Is the Corporate Media a threat to democracy and way of life?

[kentuck]

No doubt, many consider themselves a source for good in our society. They inform and educate the public, they say. But, do they really?

It seems, from my perspective, that they are a tool of a very deceitful and destructive regime that has taken over this country and the media assists the regime with their plan, willingly or unwillingly, at every turn. No matter if it is lying to the people about the war or lying about a new Medicare Drug Bill. And once they have been found to have deceived the people, the media does not pursue the stories to their rightful conclusions. Rather, they minimize and go on to another diversion, usually personal in nature.

The present media structure, I am convinced, is a threat to our nation. They have no purpose for their existence. The talking heads on these cable shows are nothing less than traitors. They should be convicted for treason and sent to prison. We know who they are and they know who they are. They hide behind their paychecks and facetime to give information that they know is not complete and, at best, is meant to deceive the public into believeing a point of view that is totally false. It's all a game to them, as American lives are affected each and every moment their ugly faces are on the tube.

[bryant69]

1. So you agree with Ann Coulter

People who expresss opinions different from you are traitors. While you would certainly both put different people in prison, the methodology seems the same.

Not that I don't see any danger in the corporate media, just that this particular argument rings a little false in my ears.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[kentuck]

3. They only difference being....

that they don't give a damn what you say. You can go to jail but they know they can do or say whatever they wish. I don't think it is the same thing as Ann Coulter is saying... but Ann Coulter has only a small bit part in the big media game. Ann Coulter is a gnat on the ass of a donkey. I would not attempt to compare the two because the dangers are not the same and I believe the corporate media are "traitors". But, I know they will never go to jail or answer for their treason.

[BradCKY]

2. Wow

Bush has taught you the powers of the the patriot act well I see. One problem, the first amendment, Freedom of Speech.

[kentuck]

4. It's not about Freedom of Speech but it might be about the Patriot Act....

But don't give up your life or your freedom under the guise of "free speech" in the form that the corporate media spoon feeds you. They are not about free speech and they are not on your side.

[BradCKY]

7. So?

It doesn't matter how many people hear the media, you have the ability to research things on the internet and think on your own.

Free Speech is in the constitution for a reason, without it is oppression of ideas. It applies to EVERYBODY whether you like what they say or not.

[rman]

9. it's just that some ideas get Much More air time than others,

depending on the amount of money and power behind the ideas.

I'd say it's pretty obvious that public opinion is formed primarily by those ideas that get nearly all the air time.

[AP]

13. Free Speech doesn't apply to private actors. It only applies to laws the

government passes, which mediate the relationship between individuals and their government.

The private press can lie all they want, and deny points of view from being heard and seen their papers and on their TV shows, and there's nothing that can be done about it.

And if the government wanted to pass a law restricting their ability to tell lies, they'd say the constitution guarnatees their right to tell lies, which, IIRC, was the winning argument for a local FOX affiliate down in FL recently regarding a story about BSE (was it?).

[linazelle]

19. It does matter how many hear what's said in the media...

until the media starts issuing disclaimers, people will continue to believe a lot of what they see. And don't tell me they can research it, when BushCo and the likes of them have states with 40% dropout rates. People are not that well equipped in terms of time, family obligation, etc. to do the job the media ought to be doing for them.

[kentuck]

5. This is interesting! Let's get more voices defending the corporate media.

It's a black or white argument, obviously. :)

[el_gato]

14. corporate media is a tool for fascism, why would anybody defend it?

The facts are the facts and the media as it is now constructed is a
tool for people who have a total disdain for democracy and freedom.

We need to replace it. Period.

This is a free speech issue in the sense that we have not had a voice.
It's time we create a stronger alternative that will eventually displace the propaganda outlets.

How anybody could sit here and say your post was anti-free speech is beyond me.

[rman]

6. The press used to be the way for the people to keep a check on govt.

That was, untill the press lost its independence. The press (media) is now dependend on the big corporations that own the media, the same corporations that own the government.
So all that's left now is for the people to just trust the government and the corporations in that they won't abuse the power they have.

[AP]

10. I'm not sure if it ever has really been that way. It wasn't in the Spanish

American War, and I think the only reason it was any good during the early 70s is because the FAR right wanted to take out the middle right, and unleashed the press to go after Nixon.

For most of American history the media has mostly sucked.

What has changed, I believe, is that the potential profits have soared -- which has a lot to do with neoliberalism. Now that other countries have opened their markets (or have been forced to), the media is fighting for their own, and their customers', and the government's, and their adveriters' local and regional hegemony. Their fighting for a global hegemony. The potetial profits are IMMENSE, so the lies are too.

[rman]

11. agreed, the media have never been *really* independent

But surely the removal of the Fairness Doctrine and the Rule of Sevens didn't help - and those are fairly recent changes. These changes in effect made it legal for the media to be an instrument of deception for corporate power; equal time is no longer required and monopolies are allowed.

[AP]

12. The trend is downward, but they started the 21st century at a pretty low..

...point.

[AP]

8. The concentration of media ownership, the lack of diverstiy of ideas, the

fact that they've turned information into a commodity with a market value that often increases when that information is FALSE all are HUGE threats to democracy.

[kentuck]

15. I agree, AP...

The media, in its present form, is a huge threat to democracy...

[AP]

17. Repeat for emphasis: LIES are more valuable to the media than

truth.

And that's one of the biggest reasons the media is a big threat to democracy.

[sweetheart]

16. Cleaning up the weeds

The constitutional framers, had they known about electronic media
when the constitution was written, would surely have included its
regulation in the constitution.

Had they made a section, corporate personhood, this artificial
construct of law, would surely not have been given citizen rights.

It is the public common, these airwaves, and the companies do not
have absolute property rights to represent any media at all without
scrutiny. Private free speech aside.

There should be a public regulator in america similar to this one
in the more modern unwritten constitution of britain: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/about_ofcom/?a=87101

It is the independent communications regulator, much as how
Greenspan is the regulator of the independent (ha!) central
bank.

[linazelle]

18. This, to me, is our number one problem

Without the media, we cannot elect the people we want to, or get the truth out so that people can decide whether they are being well represented or not. If there is one thing we should be throwing money at, it is the development of a new media for the people of this country.

[AP]

20. There are so many problems, it's hard to rank them.

But this is a big one, and even at DU you see a lot of people who don't appreciate well enough what the media is doing.

[Cat Atomic]

21. Media consolidation is *the* biggest threat to democracy, along

with the concentration of wealth into fewer and fewer hands.

The problems compound each other as well.

[Deja Q]

22. Yes

Power corrupts.

And when I see newspapers put up articles that have only one side's viewpoint on the front, radio stations which clearly prefer one political party over the other, TV shows that do the same...

They are shills for the misadministration and freely urinate on the First Amendment.