Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
.In the early years of our democracy the "free press" was all that stood between greedy corporate interests, government corruption and you and me....
That began to change as a powerful institution known as the Council On Foreign Relations gained power, and the trend toward total corporate media control rapidly accelerated during the Bush era with media consolidation.
Suddenly the old rule that one corporation could not own all of the town's news outlets was gone....Companies like Clear Channel Communications suddenly began to buy up every radio station, TV outlet and newspaper in major markets, effectively controlling everything that people read, watched and heard. The pattern of media consolidation has increased during the last eight years to the point that now only a few corporations control the news that we watch.
What Liberal or Right Wing Media? It's Just Corporate Media.
Who really controls the media? Is the so called "liberal media," that the right complains about, controlled by Hollywood and liberal special interests? Is Fox News controlled by the Republican Party? If you believe any of these generalizations you are dead wrong, and the truth will shock you.
Here are the top twenty media corporations in the U.S. according to mediaowners.com -- All but two of the following, #18 and #19, are not members of the Council On Foreign Relations.
1. Time Warner Inc.
2. Walt Disney Company
3. Viacom Inc.
4. News Corporation
5. CBS Corporation
6. Cox Enterprises
7. NBC Universal
8. Gannett Company, Inc.
9. Clear Channel Communications Inc.
10. Advance Publications, Inc.
11. Tribune Company
12. McGraw-Hill Companies
13. Hearst Corporation
14. Washington Post Company
15. The New York Times Company
16. E.W. Scripps Co.
17. McClatchy Company
18. Thomson Corporation
19. Freedom Communications, Inc.
20. A&E Television Networks
Actually the people keep all those horrible corporations going by buying the product except in some rare instances like PBS where taxpayers are forced to contribute to left wing propaganda. Personally I would rather trust any corporation on the list for news than the government
Imagine if government controlled the media. It would be as broke as social security and as dull as Bill Moyers. Opinions from euros are like ass holes but when are American lefties who enjoy the freedom of the 1st Amendment going to quit whining? Corporations aren't the enemy. They keep the economy running while stupid politicians are trying to ruin it.
I think most of the people here do not have the mental flexibility to do that.So we have the model of a single media behemoth,let's call it EnormoCorp, running simultaneously within its sphere: television stations; television networks; radio stations; movies; internet access companies and cable channels; advertising billboards; sports teams; sports arenas; record (CD) companies; book publishers; newspapers; search engines; games; magazines; comic books... in other words every conceivable way for humans to channel information. Think about the implications of that.
Yeah, that is the theory in civics classrooms, but, I think, the REALITY is quite the reverse, and has been so for a long time.Information should be diverse -- not monolithic. We forget too easily that both the corporation and the broadcaster are allowed to exist at the pleasure of the people -- not the other way around.
I think most of the people here do not have the mental flexibility to do that.So we have the model of a single media behemoth,let's call it EnormoCorp, running simultaneously within its sphere: television stations; television networks; radio stations; movies; internet access companies and cable channels; advertising billboards; sports teams; sports arenas; record (CD) companies; book publishers; newspapers; search engines; games; magazines; comic books... in other words every conceivable way for humans to channel information. Think about the implications of that.
THEY NEED US TO INCREASE THE VALID CONTENT OF THEIR MINDS. · ·
Excellent posting, Pogo.
I often wonder about the sanity of people who manage to understand that the government is a great threat to freedom, yet are complacent about the dangers of giant corporate monopolies -- cherishing the delusion that these Masters of the Universe are their friends or allies. I, sensibly, regard both government power and monopoly corporate power as vampires out to get us.
I think only an expert on the number of angels dancing on the point of a pin would be able to distinguish any essential difference between Stalinist State Capitalism and Mega-Corporate Monopoly Power.
Also, it is idiotic to imagine that monopoly corporations "are not the enemy." If government is the enemy, then so are mega-corporations. Indeed, they are often much greater enemies than government, since there is much less over-sight of their evil machinations, hidden from the public in their CEO offices.
As for the news, it is not just that these monopoly mega-corporations own and control the news -- bad as that is -- it is that they have all the super-sophisticated resources of modern brainwashing techniques, the subtlety of which ordinary Joe-Schmo can not even begin to assess or understand or take effective countermeasures against. Most Americans simply drown in a sea of brainwashing and are quite unaware of their conditioned mental slavery. The vanity of Americans -- which for all practical purposes is infinite -- prevents them from seeing how their minds are molded, while, absurdly, they have the delusion that no one can pull any tricks over on them!
