-Caveat Lector-
Tuesday, May 22, 2001
Big media pushes news to the far right
<http://www.sfexaminer.com/opinion/default.jsp?story=OPfuchs0506w>
The biggest lie fed the American people by conservative pundits is that the
United States is dominated by the "liberal media." As if Rupert Murdoch,
Michael Eisner, General Electric, Time-Warner AOL and Viacom are owned and
operated by liberals.
Not only are these folks ultra-conservatives, but the people they hire to
voice their opinions are so far to the right, they give independent
journalism a dirty name. No, my friends, the corporate media is in the
hands of right-wing kooks parading as moderates and pushing the political
envelope further and further to the right.
That great political scientist Hannah Arendt said American democracy would
live or die as a result of the marketplace of ideas. If the marketplace is
closed down because one political philosophy predominates, than democracy
will die. And that has happened over a period of time because of the
burgeoning power of media conglomerates and the destruction of independent
journalism.
Now we are about to see another major assault on media journalism by the
Federal Communications Commission. The new chair of the FCC is Michael
Powell, the son of Colin Powell.
For decades the Supreme Court has ruled that no media company should own
more than one medium in a market and that television market penetration
should be limited to no more than 35 percent. That ruling helped provide
competition in the marketplace and a diversity of ideas. The rulings also
prohibited cross-ownership of radio, newspapers and television in the same
market.
But now the FCC and the appeals courts have become sympathetic to the free
speech rights of corporations and more skeptical of the role of government
in promoting diversity in the mass media. Of course, the nation's largest
TV networks, cable companies and other media businesses have become
powerful financial contributors to political parties.
Powell is invoking free speech in his interpretation of the rules governing
broadcast restrictions. He objects to the government imposing rules that
limit how many people one company can talk to. He says, "There is something
offensive to First Amendment values about that limitation."
The FCC will review this rule and determine what modifications are
warranted. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has a
case before it that involves just that issue as Viacom, Inc., the parent
company of CBS, finds out whether it has to divest stations to come in
compliance with the 35 percent cap.
Earlier this year the D.C. appeals court threw out similar restrictions on
cable TV companies, an action many believe signaled a change in the
networks' war against the broadcast limit. In that case the court
determined that limiting the number of subscribers one company can reach,
impeded too heavily on free speech.
And within a few weeks officials at the FCC said the agency will begin to
loosen a 26-year-old regulation restricting a company from owning a
television station and a newspaper in the same market.
Some consumer groups have denounced the court's decision, saying it would
further concentrate media power in many markets with limited competition,
sharply reducing the diversity of viewpoints on the airwaves and
diminishing the number of companies.
These rules, which the courts and Powell want to do away with, have
protected the American public's access to news, information and programming
reflecting many political views, different perspectives and tastes. The
erosion of these protections means that the ultra-conservatives will not
only dominate the airwaves, but monopolize it.
What Powell and the courts are missing in all this is that since the
beginning of radio, the federal government has regulated the airwaves,
taking the unequivocal position that it belongs to the people, not to the
corporations. Businesses were allowed to broadcast using the airwaves as
long as they maintained certain rules and standards.
People like Rush Limbaugh could never make it on radio because of a rule
that gave equal time to persons to respond to political attacks by
commentators. Radio commentators were very careful in how they broached
their attacks in the old days. That rule went out when Ronald Reagan became
president and Democrats in Congress agreed to the change.
Perhaps the best example of where the media in this country is headed is
best illustrated by Jane Akre and Steve Wilson. They won the Goldman
Environmental Prize for trying to report on the potentially cancerous,
genetically modified hormone rBGH in milk. Under pressure from Monsanto,
the manufacturer, Fox Network refused to air the reports and eventually
fired the journalists.
Akre successfully sued Fox for violating Florida's whistle-blower law and
is now defending the settlement in the appeal process. But no other
television network picked up on that report, or approached the two to have
them report this important piece of news.
We are sterilizing the news in this country and every media company is in
lock-step making certain that corporate America's interests are protected
against reporters who would challenge them by broadcasting the truth.
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html
<A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A>
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
<A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
