Keith Olbermann Comments On The Ignorance Of The Media

[Turborama]

Run time: 01:46 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKw4Ne0GHc8   Posted on YouTube: January 23, 2010 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: January 23, 2010 By DU Member: Turborama Views on DU: 5011

 
Keith uses an excellent sporting analogy to show how the MSM is keeping the blinkers on the general public regarding the SCOTUS decision to sell America's democracy. I saw on Faux they mentioned it for about 15 seconds.

[Douglas Carpenter]

1. kick and recommend

[dotymed]

16. Sadly, this is so true.

Maybe it is not ignorance, but a willful choice by the MSM to keep Americans uninformed and hopefully docile?

[DallasNE]

49. Of Course It Is A Willful Choice

Marketing surveys shows that sensationalism sells. Just look at all of the "reality" shows that rake in the big bucks for the networks. The last thing those shows show is reality so it is absolutely a willful choice that MSM considers gun-toteing tea-baggers as "reality". We used to call these freak shows and play them at halloween. Halloween is now 12 months a year.

[theaocp]

2. knr, sir!

[2 Much Tribulation]

3. Kay -n- Rrrrrr n/t

[Warpy]

4. Best comment yet!

Even the right wing idiots aren't talking about this because the right wing ranters don't have their story straight on it.

This decision was stunningly shortsighted, stunningly evil, and proof that both corporate personhood, which was supposed to be limited to the right to hold property and write contracts, and the word "speech" have been massively misunderstood in the name of corporatism.

May all five of these men rot in hell.

[JHB]

20. It also belies any claim these 5 have to being "originalists"...

...on constitutional law, i.e., rejecting the idea of an evolving body of law and holding the so-called "original intent of the founders" as the proper standard. ("so-called" because that's not nearly as clear a thing as they'd like to pretend it is, even to who counts as a "founder".)

They were, however, clear that corporations were not equivalent of people, and did not have the rights of people. This decision flies in the face of that history. So much for conservatives being against "activist" judges.

[Moostache]

5. K&R - one of the few who get it IMO

Olbermann's style may grate on some, but his content is generally spot on in my eyes. The real disgrace is that what he mentioned tonight has been in full force for the better part of 20 years now...

From O.J. to JonBenet to Whitewater to Lewinsky to Terror Color Codes to Octomoms and Kate and 8's, what gets the lion's share of the media attention is pap.

The truly substantive stories that have happened and gone under-reported reads like a who's who and what's what of the things historians 150 years from now will wonder about:

- the loss of the middle class in America (the REAL engine of economic growth and prosperity)
- the stealing of a presidential election by underhanded tricks in 2000 (FL / Bush v Gore)
- massive intelligence failures and non-chalence regarding security pre-9/11
- the taking a country to war in two countries under false pretenses
- planning, starting and prosecuting 2 wars amid budget-devastating tax cuts
- the stealing of a presidential election by underhanded tricks in 2004 (OH)
- torture, possibly murder, of prisoners in these same wars that endanger future US troops captured in battle
- the demoralization of our military families through extended tours, multiple deployments and stop-loss measures
- the bankrupting of the nation and the shut down of the world economy because of a casino-like mentality on Wall Street
- and many, many, many, many more...so many it is depressing to think about for too long...(climate change, education, manufacturing, new technologies lost to foreign countries, whole segments of the future economy ceded to others, science standards in early education, overall academic achievement of US students...I need a tissue now...the tears of rage are literally welling up on me...)

Why would anyone honestly be shocked by the media circus taking a pass on the Supreme Court selling out our democratic republic?
It has become a fait au compli that we are circling the drain of the American Empire's flush and what makes me so sad is that it did not have to be this way...there WERE other possible outcomes...

