MSM Is Getting a Little Taste of Justice for their Role in Votergate 2004

[McCamy Taylor]

If you have seen the documentary "Weapons of Mass Distraction " you know that a case can be made that the television news networks and other MSM players conpsired with the administration and Pentagon to sell America the Invasion of Iraq. The director of the documentary speculates that the MSM did this in exchanhge for favors from FCC Chairman Powell, who, in 2003 attempted to relax federal rules about media ownership which would have allowed the formation of even larger media giants. These rules changes have been fraught with legal contests.

Yesterday the NYT reported that the Bush administration has decided NOT to go to the SCOTUS to fight for these rule changes. Assuming that these rule changes were the payoff for the MSM's cooperation in selling in the Invasion of Iraq and, later, in assisting in Votergate 2004 which includes withholding the exit polls, it would appear that the MSM has been royally screwed by the White House. Note that the decision not to try to fight for these rule changes occured several days after the inauguration, when it no longer matters if the networks release the exit polls.

MSM, this is for you.

:nopity:

PS This could be why they held onto those exit polls. For sure, Kerry would have reversed those media rule changes. Under Bush they must have hoped they were going to benefit from them. What suckers!

[skylarmae]

1. now if we can only get someone to spill the beans

as to the actual details of this hush up, we'd really have something to shove down someone's throat. But until then, can't reason with the kool-aid drinkers.

[DearAbby]

2. Yep they had a piece of the Payola Pie

The American people should be informed about all of this, why does the media still cover-up for this administration? You're right :nopity:

[aquart]

3. Thank you for pointing this out. It cheers me.

Is there anyone who got in bed with Bush who didn't get screwed? With the possible exception of Laura?

[McCamy Taylor]

4. I dont know stocks but some of these media groups seem sort of low

http://money.cnn.com/markets/snapshots/Media___Entertainment.html

[Amaryllis]

5. Somebody's got to have a smoking gun!

[luaptifer]

6. Sinclair Broadcasting proved allegience of media-whores, didn't they?

Do you all remember the first night Sinclair Broadcast their "Unfit" special and the freeple were devastated? They didn't get their way cause we were so effective at influencing their advertizers.

And do you remember that this occurred in the midst of their hoped-for influence with Michael Powell when it came time to make decisions on further media-consolidative buys by the company?

I've thought about this issue and halfway come to conclude that what we saw was evidence of the true allegience that the corp-whores exhibit.

I've concluded there's a hierarchy of priority:
1) the shareholders, dictated by fiduciary concerns
2) the advertizers, by way of need to feed shortterm profits to shareholders
3) the consumer market whose eyeballs are harvested for 2).

So, the mighty shorterm dollar is of first concern to the corp-whores even outweighing the strategic value of ass-kissing to enhance probability of realizing longerterm goals. I came to this conclusion based upon our success in influencing what finally came down the tube in response to our advertizer-communications campaign.

I wonder what other folks think about this?

[seito]

7. You are 100% correct. They are the "Corporate Media"

The almighty dollar drives their interest. It was the stock price drop and shareholder pressure that drove Sinclair to cave on airing "Stolen Honor" uncut.

[luaptifer]

9. sorry it was 'stolen honor', you're right. but my question in context

is intended to consider that perhaps the answer is easier than political alliance, it's how to get the most shortterm bucks the quickest.

so if that's true, maybe what we must understand is just how that plays into the political scene, in case of this psycho administration, it seems to me that one identified factor is the access to the CONs allowed by the admin. if you displease the idiots with your broadcasts, you don't get the access that draws the eyeballs that sells the ads that feeds your shareholders.

is the answer that easy? somehow it doesn't seem so but assuming that priority list is correct...?!

[seito]

11. I am not sure that access to ** & Company

would draw any increase in viewers or effect add sales.

Faux has it's own cult following. Anyone that is actually interested in more ** will go there to find it.

The driving force behind the corporate media bias is more sinister. Corporations, such as GE benefit from their Republican alliances. It is in their best interest to provide propaganda, rather than news. If the American people knew the truth, it would be bad for business.

[KoKo]

12. Sadly, I don't think the "viewers" matter anymore. With the media

consolidation the top five own so much they can sell advertising just because of the sheer number of product that viewers have to watch. With cable and sattelite folks are now a "captive audience" for the re-runs and repeats that fill the cable airwaves on channels all owned by the top five.

So, unlike before the mid-1990's where viewing eyeballs counted towards advertising $$$$'s, we now have "mass media buying" where it doesn't matter because you are buying block time for five companies who own multiple outlets who don't care about the viewers because we've already paid the cable or sattelite provider for the service.

