Katrina vanden Heuvel: Dean Takes on Big Media

[mandyky]

Addresses Dean's appearance on Hardball (MSNBC) on Dec 1.

http://www.commondreams.org/views03/1219-12.htm

<snip>

Breaking up media conglomerates is a campaign that millions of Americans--of all political stripes--are embracing. Perhaps the most hopeful example of this is a growing media democracy movement--working to reclaim the airwaves for citizens. Even mainstream media is waking up to the issue. Recently, Lou Dobbs of CNN announced the results of his online poll about media conglomerates. According to his survey, ninety-six percent of those polled said that big media conglomerates should be broken up. Only four percent were happy with them. Maybe this democratic revolution will be televised after all.

</snip>

[Supply Side Jesus]

1. can i get a hell ya!

amen! Praise me!
you know what the big media will say, "Of course, you know this means war"

[revcarol]

2. Glad to have Dean on board

with Kucinich!!

[HuckleB]

3. Woo hoo!

Good to hear.

[SahaleArm]

4. Katrina van 'Dean' Heuvel

The best of the rest: Yes, No, Maybe...

MATTHEWS: Well, would you break up GE?

DEAN: I can’t-you...

MATTHEWS: GE just buys Universal. Would you do something there about that? Would you stop that from happening?

DEAN: You can’t say-you can’t ask me right now and get an answer, would I break up X corp...

MATTHEWS: We’ve got to do it now, because now is the only chance we can ask you, because, once you are in, we have got to live with you.

DEAN: No.

MATTHEWS: So, if you are going to do it, you have got to tell us now.

MATTHEWS: Are you going to break up the giant media enterprises in this country?

DEAN: Yes, we’re going to break up giant media enterprises. That doesn’t mean we’re going to break up all of GE.

What we’re going to do is say that media enterprises can’t be as big as they are today. I don’t think we actually have to break them up, which Teddy Roosevelt had to do with the leftovers from the McKinley administration.

MATTHEWS: ... regulate them.

DEAN: You have got to say that there has to be a limit as to how-if the state has an interest, which it does, in preserving democracy, then there has to be a limitation on how deeply the media companies can penetrate every single community. To the extent of even having two or three or four outlets in a single community, that kind of information control is not compatible with democracy.

MATTHEWS: How-how far would you go in terms of public policy?

MATTHEWS: This is not-what you describe is not laissez-faire.

It’s not capitalism.

DEAN: It is capitalism.

MATTHEWS: How would you-what would you call it?

DEAN: I am absolutely a capitalist. Capitalism is the greatest system that people have ever invented, because it takes advantage of bad traits, as well as our good traits, and turns them into productivity.

[PurityOfEssence]

5. another shrewd move: bad-mouth the media...

It may get a lot of play, or...

When throwing down the gauntlet like that he'd better make it a front and center major issue. If he doesn't, he can't bellyache about being shorted on coverage; complaining doesn't go too far in this country.

He still needs to be in their good graces to get coverage, and no, that doesn't mean sucking up to them. More and more he reminds me of the kid on the playground who's always spoiling for a fight. That kid always garnered some respect, but he engendered more annoyance and always got his ass kicked in the end.

Maybe I'm wrong; maybe he can tell everyone and every institution in the country that they're assholes and fellow-travelers and still get elected. I gotta admit, that'd be historic.

[SahaleArm]

7. Read my post above with the more context...

Does he really take a stand or is he hedging?

[KissMyAsscroft]

6. This is a great issue for Dean...

There is widsreap support for breaking up of big media.

People are waking up to the garbage that they are offered 24 hours a day. People are sick of it.

[Melodybe]

8. Testify! the Rupert Murdochs of the world should have been put down a

long time ago. I read this article when it came out but it still makes me giddy when I think about it.