As long as both government and big business have the power and means to brainwash me and others without our being aware of it, I will certainly continue to regard both of them as enemies.
Yeah, that is the theory in civics classrooms, but, I think, the REALITY is quite the reverse, and has been so for a long time.Information should be diverse -- not monolithic. We forget too easily that both the corporation and the broadcaster are allowed to exist at the pleasure of the people -- not the other way around.
WHERE THERE IS NO OFFICIAL CENSORSHIP, IT IS PRETTY CERTAIN THAT THE OFFICIAL SPOKESMEN HAVE ALL THE LOUDSPEAKERS
---Paul Goodman
.
No one's ever explained that paradox.
Imagine if government controlled the media. It would be as broke as social security and as dull as Bill Moyers. Opinions from euros are like ass holes but when are American lefties who enjoy the freedom of the 1st Amendment going to quit whining? Corporations aren't the enemy. They keep the economy running while stupid politicians are trying to ruin it.
Technically correct -- corporations aren't the enemy. Sheep like you who keep enabling them by bending over are. I just laid out some of the reasons why. Our sterling Congress and sleazeball president bent our whole country over with the Telecommunications Act of 1996, and a few other strokes by a few other corporate whores, notably Michael Powell, a perfect example of entrenched Washington nepotism giving away an important post to a clearly unqualified asshole.
Government can't "control the media". That would run directly counter to the First Amendment. I mean, duh.
Imagine if government controlled the media. It would be as broke as social security and as dull as Bill Moyers. Opinions from euros are like ass holes but when are American lefties who enjoy the freedom of the 1st Amendment going to quit whining? Corporations aren't the enemy. They keep the economy running while stupid politicians are trying to ruin it.
Technically correct -- corporations aren't the enemy. Sheep like you who keep enabling them by bending over are. I just laid out some of the reasons why. Our sterling Congress and sleazeball president bent our whole country over with the Telecommunications Act of 1996, and a few other strokes by a few other corporate whores, notably Michael Powell, a perfect example of entrenched Washington nepotism giving away an important post to a clearly unqualified asshole.
Government can't "control the media". That would run directly counter to the First Amendment. I mean, duh.
If corporations don't keep the media running who else is there? The government? Lefties hate lobbyists and corporations and foreign wealth and sometimes the Constitution. What do they like? Anarchy, socialism, fascism, communism?
Technically correct -- corporations aren't the enemy. Sheep like you who keep enabling them by bending over are. I just laid out some of the reasons why. Our sterling Congress and sleazeball president bent our whole country over with the Telecommunications Act of 1996, and a few other strokes by a few other corporate whores, notably Michael Powell, a perfect example of entrenched Washington nepotism giving away an important post to a clearly unqualified asshole.
Government can't "control the media". That would run directly counter to the First Amendment. I mean, duh.
If corporations don't keep the media running who else is there? The government? Lefties hate lobbyists and corporations and foreign wealth and sometimes the Constitution. What do they like? Anarchy, socialism, fascism, communism?
SMALL BUSINESS, Einstein. Private owners. You and me. OK, well not you but everybody else.
(Oprah voice) "You get a radio license and you get a radio license and you get a TV license..."
"We the People". That's who.
Damn, some people are thick.
If corporations don't keep the media running who else is there? The government? Lefties hate lobbyists and corporations and foreign wealth and sometimes the Constitution. What do they like? Anarchy, socialism, fascism, communism?
SMALL BUSINESS, Einstein. Private owners. You and me. OK, well not you but everybody else.
(Oprah voice) "You get a radio license and you get a radio license and you get a TV license..."
"We the People". That's who.
Damn, some people are thick.
"We the people" are invested in corporations. Every pension system is invested in corporate wealth. The DOW is all about corporate wealth. How is social security doing? As long as the "OWS" anarchists haven't shut down the DOW "we the people" can still buy a share or 100,000 shares in the media of our choice. Here's a tip, if America invested in fossil fuel the way the Saudis do and made energy cheap enough for small businesses to survive it might change the equation a bit.
SMALL BUSINESS, Einstein. Private owners. You and me. OK, well not you but everybody else.