If that makes any sense. IOW..the viewers don't matter as much as the markets today...:shrug: Times have changed in the "New Economy." That's why they want to increase market share..to get bigger pieces of the pie from each other. And, that's how Powell obliged them. Not to say that the Media Deregulation Act under Clinton didn't start it all. :-(

We would have to all "unplug" for some big changes to be made, but all the media efforts made by folks here on DU and everywhere to the FCC did stop the further DeRegulation. They received over 2 Million complaints! And, even then, Powell still tried to ram the further dereg through. But, for now, the courts have said...no more...

[tsuki]

15. There were several reasons that the Sinclair stock fell.

According to M$M, it was an assault by the Democrats.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6293163/site/newsweek/

But the company knew that the 3rd quarter earning were pitiful to begin with and the brothers sold their stock in August when it was high (15.50) making millions using inside trader info. (Hoping to use the Kerry flap to cover their tracks, IMHO)

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=38393

[liberalla]

8. Is this the 1999 documentary featuring Amy Goodman?

I haven't seen it, and since you mentioned it, would like to find it...

[McCamy Taylor]

14. "Weapons of Mass Deception" by Danny Schechter, opened 2004

Here is an interview. I saw it at a documentary film festival in Europe. Really scary documentary about the MSM. For obvious reasons the documentary is getting next to zilch MSM coverage, because the film portrays the MSM in the worst possible light. If you get a chance to see it, do so.

http://www.reclaimthemedia.org/stories.php?story=04/12/11/0604893

[liberalla]

10. It'll be fun...

to watch them wake up and hopefully make some changes in the way they do business and the way they report the news.

"Assuming that these rule changes were the payoff for the MSM's cooperation in selling in the Invasion of Iraq and, later, in assisting in Votergate 2004 which includes withholding the exit polls, it would appear that the MSM has been royally screwed by the White House."

There's got to be some cracks developing.

[mod mom]

13. MSM are corporate dinosaurs. Why put up with obnoxious ads

to get faux news filled with lies and delivered by bought out talking heads?

[fooj]

16. "F...Fool me...Fool me can't get fooled again!!"

MSM gets spanked! :spank: Bummer! You get what you give!

[Bill Bored]

17. Hmmm...

and has anyone noticed that the crack Whitehouse press corps has been a bit harder on Jr. lately too, or is that my imagination?

[Quakerfriend]

18. I noticed this too!

...thought is was just a reflection of the fact that Jr. is in now and they don't have to lie quite as much. Plus, I think they are somewhat aware that things are shifting and don't want to be caught leaning too far to the right.

[rodeodance]

19. ironic-now we just need the mainstream media to spill the beans?

[McCamy Taylor]

21. Imagine the ratings CNN and MSNBC would score from Impeachment

hearings? I realize that ratings arent that big a deal for media giants, however, the giants are not going to be as humongous as they were hoping to be, now that Bush and Co. pulled this little stunt.

The more I think I about it, the more convinced I am that certain people at the network news must be mad as hell. They knew they looked really BAD when they were sitting on those exit polls. They looked like what they were, White House bitches, but at least they were doing it for their companies, so that they could expand and survive in the new mega-media empire world. Then, to find out they got used like this---it must make them feel like fools. And the harm to their networks---and their own---journalist reputation continues. Imagine how Keith Olbermann feels at MSNBC. If George Soros offers him a job, I'll bet he takes it. If Ted Turner starts a new news network, Ill bet he can have his pick.

[Al-CIAda]

20. Interesting additions-

Plame leaked by fake news source?
by SusanG
Fri Jan 28th, 2005 at 17:30:14 PST
Did the White House dribble the Plame leak through its own fake mouthpiece news source?

Consider:

A fake news service employs a fake reporter who apparently was the only one "identified by the Washington Post as having knowledge of the memo's existence." What leaked CIA memo, you ask?  The one in which "Wilson ... suggests his wife was instrumental in his selection for the fact-finding trip to Africa."

Let's back this pony up and look at what's come out in the past week.

Media Matters for the past couple of days has been delving into the mysterious "Talon News Service" and its mysterious, oh-so-helpful shilling reporter at White House press conferences, "Jeff Gannon."

Diaries :: SusanG's diary ::

First, from Media Matters:


Talon News, a conservative company whose Washington bureau chief and White House correspondent Jeff Gannon is well-known for asking loaded pro-Republican questions at White House press briefings,appears to be more a political organization than a media outlet.

Media Matters for America recently highlighted three Gannon articles that were little more than reprints of Republican and Bush administration releases; Media Matters has also noted Gannon's role as White House press secretary Scott McClellan's lifeline and Talon editor in chief Bobby Eberle's partisan political activities. A more in-depth look at Talon,Gannon,and Eberle casts additional doubt on Talon's claim to be a media outlet and raises questions about whether Gannon should be a credentialed member of the White House press corps.

