Set the media free

[Say_What]

<clips>

...Real power is now in the hands of a few global economic groupings and conglomerates that appear to wield more power in world politics than most governments. These are the new masters of the world who gather annually at the World Economic Forum in Davos and lay the groundwork for policy decisions by the globalising trinity of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and World Trade Organisation.

Within this geo-economic framework there has been a decisive transformation in the mass media, striking at the heart of their structure as industries. The mass communications media (radio, newspapers, television, internet) are being realigned to create media groups with a world vocation. Giant enterprises such as NewsCorp, Viacom, AOL Time Warner, General Electric, Microsoft, Bertelsmann, UnitedGlobalCom, Disney, Telefónica, RTL Group and France Telecom have realised that the revolution in new technology has greatly increased the possibilities for expansion. The digital revolution shattered the divisions that previously separated the three traditional forms of communication (sound, text and images) and allowed the creation and growth of the internet. This has now become a fourth form of communication, a means of self-expression, information-access and entertainment.

...VENEZUELA is an exemplary case of the new international situation, in which media corporations are running rampant and openly operating as guard-dogs of the established economic order: a new force operating against the people and civil society. The operations of these big groups are no longer confined to the business of media; they are also, above all, the ideological arm of globalisation. Their function is to contain demands from the grass roots and, where possible, also to seize political power; Silvio Berlusconi, owner of Italy's biggest media conglomerate, has succeeded in achieving this by democratic means.

The media-based dirty war in Venezuela against Chávez is an exact copy of what was done in 1970-73 by the El Mercurio newspaper (6) in Chile, against the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende - this was the campaign that led to the coup against him. And this kind of campaign, with the media setting out to destroy democracy, could happen tomorrow in Ecuador, Brazil or Argentina, against any legal reforms that attempted to modify the social hierarchy and inequalities of wealth. The powers of the traditional oligarchy and the classical reactionaries have now been joined by the power of the media. With a single voice, claiming to speak in the name of freedom of expression, the media attack anything that defends the interests of the majority of the people. That is the media face of globalisation, and it reveals in the clearest, caricatured way the ideology of globalisation.

http://mondediplo.com/2003/10/01media

[linazelle]

1. I knew it was bad but I didn't know it was this bad

I thought our media problems were intrinsic to the US and expected that it would take years to turn them around. But now that I see the scope is global, makes it much worse than I thought. I guess there's still hope in trying to at least right the US media even if it will take years. It's a shame that societal truth has become a luxury.

[Say_What]

2. pretty scary, I agree

I worked for News Corp in the 1980s, and I knew at that time that Murdoch and a couple of others had control of the global media. One piece of tripe is sent out over the news wires and the same sh*t appears in papers around the globe. Personally, I don't think there's any righting the US media, sorry to say. You may find the Project Censored site interesting as well.

I found this part of the article encouraging:

...That is why we suggested setting up Media Watch Global (L'Observatoire international des médias) (8). It will at last give people a peaceful civic weapon against the emerging superpower of the big mass media. It is an outcome of meetings of the global social movement held in Porto Alegre, Brazil, and expresses the concern of the people of the world in the face of the new arrogance of the giant communications industries at the height of their globalisation offensive.

Big media companies push their interests to the detriment of the general interest, and confuse their freedom with the freedom of enterprise, held to be the first of liberties. But that freedom of enterprise cannot be permitted to override people's right to rigorously researched and verified news, nor can it serve as an alibi for the deliberate diffusion of false news and defamation.

Press freedom is no more than the extension of collective freedom of expression, which is the foundation of democracy. We cannot allow it to be hijacked by the rich and powerful. It implies a social responsibility and its exercise must remain, in the final instance, under the control of society. That is why we propose the creation of Media Watch Global, because the media now constitute the only power without a counterweight, which creates an imbalance damaging for democracy. The strength of the organisation will be moral: it will judge media honesty on the basis of ethics, and will seek to remedy media shortcomings by reports and studies which it will prepare, publish and distribute.

Media Watch Global will act as an essential counterweight to the excessive power of the big media groups. It is needed because these groups, in providing news and information, impose the single logic of the market, and the single ideology of neoliberalism. Media Watch Global will be an international association, with the objective of exercising a collective responsibility, in the name of the higher interest of society and the right of citizens to be properly informed. We attach the greatest importance to the World Information Summit in Geneva in December. The association intends to act as a whistle-blower, warning society against the epidemic of media manipulations in recent years.

[AP]

3. El Mercurio vs Allende, early '70s Chile = Media vs Davis, 2003 CA

All the same tactics were used. Republicans cause crappy economy, blame liberals, install RWer who will turn country into pro-corporation anti-middle/working class state.

It's a sign of the US's increasing fascism that it is no longer left wing govts which are a threat to corporate domination, but it's moderate left governments too.