[Larry Ogg]

31. It has been going on a lot longer than 20 years...

“We are grateful to The Washington Post, The New York Times, Time Magazine and other great publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected their promises of discretion for almost forty years. It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world if we had been subject to the bright lights of publicity during those years. But, the work is now much more sophisticated and prepared to march towards a world government. The supranational sovereignty of an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferable to the national auto-determination practiced in past centuries.” David Rockefeller, 1991 Trilateral Commission meeting speech

No such thing as an independent press.
"There is no such thing, at this date of the world's history, in America as an independent press."
You know it and I know it. There is not one of you who dares to write your honest opinions, and if you did, you know beforehand that it would never appear in print. I am paid weekly for keeping my honest opinions out of the paper I am connected with. Others of you are paid similar salaries for similar things, and any of you who would be so foolish as to write honest opinions would be out on the streets looking for another job. If I allowed my honest opinions to appear in one issue of my paper, before twenty-four hours my occupation would be gone.
The business of the journalists is to destroy the truth; to lie outright; to pervert; to vilify; to fawn at the feet of mammon, and to sell his country and his race for his daily bread. You know it and I know it and what folly is this toasting an independent press? We are the tools and vassals of rich men behind the scenes. We are jumping jacks, they pull the strings and we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes."
John Swinton - (1829-1901) Former Head of Editorial Staff for the New York Times, was one of America's best loved newspapermen. Called by his peers "The Dean of his Profession."


The man who never looks into a newspaper is better informed than he who reads them; in as much as he who knows nothing is nearer to the truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods and errors. It is a melancholy truth that a suppression of the press could not more completely deprive the nation of its benefits than is done by its abandoned prostitution to falsehood. T. Jefferson

[donheld]

6. I really think it's intentional

Surround us with distractions rather than real meaty stories that really affect our lives.

[BrklynLiberal]

9. Absolutely intentional.

[HappyCynic]

7. K & R

[BrklynLiberal]

8. Bread and circus for the mindless crowds. That is what the media provides.

Never give the public something to think about...It might make them realize what the hell is actually going on around them!!!

[Beartracks]

37. Bread and Circuses is apt.

I've thought that about Fox programming since that network got started. That programming philosophy certainly does seem to extend into their "news" division.

[Third Doctor]

43. that's my take exactly.

word for word.

[alp227]

10. I agree with Keith. The corporate media is too much business, not enough information.

Same happened in 2005: Michael Jackson's child molestation trial and the disappearance of Natalee Holloway delayed news of the Downing Street Memo for nearly a whole month after the British media first broke the news of it.

That's why my main news sources = PBS, NPR, NY Times, Washington Post, DU, and the Internet.

For another, more detailed perspective on how the MSM covered Citizens United v. FEC, I dared to visit the Media Research Center website. Brent Baker summarized it on the BiasAlert...he apparently is afraid of the fact that the case allows unlimited corporate spending on campaigns! (The reason I did it was because I watched the PBS Newshour, not the networks, covering this case)

After summarizing ABC, CBS, and NBC evening news coverage, he says:

None pointed out "special interests" spend on campaign ads because of the limits imposed on how much individuals (and an un-changed ban or corporate donations to federal candidates) can contribute to candidates and so the assumed destructive influence of corporations, unions and special interests could be lessened if candidates were on an even playing field re-empowered by being able to accept much larger donations from individuals as well as corporate money.

[Divine Discontent]

11. so sad... yes, they LOVE the Edwards story - who gives a SHIT about it - our country is falling to

pieces... :(

[justicia]

12. So sad...

Unfortunately it's a way to keep us down. Remember knowledge is power. They don't want us to have any power.

[Johnny ramone]

13. Keith&R

I can't say that I'm surprised at all either by this monstrosity being swept under the rug by the corporate media.And like someone said earlier,bread and games to distract the masses.Those networks have barely anything to do with information,it's entertainment.

[teschman]

14. Who's to Blame

I wouldn't put all the blame on the MSM. Why are Fox ratings so high? How does Glenn Beck retain an audience? Then there's Limbaugh's ditto heads. The list goes on. People in this country are intellectually lazy, most lap up the pandering the above mentioned put out without questions. It's easy to have someone else think up answers to complex questions. Keep beer prices low and preach loudly on Sunday.