(Oprah voice) "You get a radio license and you get a radio license and you get a TV license..."
"We the People". That's who.
Damn, some people are thick.
"We the people" are invested in corporations. Every pension system is invested in corporate wealth. The DOW is all about corporate wealth. How is social security doing? As long as the "OWS" anarchists haven't shut down the DOW "we the people" can still buy a share or 100,000 shares in the media of our choice. Here's a tip, if America invested in fossil fuel the way the Saudis do and made energy cheap enough for small businesses to survive it might change the equation a bit.
Wrong. SOME of we are wealthy enough to be invested; but that's got nothing to do with who has access to the media. Nor does fossil fuel. Here's the point here: when EnormoCorp owns an entire media empire, and when virtually all of media is owned and operated by half a dozen EnormoCorps, there's nothing left for you and me.
It's called oligarchy. And it can't be gone soon enough.
"We the people" are invested in corporations. Every pension system is invested in corporate wealth. The DOW is all about corporate wealth. How is social security doing? As long as the "OWS" anarchists haven't shut down the DOW "we the people" can still buy a share or 100,000 shares in the media of our choice. Here's a tip, if America invested in fossil fuel the way the Saudis do and made energy cheap enough for small businesses to survive it might change the equation a bit.
Wrong. SOME of we are wealthy enough to be invested; but that's got nothing to do with who has access to the media. Nor does fossil fuel. Here's the point here: when EnormoCorp owns an entire media empire, and when virtually all of media is owned and operated by half a dozen EnormoCorps, there's nothing left for you and me.
It's called oligarchy. And it can't be gone soon enough.
Wrong. It's called democracy. Corporations invest in media operations to make money. Everybody has access to the media.
How could the system operate any other way? Should we empower government bureaucracies to determine which corporations should be allowed to invest in lucrative markets like the media?
Despite the government run education system in the US, Americans are still smart enough to determine which news analysis they like and they are smart enough to keep their kids away from the trash that is run on cable TV and produced by Hollywood.
I have no problem with corporate ownership of the media but I do have a problem when control is concentrated in such a small number of giant corporations."We the people" are invested in corporations. Every pension system is invested in corporate wealth. The DOW is all about corporate wealth. How is social security doing? As long as the "OWS" anarchists haven't shut down the DOW "we the people" can still buy a share or 100,000 shares in the media of our choice. Here's a tip, if America invested in fossil fuel the way the Saudis do and made energy cheap enough for small businesses to survive it might change the equation a bit.
Wrong. SOME of we are wealthy enough to be invested; but that's got nothing to do with who has access to the media. Nor does fossil fuel. Here's the point here: when EnormoCorp owns an entire media empire, and when virtually all of media is owned and operated by half a dozen EnormoCorps, there's nothing left for you and me.
It's called oligarchy. And it can't be gone soon enough.
Wrong. It's called democracy. Corporations invest in media operations to make money. Everybody has access to the media. How could the system operate any other way? Should we empower government bureaucracies to determine which corporations should be allowed to invest in lucrative markets like the media? Despite the government run education system in the US, Americans are still smart enough to determine which news analysis they like and they are smart enough to keep their kids away from the trash that is run on cable TV and produced by Hollywood.
The media constantly refer to themselves as the 4th Estate. Look it up.
"We the people" are invested in corporations. Every pension system is invested in corporate wealth. The DOW is all about corporate wealth. How is social security doing? As long as the "OWS" anarchists haven't shut down the DOW "we the people" can still buy a share or 100,000 shares in the media of our choice. Here's a tip, if America invested in fossil fuel the way the Saudis do and made energy cheap enough for small businesses to survive it might change the equation a bit.
Wrong. SOME of we are wealthy enough to be invested; but that's got nothing to do with who has access to the media. Nor does fossil fuel. Here's the point here: when EnormoCorp owns an entire media empire, and when virtually all of media is owned and operated by half a dozen EnormoCorps, there's nothing left for you and me.
It's called oligarchy. And it can't be gone soon enough.
Wrong. It's called democracy. Corporations invest in media operations to make money. Everybody has access to the media. How could the system operate any other way? Should we empower government bureaucracies to determine which corporations should be allowed to invest in lucrative markets like the media? Despite the government run education system in the US, Americans are still smart enough to determine which news analysis they like and they are smart enough to keep their kids away from the trash that is run on cable TV and produced by Hollywood.
