We need to fix the media, they are the problem here.

[walldude]

I was listening to the radio last night and some guy was on there talking about how one of the main problems in this country is people don't read the paper or listen to the radio anymore. He went on to explain that people don't get any kind of "common news" and used this excuse to explain that that is why people are so interested in celebrities, because they are something we all have in common, he said everyone is talking about Tiger Woods.

Now I'm not really sure who this moron was but his take on things was bizarre to say the least. I heard 3 top of the hour news reports yesterday. On all 3 Tiger Woods was the TOP STORY. I open the internet and what do I see? Tiger Woods. Newspaper? Tiger Woods. Tiger, Tiger, Tiger. The TOP FUCKING STORY. I can spend 5 minutes on DU and find a dozen stories more important. Not one of which is being mentioned in the "media". Gee I wonder why Tiger is the story everyone is talking about?

You know, used to be the media were the lobbyists of the people. They were the ones who stood up for us, they exposed the lies and corruption. Can you imagine Cronkite interviewing Sarah "Death Panels" Palin? Her 15 would have been up long ago.

There are a few Journalists left. Taibbi, Palast and their ilk. In general though, the press seems to be nothing but the school principle making the morning announcements. This needs to change. When you know more about Tiger and Jon and Kate then you do about the health care bill then something is terribly wrong.

Now I know some will say "the truth and real news is out there you just have to dig for it". Well I'm saying I don't have to dig to find out who Tiger is sleeping with, it's delivered to me every hour on the hour.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

1. Dems should get on the boards of these companies - take over

the BBC in UK is more balanced so should the networks here.

Anything owned by Rupert murdoch needs shutting down.

[Sebastian Doyle]

8. It's not just the networks, it's the distribution.

The Comcast takeover of NBC must be stopped. Just as the AOL takeover of CNN should have been.

Our former President Al Gore actually DID buy a cable TV channel (Current TV), but I'd bet 99 percent of us have never seen it. And why is that? Because right wing ass Comcast makes sure you have to buy their top tier digital package to be able to see it. The other cable companies, like Cox and Time Warner (also right wing) have no doubt done the same. Rupert Murdoch (whose media empire was already larger than any one man should ever be allowed) bought Direct TV in recent years, so that means you can't avoid the right wing distribution by going to a dish. Not sure what Dish TV's politics are, but I'd be shocked to find they were liberals. Satellite radio? XM and Sirius each had one "left" channel competing with 7 or 8 right wing channels. And Sirius even has right wing content on their "left" channel. (If Lynn Samuels is a Democrat, I'm fucking Santa Claus) Terrestrial radio? Find me a station in any major market not owned by Clear Channel, Entercom, or Viacom/Infinity/CBS (which ever name they're using this week) And even though all of those companies DO have some "left" talk radio stations, the ratio of left to right is even worse than satellite radio.

Reason for all of the above? Corporations that were allowed to get too goddamn big, and control too many outlets in the same market. Those people wanting to restore the "Fairness Doctrine" are missing the real issue. I don't want Thom Hartmann on the same station as Rush Limbaugh, for example, but I DO want Thom Hartmann's program airing in all the same markets that Limbaugh does. And that will only happen when media ownership is on an equal playing field.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

9. there should be a move to break em up

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

2. Whenever I see wall-to-wall coverage, I know something else is going down. nt

[walldude]

3. It's like the dog in the movie UP

Squirrel!!!! :rofl:

[EFerrari]

4. The American media are now a bunch of propagandists.

It's to the point where you have to decode most news stories just to figure out the facts of a story.

I'm liking all the small niche programs that are popping up -- like Amy's show only smaller. On Free Speech TV there's a gay news show, a Native American news round up. Link has Mosaic (Middle East), Latin Pulse (Latin America).

[walldude]

5. Hey congratulations on your Op-Ed making the front page

yesterday.. great writing. )

Those niche programs are what keep most of us sane I think. That guy I was listening to was defending the whole Tiger thing by saying that's what the people want. Well it may be what they want but it's not what they need. Gotta force feed them.

[EFerrari]

6. It's the Empty Frig Syndrome. If all there is in the frig is leftover fried squash

and chocolate syrup, a person will try to make dinner out of it,imho.

[Bitwit1234]

7. Hally lou jah ---- Hally lou jah

Some one else sees the problem and is hollering for it to be fixed. Look at the Ticker at CNN. ..Title ..Dems slammed for spending....when you go to the article thune the guy testing the waters for wanting to be president like all the a**hole republicans says the democrats are over spending. Hell the democrats are over spending. What in the devil did he and the bush administration do for eight years.

But the title is misleading....Dems slammed for spending. Like there has been a consensus and that the whole country says the Democrats are over spending, when one little pipsqueak who wants to be president is the only one saying it.

That is what I mean. CNN is constanly posting articles with misleading titles and nine out of ten they are panning the Democrats. Ridiculous. No wonder they are last, I wish they would fall off the damn chart. Why aren't they going bankrupt instead of some of these other companies.

[OneGrassRoot]

10. I agree, yet...

there's so much damn white noise that it's easy to get lost, even when you're trying to find facts or at least unbiased information to form an educated opinion.

DU is a perfect example. Great resource for information, yet opinion and facts get blurred along the way if we're not careful to discern between the two because we like the writer, poster, whatever.

In addition to the loss of a free press due to corporate influence, the 24/7 news cycle has created this "opinion journalism" which is so dangerous, IMHO, but I see it reflected throughout the Intertubes now.

White noise.

[Cetacea]

11. +1000000.