[greenbird]

17. You've hit the nail on the head.

It's laziness. Staying informed requires hard mental work and is often psychologically painful. Most people will avoid those things at any cost.

[Uncle Joe]

28. I would put the lion's share of blame on them, with their knowledge, information, wealth and access

to the nation's megaphone, they have a higher responsibility than the average American just trying to make a living.

People have varying degrees of financial resources, time, emotional and mental intellect, but these corporations have access to the best, they know marketing, psychology, sociology and human nature to the tenth degree.

The corporate media; should be trying to lift up and enlighten the American People as opposed to tearing and dumbing the nation's citizens down.

[rhett o rick]

46. Easy to blame the public, but they get hours of propaganda every day. Day after day.

They never hear the truth so how are they responsible? No one challenges them.

[Uncle Joe]

27. The corporate media has a conflict of interest, if there's no limit on corporate spending, there's

no limit on commercials and advertising, if you've become nauseated at the number of political commercials during election time, wait until the next one, it will blow the roof off.

The corporate media want the American People dumbed down on the impact of this issue because it's a moneymaker for them, Olbermann seems to be one of the few exceptions.

I believe his analogy is accurate but even that falls short, because big cities dominating the NFL and Green Bay going bankrupt doesn't violate the rest of the nation's First Amendment Rights, which this decision clearly does.

You can't yell "Fire!" in a theater because it will start a panic, no one may be able to refute your claim in time, before at worst; people are stampeded or at best; the movie is just interrupted.

This limitless commercial money will likewise drown out opposing views with fewer resources and/or less time, the nation will be treated with more corrupt/incompetents in power because those with the mega wealth want them there.

The corporate owned Republican Party doesn't want effective, quality governmental leadership; which could/would regulate corporate abuse over the people and this will help insure that threat to corporate/oligarch power doesn't emerge.

[Highway61]

15. The media isn't stupid

not at all....stupid like a fox. It's intentional

[Hubert Flottz]

18. The media is a part of the monster that ate democracy, thanks

to the filthy five on the SCOTUS.

[spicegal]

19. It's a sad statement about our society.

We'd rather be entertained and distracted with mindless garbage, as opposed to understanding what's really going on. Corporations already had far too much sway over our politics and politicians, and this decision by the SCOTUS only cinches it. How can the little guy possibly compete on that scale. I don't think this is what our Founders had in mind with the 1st Amendment. If I'm not mistaken, Jefferson himself had deep concerns about corporate power, even back then. He wanted to include a clause in the Constitution to address it, but was overruled by others.

[OrwellwasRight]

45. "We" would not rather be entertained.

"We" would rather that Americans understood things like statistics, self-interest bias, and how to use facts to marshall an argument. Unfortunately, these skills are sadly lacking.

But I will never buy that argument that the media only shows us what we want to see. That is a circular argument and self-fulfilling prophesy. "We only show about john and kate or the balloon boy because people watch it." Well, people only watch it because it is shown. And they have precious few other choices that would truly educate them.

Sad.

[Vermontgrown]

21. Has

anybody ever listened to how fucking stupid these supreme court justices are, especially Scalia. The man is barely literate. Same thing with the entertainment host on Fox. Hannity barely made it through high school. O reilly is inferior to Hannity even, and each host goes down hill from there.

[Enthusiast]

39. I don't know about

Scalia's literacy but the man is just plain wrong on his law.

[Pool Hall Ace]

22. k&r

:kick: An errant penis (or similar situation) always trumps real news. :(

[orbitalman]

23. They are their own worst enemy...

Again, I don't know what they're teaching "journalists" in school, but clearly, they are not teaching logic, deduction, analysis, investigation, assessment or questioning in their reporting and instead, teaching laziness and conventional wisdom. This is how democracy is getting twisted to our detriment. There are only a few bright reporters with too many investigative needs.

