Fourth Estate flushed down the river?

[Eddie Haskell]

Initial coverage of the Colorado flooding had several stories about fracking chemical tanks being washed downstream and the potential environmental threat the chemicals posed. The next day, my son noticed no followup stories about these tanks, but several conspicuously placed pro-fracking commercials following the network's flooding coverage. Any journalist out there know ... Is it possible to influence a network's coverage by buying commercial time? Have you seen coverage influenced?

http://www.liberalamerica.org/2013/09/15/breaking-are-colorado-floods-now-spilling-fracking-fluid-into-flood-water/

[99th_Monkey]

1. We're being played, like mice in a maze. nt

[Fawke Em]

2. It didn't used to happen, but I can't say anymore.

I worked for a newspaper and we had a healthy dislike of the ad department. They would have liked to have had us refrain from ragging on their favorite client if that client got into hot water, but we pretty much always told him to stick it - we were reporting on it anyway.

I think money, greed and a lack of journalistic ethics has trumped everything these days, though.

[Eddie Haskell]

3. Thanks, I see I'm not the only one asking the question.

http://www.texassharon.com/2013/09/15/is-there-a-media-blackout-on-the-fracking-flood-disaster-in-colorado/

[Uncle Joe]

4. Is it possible to influence anyone by giving them money?

Obviously not everyone can be influenced to sell their ethics but they might lease them out for a while.

Thanks for the thread, Eddie Haskell.

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. It used not to be

But...we are back to the golden age of yellow press. My paper of record is a good example. It's not just running developer adds, but it is owned by a developer. It used to be that there used to be a healthy barrier between the editorial and news room...that is the good ol' days.

So if a fire spreads like nuts due to substandard housing, not using modern materials, look for that story somewhere else. Fracking, good for business, and so on and so forth.

[Eddie Haskell]

7. Can an industry buy a news blackout?

I know BP had a lot of influence during the Gulf spill, but I assumed it was government influence. I never thought the press was bought off.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. Well they have bought papers. so I guess it is possible

[Phlem]

6. The fourth estate has been gone for sometime.

I'm pretty sure it's who's at the helm and yes money. We have a local station here that hasn't covered anything like the topics we discuss here. Just generalities, and kittens and puppies and any type of non political news. And it's usually all local non political news. When controversial things nation wide come up, it's a special show, usually one person doing all the talking, then it's gone never to be touched again.

This has been the cycle since I can remember.

-p

[0rganism]

9. fracking vultures

wow just stick those fracking commercials right next to footage of demolished property values... That's sick.