcing media ownership caps that were put in place.

For instance, one corporation shouldn't be allowed to own all the radio stations, tv stations, and newspaper outlets in a city. That's a disaster waiting to happen. When Clinton signed into law the Telecommunications Act of 1996 passed by the Republican Congress at the time, it opened the flood-gates as far as media consolidation goes. People thought things were bad prior to that landmark bill, but they were in for worse.

[Elwood P Dowd]

3. Clinton fucked us with that, along with NAFTA and GATT/WTO.

I will never forget the shit he dumped on us from 1993 to 1996.

[Baikonour]

13. Better have your flame-retardant suit ready. n/t

[tbyg52]

4. Break 'em up. Break up the big banks while we're at it. nt

[JDPriestly]

10. Good point.

[JohnyCanuck]

5. Sorry if I seem to some DUers to be flogging a dead horse,

by posting the link to this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZkDikRLQrw">Youtube video clip on multiple threads, but I think it is important that as many people as possible see this video as it serves as a prime example of the points raised in the OP.

The video is one part from the documentary "The Corporation" and in it two investigative reporters explain how they came to be fired by a Fox owned station in Florida because they refused to water down a planned report on the potential dangers of Monsanto's Bovine Growth Hormone treatment for dairy cows. The product was sold by Monsanto in the US under the trade name Posilac (I understand Monsanto has since sold the rights to this product to another company), even though it's been banned for health reasons in most other developed countries for its potential to harm both humans and cows.

Journalists Jane Akre and Steve Wilson were fired by the Fox News television station they work for after refusing to change their investigative report on Posilac, a Bovine Growth Hormone (BGH) made by Monsanto. Their research documents potential health and safety problems of drinking milk treated with the synthetic hormone, but threatened with legal action from Monsanto, Fox wants the negative effects played down. The court eventually throws out Akre's whistle blower lawsuit after deciding that the media is allowed to lie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZkDikRLQrw

All 23 episodes of The Corporation are posted on youtube. Here is the complete playlist: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=FA50FBC214A6CE87

[Supersedeas]

7. hadn't seen it....thanks for the link

[JDPriestly]

9. Thanks. The Corporation is a great documentary. I have my own

copy.

[CBR]

6. My dissertation chair wrote the article at the link...

http://mediaresearchhub.ssrc.org/ownership-matters-content-localism-ownership-on-local-television-news/attachment

[arcadian]

8. Viacom are nonconformists?

That's the first time i've heard that one.

[JDPriestly]

11. I didn't say they were noncomformists. I said their gig ("their act, their job")

is to be noncomformist. They broadcast Sarah Silverman among others. Need I say more.

[pacalo]

12. K&R. Beautiful!

[omega minimo]

14. The secret is to have an active aware public to recognize the dangers of consolidation while it is

happening -- the last 30 years -- and stop it.