Eberle is also,as Media Matters has previously noted,president and CEO of GOPUSA,a "conservative news,information,and design company dedicated to promoting conservative ideals." Though Eberle has claimed on the September 13,2004,edition of MSNBC's Scarborough Country that GOPUSA and Talon News are separate companies,they overlap heavily.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200501280006

But wait! "Jeff Gannon" isn't really Jeff Gannon after all, according to Atrios:


Special Treatment for Gannon?

According to sources, Jeff Gannon's real name is not, in fact, Jeff Gannon. According to the same sources, his White House press credentials list him as "Jeff Gannon" - they let him use his pseudonym -- even though married female reporters, who use their maiden name professionally, are given credentials with their married name and aren't allowed to be credentialed under their maiden names...

http://atrios.blogspot.com/2005_01_23_atrios_archive.html#110695056420863397

And then, a little Googling reveals this, from a March 9, 2004, "Talon News" release:


Talon News has learned that one of the journalists being targeted is Jeff Gannon, Washington Bureau Chief and White House correspondent for Talon News.

According to a subsequent Talon News story by Bobby Eberle regarding the Washington Post piece, "The Washington Post cites an unnamed source who says, 'The CIA is angry about the circulation of a still-classified document to conservative news outlets.'

They point to a memo referenced in a Talon News interview of Wilson that suggests his wife was instrumental in his selection for the fact-finding trip to Africa."

Talon News was the only service identified by the Washington Post as having knowledge of the memo's existence.

http://www.jeffgannon.com/Making%20News/federal_grand_jury_could_subpoen.htm

So am I reading more into this than I should be? And why would "Talon News" fink its own self out about the grand jury subpoena? Has the Bush administration and its evil ways turned me into a permanent paranoiac? Does anyone want to join me in useless speculation as to what this complicated crapola means?
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/1/28/203014/655
--------

Don't Mind Me. I'm Just Doing My Job

By Paul Farhi
Sunday, January 30, 2005; Page B02

... But now the art of press handling has evolved into actual manhandling. The Bush administration has expanded the use of “minders,” government employees or volunteers who escort journalists from interview to interview within a venue or at a newsworthy event.
... Several reporters covering the balls were surprised to find themselves being monitored Soviet-style by young “escorts” who followed them from hors d’oeuvres table to dance floor and even to the bathroom.
... As I was dictating from my notes, something flashed across my face and neatly snatched my cell phone from of my hand. I looked up to confront a middle-aged woman, her faced afire with rage. “You ignored the rules, and I’m throwing you out!” she barked, snapping my phone shut. “You told that girl you didn’t need an escort. That’s a lie! You’re out of here!”
... No, the minders weren’t there to monitor me. They were there to let the guests, my sources on inaugural night, know that any complaint, any unguarded statement, any off-the-reservation political observation, would be noted.

more-
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46409-2005Jan29.html
----

The Subversion Of The Free Press By The CIA

MOCKINGBIRD - The Subversion Of The Free Press By The CIA
So the American mainstream media are taking payola from the Bush administration?
Big deal. The truth is that the mainstream media has long been subverted by the CIA and forced to be nothing more than an arm of the government.

http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/POLITICS/MOCK/mockingbird.html
--------
Allen Dulles and Averell Harriman coopted selective members of the press, their faithful lapdogs. Well, today they own the whole howling pack. Their descendants, the most public being the Bush Gang, own the entire Corporate McPravda kennel - lock, stock and double-barrel. They certainly don't allow any freelance barking.
Journalism and the CIA: The Mighty Wurlitzer

section-

OSS veteran Frank Wisner ran most of the early peacetime covert operations as head of the Office of Policy Coordination. Although funded by the CIA, OPC wasn't integrated into the CIA's Directorate of Plans until 1952, under OSS veteran Allen Dulles. Both Wisner and Dulles were enthusiastic about covert operations. By mid-1953 the department was operating with 7,200 personnel and 74 percent of the CIA's total budget.

Wisner created the first "information superhighway." But this was the age of vacuum tubes, not computers, so he called it his "Mighty Wurlitzer." The CIA's global network funded the Italian elections in 1948, sent paramilitary teams into Albania, trained Nationalist Chinese on Taiwan, and pumped money into the Congress for Cultural Freedom, the National Student Association, and the Center for International Studies at MIT. Key leaders and labor unions in western Europe received subsidies, and Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty were launched. The Wurlitzer, an organ designed for film productions, could imitate sounds such as rain, thunder, or an auto horn. Wisner and Dulles were at the keyboard, directing history.

>

The combined forces of unaccountable covert operations and corporate public relations, each able to tap massive resources, are sufficient to make the concept of "democracy" obsolete. Fortunately for the rest of us, unchallenged power can lose perspective. With research and analysis -- the capacity to see and understand the world around them -- entrenched power must constantly anticipate and contain potential threats. But even as power seems more secure, this capacity can be blinded by hubris and isolation.

CONTINUED...
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/8425/CIAPRESS.HTM