[Overseas]

24. K&R . I agree very strongly. //nt

[Uncle Joe]

25. Excellent analogy by Keith.

Thanks for the thread, Turborama.:thumbsup:

[DeSwiss]

26. The bulk of the American media.....

...is owned by the same hand-full of corporations that the SCOTUS just gave a free-influence pass to. So of course they don't want to advertise it. This corrupt decision by the Corrupted Supreme Court was the coup de grâce to our democracy. Before I wondered, but no more. We are now in fascism.



- Of the Filthy Five, four of them I was already certain of their corruption. This one we can thank Justice Antony Kennedy for. It looks like corruption and senility won out.

K&R

[skepticscott]

41. Why is this a corrupt decision?

What statements in the decision itself are evidence of corruption?

[Loge23]

29. The media exemplifies the fear of the ruling.

How the media has become spokespeople for the silent revolution is exactly an example of our worse fears about this ruling.
We're seeing it folks, we're all witnessing what America is becoming.
This revolution isn't being televised.

[JBoy]

30. Watched CNN yesterday - they said zero about it.

[Captain Hilts]

32. US voters suffer from the Stockholm syndrome when it comes to corporations and taxes. nt

[winyanstaz]

33. Dear Keith.....

The media isnt ignorant...they are in on it.
However we still have you and the internet...lets roll America and wake everyone up now! (it may well be too late but we gotta try)

[Triana]

34. ONE word: ratings (translates into: MONEY)

That's all they care about. Edward's love-child will garner more ratings/$$$ than the S.C. decision - or so they decided.

ALL of the U.S. Media is pwn3d by corprats. What do they care about? MONEY. Bottom line. That's all. They DO NOT EXIST to provide any public service. They exist to provide SELF-SERVICE. (to their corprat bottom-line).

That's it. It's plain old corprat psychopathy - which now, bythway, thanks to our usurping political opportunist crap clown court - pwn3s and RUNS this country - free and clear - they don't even make a PRETENSE of it being a Democracy anymore.

And the corprat-pwn3d media KNOWS that. Do we expect them to be out there TOOTING their horn now that the entire United States has been handed to them on a gilded platter? Hell no. They'll just feed the peasants another distraction while they decide who they're going to install as the next President who'll also ki$$ their corpat a$$e$.

[SemperEadem]

35. the problem in this country are the 5 who held the majority in this opinion.

We now know, without any shred of doubt, who their paymasters are.

Perhaps the time has come to start seriously looking at term limits on scotus justices.

There is no way a no-tax paying corporation should have anything close to the rights that tax paying citizens have.

[Love Bug]

36. Keith is correct, of course, but he makes the mistake of assuming

the news media is any different than the sports media. They are all in the same business: entertainment. The so-called "news" media hasn't been that since the networks decided back in the 70s the news divisions needed to be self-supporting entities like the entertainment divisions. It used to be the entertainment divisions supported the news divisions but not anymore. They are all whores to their corporate masters and advertisers.

"It it bleeds, it leads" is the mantra of them all. Supreme Court decisions that don't involve guns, abortion or gays just isn't going to get any play on the 24/7 "news."

[GMA]

40. Best post in the discussion. Thanks.

n/t

[skepticscott]

42. And it may just be

that this was not a big story to the mainstream media (which is entirely corporatized) because they already know better than anyone that the election process is completely rigged and that our politicians and the legislative process they oversee are completely bought and paid for.

[Beartracks]

38. knr n/t

[bobbolink]

44. Excellent sports analogy. Sadly, I have to remind Keith that he isn't doing a good job with

homelessness, either.

Along with the rest of the media, north, south, east and west, left, right, up or down.

[big david]

47. this decision

is to reinforce the fact that the people have no say so in the electoral process and will continue to be decieded by the elite.

[liquid diamond]

48. I love Keith, but big media isn't stupid.

They know the ramifications of the SCOTUS decision on campaign financing. However, they know the average Joe and Jane care more about a politician's affair. They are merely giving people what they want to hear.