Economists in blogosphere; not in mainstream media

[Joanne98]

The global economic crisis has become the biggest near-term U.S. security concern, sowing instability in a quarter of the world's countries and threatening destructive trade wars, U.S. intelligence agencies reported ... "Time is our greatest threat. The longer it takes for the recovery to begin, the greater the likelihood of serious damage to U.S. strategic intrests," the report said. ... There have been anti-government protests in Europe and the former Soviet Union, and growing economic strains in Africa and Latin America ... Reuters, 2-12-09

While Journalists Risk Their Lives Across the Planet, the US Mainstream News Media Continues to Misinform & Misdirect on the Economic Crisis

The Obama administration has indeed brought change to Beltwayistan. It was poignantly evident at President Obama's first news conference.

The symbolism was subtle but profound. The President called on the Huffington Post for a question, and Ed Schultz was seated next to Helen Thomas in the front row.

The message within that symbolism was direct and simple: "Thank you, and your help is still desperately needed."

Because although change has come to the White House, it has not come to the US mainstream news media (yet).

Oh, there are a few beacons of reality on TV, but they are a precious few: Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow are carrying Edward R. Murrow's torch into the 21st Century on MSNBC, and Jack Cafferty continues to personify common sense (even when I don't agree with him) in the midst of CNN's vapidity.

Meanwhile, throughout the world, professional journalists and citizen journalists alike risk their lives to speak truth to power:

Chinese bloggers are defying censorship efforts and taking delight in ridiculing the state television station CCTV. ... The problem for CCTV is that the blaze that burned down part of its new headquarters was its own fault. ... Embarrassed CCTV officials tried to censor coverage of the fire, but thanks to the millions of Chinese users on the Internet, the story got out anyway. Members of the public armed with camera phones, text messages, and email filled the void. One blogger, Wang Xiaofeng, wrote that "Even though the fire was up to their eyebrows, they were still trying to hide the truth... in this breaking news, the official media was defeated by the citizen media."

Radio Netherlands, 2-11-09

In Latin America, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, journalists are becoming increasingly vulnerable to physical violence as a result of their work, says a U.S.-based media watchdog in a new report ... Last year, at least 41 journalists were killed and more than 100 lived behind bars, according to the 341-page CPJ report, "Attacks on the Press in 2008."

Inter Press Service, 2-10-09

If there is another Tiananmen Square protest and massacre, it will be streamed, real time, over wireless, on open source platforms, in clear text, with simultaneous translation, and it will not be so easily spun or quickly forgotten.

But in the USA, the US mainstream news media persists in pushing an agenda of misinformation and misdirection on the most urgent issues:

Media Matters for America review of the Sunday talk shows and 12 cable news programs from January 25 through February 8 found that during 139 1/2 hours of programming on Sunday mornings and weekday afternoons and evenings, of 460 total guest appearances in discussions about the economic recovery legislation and debate in Congress, only 25 were made by economists — a mere 5 percent. Think Progress, 2-12-09

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Economists-in-blogosphere-by-richard-power-090214-927.html

You think it's bad now. Just wait until they figure out a way to incorporate the economic crisis with their boring, mind numbing lifestyle programs.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. the internet is the latest place to get news

and more and more people are going to the internet to get it. I would bet that there is a sizable portion of people with computers who are watching TV less and less and going online to get news and information.

[Joanne98]

2. I know. And what the MSM doesn't understand is they are never coming back.

They are creating demand destruction in their industry. But they won't stop producing stupid programs nobody wants to watch. They lost their credibility cheer leading Bush and Iraq. Now their losing it by supporting the Republicans failed economic policies. It's destroying them. Good riddance.

[Enthusiast]

3. Would it surprise you to

find there will be a massive effort to destroy the internet as we know it? These ugly players can't allow an unfettered source of untainted information.

[Hugin]

6. Not a bit.

Already there is a very real and concentrated effort by the Corporate Media to literally wire the true ISPs out of the loop to be replaced by a tiny handful of their lapdog 'ISP's.

They're using changing to broadband service as the excuse... Qwest already lied to me about it saying my existing DSL was somehow different than the DSL provided by them in their 'package'.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. This making people buy boxes so they can still get a signal

isn't helping the MSM either. I haven't decided whether or not to get one of those boxes yet--and my landlady says that you can't find any in the stores, anyway. So it seems that, around here at least, many folks won't have TV much longer.

[natrat]

5. um....what choice do they have, telling the truth? it's a criminal syndicate,truth not an option

[Enthusiast]

7. Excellent point, natrat. nt

[BridgeTheGap]

8. Check out this website for some great economic info:

http://baselinescenario.com/