Bush Administration Media Collusion Memos Surface

[Tennessee Gal]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- In a disturbing turn of events for an administration already plagued by sagging poll numbers and waning support for the Iraq war, Friday's revelation that the Bush Administration issued direct guidelines for programming to media outlets is troubling even die-hard conservatives.

Late Friday a series of memos between senior Bush Administration officials and management at Viacom, Inc. were leaked calling for the media giant to focus on stories and programming choices that "reinforce the Administration's positions" and to "ignore and/or discredit points of view in opposition to the Bush Administration's foreign policy objectives for the purposes of National Security."

Democrats and key civil rights figures were quick to comment on this latest chapter of alleged government malfeasance. Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer issued a statement calling for a congressional inquiry. "This is it. This is a smoking gun. For years we've been saying that liberal and moderate points of view aren't being accurately reflected in the media and this proves our point. The Bush Administration is clearly out of touch with the American people, and Viacom should be ashamed."

http://worldnewstrust.org/modules/AMS/article.php?storyid=2947

[The Magistrate]

1. This, Ma'am, Is A Fake Story From A Music Promoter

They created a false "Fox News" page to put it on.

[grasswire]

3. thank you

Really had me going there.

[Tennessee Gal]

5. It has a Fox News link.....

http://www.fox-news.us/story/0,3566,190215,00.html

[The Magistrate]

7. That Is Not Fox News, Ma'am

It is a "spoofing" site: the real Fox News site address ends in ".com", as a recourse to Google will quickly show you. This was first put up a couple of days ago, and traced to a hip-hop record promotion site, the name of which escapes my immediate recollection.

[grasswire]

2. what??????????????

Was there any other coverage of this? Did I miss it??

[NYCGirl]

4. Read above. It's a FAKE. NT

[CoffeeCat]

6. It's really sad...

...when a fake, sick news story can be easily mistaken as real.

Hell, half of the stuff we read in the Onion two years ago--is now true.

;)

[Tennessee Gal]

8. Is it a fake? It has a Fox News Link ......

http://www.fox-news.us/story/0,3566,190215,00.html

[Emit]

9. Here's the scoop regarding the satire piece in the OP

Fox News? Or Fox Views?
By Admin.
April 5th, 2006
Peace All,

Recently a satire piece went out that caught the attention of many, detailing how the Bush Administration and Viacom, among others, colluded to suppress dissent and infuse communities of color with negative and escapist entertainment.

~snip~

It is satire and the link now reflects it as such. The points made in it are valid enough though - there is a huge amount of negativity in entertainment that adversely affects everyone - especially communities of color. All you have to do is pay attention to the music and shows directly marketed for us and sanctioned by large media companies to get the meaning of what we're saying.

The whole point was to create dialogue, and that's exactly what has happened. Progressive communities don't view Fox as credible anyway, and right-wingers will never see things the way we do, so it makes no sense to be concerned about what their perception of us is.

It was a shock tactic intended to make people notice and it worked. Although some people had their toes stepped on, it was worth it. We've been saying the exact things detailed in the article in our communities for years but no change seems to ever come of our efforts - they do what they want to do anyway. It's akin to marching against the war in the streets...but yet we go to war anyway.

So a different tactic had to be employed.

~snip~

http://www.guerrillafunk.com/thoughts/doc000025.html

[Pryderi]

10. grrrrrrrrrrr.....I fell for it hook, line and sinker.

[Peggy Day]

11. Yikes, I almost emailed this link to my conservative preacher brother

And the bad thing is that I tell my family to use www.snopes.com when something doesn't sound right. I didn't find it there, but thanks for enlightening me-I must be a tad bit gullible.

[rucky]

13. because it's 100% plausible.

and that, in an of itself, says something.

[nolabels]

14. There was never no need for incriminating paperwork, a wink and nod was...

all that was ever needed. One must remember, corporate media hatched bushco and not visa-versa. Bush serves them at their pleasure not his. He is an empty suit produced by them for their corporate counterparts.

[vickitulsa]

12. I almost recommended after reading only the OP, then did anyway

after reading the responses because this is a great lesson in vetting "good" news stories. Besides, as others pointed out as well, I think it's really a good thing overall for our side because apparently this piece HAS provoked a lot of dialogue on the issue it highlights!

People feel a bit silly, sure, if they're fooled at first, and especially if they passed it on as real to others and then have to correct themselves. But hey, it happens to all of us, or nearly all, at some time or other. It's all a learning thing, right? I thought about it ... what if I had already sent this to, say, my brother and some friends, then had to write them again to confess it was a phony? I could follow up by asking them if it was utterly believable anyway, thus revealing how most all of us (Americans) view this administration now....

And damn, for me at least it just felt terrific to read what is surely "realistic" if not quite "real"!

Maybe for once the joke's on THEM! :)