-Caveat Lector-
Attention Iraq activists and researchers:
The article below is an interesting look into the world of Public
Relations (PR), the mainstream media, and the manufacture of America's
blood lust for Iraq. The article is taken from the 3 feb. 99 issue of
Eat the State! (Vol. 3, Issue #20), a Seattle-based forum for
anti-authoritarian political opinion & humor. If you are interested in
contacting Eat the State, they can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Yours in the struggle, Erik Gustafson, EPIC
------------------------------------------------------------
Quote of the week:
"Every time (the president) talks about trust it makes chills
run up & down my spine. The very idea that the word `trust'
could ever come out of his mouth after...the way he has
trampled on the truth is a travesty of the American political
system." -- Bill Clinton, speaking of Pres. George Bush in 1992
------------------------------------------------------------
Directors' Fees
Ever wonder what's behind the mainstream media's bloodlust over Iraq?
Okay, some obvious explanations leap to mind. War sells papers and
boosts ratings. Journalists often don't know much about foreign
countries or economics. Reporters want "access" to the policymakers, who
aren't so accessible when their policies are criticized. It makes the
job easier.
Even so, the endless columns calling for war, the near blackout of news
about protests and the polls showing overwhelming support for the
bombing (I can just picture the question: "Do you agree that we should
nuke Baghdad or are you some kind of unpatriotic scum?") seem like more
than mere knuckling under to the government. Just like any other
business, in journalism the bosses tell the employees what to do. In the
1998 edition of Project Censored, Peter Phillips looked at who sits on
the boards of directors of 11 of the U.S.'s largest media companies and
found that (surprise) they sit on the boards of other corporations. So
the bosses from companies ranging from hospital chain Columbia/HCA to
hospital supplier Phillip Morris (seriously) sit in positions to choose
the editors who decide how the news is presented.
Phillips lists the corporations that have ties to the boardrooms of the
fourth estate and they include many companies that stand to profit from
U.S. policy in Iraq. The most obvious profiteers are the defense
contractors, two of whom own TV networks: General Electric (NBC) and
Westinghouse (CBS). Among CBS's directors is Frank C. Carlucci III, who
happens to have been a deputy director of the CIA under President Carter
and was Secretary of Defense from 1987-89, when Saddam Hussein was a
valued U.S. asset. (Now that's cashing in on the D.C. revolving door
from government to industry!) Both companies share directors with other
defense contractors: Allied Signal and Textron for NBC; General Dynamics
for CBS.
GE doesn't just own NBC and sponsor news shows on PBS, it also provides
a member of the board of directors at the Washington Post, as does
Textron. The Post, by the way, owns Newsweek and the Everett Herald, and
is the former employer of the Seattle P-I's editorial page editor.
No company got better PR out of the 1991 Gulf War than Raytheon, whose
Patriot missiles looked far more effective on TV than they were in
reality. Raytheon happens to have two directors on the board of
Knight-Ridder, which owns the Philadelphia Inquirer, Miami Herald, San
Jose Mercury-News, and 49.5 percent of the stock in the Seattle Times.
In last month's bombing, the Navy unloaded several hundred "obsolete"
cruise missiles on Iraq at $1 million a pop, coincidentally making room
for orders for new ones. The missiles were made in Kent by Boeing, which
provides a member of the board at Times Mirror, owner of the Los Angeles
Times, Long Island Newsday, and the Baltimore Sun.
The obvious reasons the U.S. wants to crush Iraq is to control the flow
of oil. Does the oil industry influence news coverage of Iraq (or for
that matter any other oil producing country like, say, Nigeria, which
we're now told is becoming more open to dissent)? They might if they had
a pipeline to the boardrooms--and as it turns out, they do. The New York
Times has a director who also sits on the board at Texaco. At Times
Mirror you can find a director from Amoco. Ashland is represented at the
Washington Post. Phillips Petroleum has a director at Knight-Ridder.
Meanwhile Gannett, the nation's largest newspaper chain and owner of USA
Today, has a director from du Pont, which technically isn't an oil
company, but you'd be hard pressed to find many of their products that
aren't made from petroleum.
The same holds true on the broadcast side. Mobil and Chevron
representatives sit on the board at Time Warner, which owns CNN and Time
Magazine. CBS has directors from Ashland and Sunoco. Exxon has someone
on the board at NBC, as does Goodyear, whose tires are made of synthetic
rubber which is made from oil.
The banking industry also benefits from the U.S.'s Iraq policy, as it
has from every American military action. The investment banks underwrite
U.S. debt to pay for the bombing, which has the added benefit of letting
other nations know that they may be next if they try to stand up to
western capital. That may come in handy as debt is destroying economies
from Indonesia to Venezuela (and, hey, there's oil in those places,
too).
The banks and Wall Street firms are well-positioned to have their voices
heard in America's newsrooms. J.P. Morgan & Co. has people on the boards
of Knight-Ridder, the Washington Post and NBC. That's the same J.P.
Morgan that played a major role in getting the United States into World
War I because it was Britain's biggest creditor and its loans would have
been worthless if Germany had won. Bet you didn't learn that in your
high school history class.
Bank of America provides a director for Gannett and Walt Disney, which
owns ABC. Chase Manhattan has directors at CBS and NBC. Citicorp has
directors at Time Warner and NBC. Banc One is represented at CBS. Lehman
Brothers has a director at the New York Times. Salomon and Wells Fargo
have directors at the Washington Post. Bankers Trust New York has a
director at Fox, and American Express directors can be found at Gannett,
the Washington Post, and Time Warner.
Other companies that can profit from the bombing are also represented in
the mainstream news outlets, but you get the idea. When you look at
who's calling the shots and how they make money, a lot of corporate news
coverage makes sense. Don't expect the press to take universal health
care seriously when the industry has people in major media boardrooms.
Preventing cancer and other diseases rather than treating them with
expensive drugs? Lots of polluters (including the dioxin-spewing
publishers themselves) and drug companies are positioned to keep that
perspective from the public (see also this week's Media Watch). How
about some honest coverage of global
warming or solar power? Yeah, right.
By controlling how the news is presented, Boeing, Exxon, and the rest
get plenty of advertising for their war. And the beauty of it is, the
networks and newspapers pick up the tab, because when you're on a
corporation's board, the corporation pays you. Sweet.
<I>--Eric Spiegler</I>
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