The people of the U.S. have no voice because the people have no free press

[blm]

that serves them as CITIZENS.

The US media serves only its corporate masters and their interests.

Citizens, workers, consumers be damned.

[Crazy Dave]

1. It's all about ratings

Besides, the American public doesn't want real or truthful news, only news that agrees with their personal ideologies and agendas.

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[blm]

6. they don't care about ratings. The news shows are EXPENDITURES

for the parent company and its war profiteering ventures.

[Crazy Dave]

11. I consider it "Tabloid TV"

Personally, I watch less than two hours a week.

[Richard Steele]

2. That was the KKKorporations road to success.

They quietly BOUGHT 99% of all media,
while they simultaneously used Himmler's "big lie" technique
to convince the American Sheeple that all media were tools of the
Looney Liberals.

[LynnTheDem]

3. Current world rating; US freedom of the press ranked #44

#44 in the world. El Salvador beats us, for fck's sake.

N° Country Score
1 Denmark 0,50
- Finland 0,50
- Iceland 0,50
- Ireland 0,50
- Netherlands 0,50
- Norway 0,50
- Switzerland 0,50
8 Slovakia 0,75
9 Czech Republic 1,00
- Slovenia 1,00
11 Estonia 1,50
12 Hungary 2,00
- New Zealand 2,00
- Sweden 2,00
- Trinidad and Tobago 2,00
16 Austria 2,50
- Latvia 2,50
18 Belgium 4,00
- Germany 4,00
- Greece 4,00
21 Canada 4,50
- Lithuania 4,50
23 Portugal 4,83
24 United Kingdom 5,17
25 Benin 5,50
- Cyprus 5,50
- Namibia 5,50
28 El Salvador 5,75
29 Cape Verde 6,00
30 France 6,25
31 Australia 6,50
- South Africa 6,50
33 Bosnia and Herzegovina 7,00
34 Jamaica 7,50
- Mauritius 7,50
- South Korea 7,50
37 Japan 8,00
- Mali 8,00
39 Hong-Kong 8,25
40 Spain 8,33
41 Costa Rica 8,50
42 Italy 8,67
43 Macedonia 8,75
44 United States of America 9,50
45 Bolivia 9,67
46 Uruguay 9,75
47 Israel 10,00
48 Bulgaria 10,25
49 Mozambique 10,50
50 Chile 11,75
51 Dominican Republic 12,25
- Taiwan 12,25
53 Cyprus (North) 12,50
- Mongolia 12,50
- Poland 12,50
56 Croatia 12,83
57 Niger 13,00
58 Timor-Leste 13,50
59 Argentina 13,67
60 Botswana 14,00
- Fiji 14,00
62 Albania 14,17
63 Brazil 14,50
- Tonga 14,50
65 Serbia and Montenegro 14,83
66 Ghana 15,00
- Panama 15,00
68 Nicaragua 15,25
69 Paraguay 15,50
70 Romania 16,17
71 Congo 17,00
- Guinea-Bissau 17,00
- Seychelles 17,00
74 Moldova 17,50
- Tanzania 17,50
76 Angola 18,00
- Honduras 18,00
78 Burkina Faso 19,00
- Senegal 19,00
80 Uganda 19,25
81 Lesotho 19,50
82 Central African Republic 19,75
83 Cameroon 20,50
- Liberia 20,50
85 Kuwait 21,25
86 Guatemala 21,50
87 Ecuador 21,75
88 Comoros 22,00
89 Malawi 22,75
90 Burundi 23,00
- Cambodia 23,00
- Qatar 23,00
- Venezuela 23,00
- Zambia 23,00
95 Togo 23,75
96 Jordan 24,00
97 Madagascar 24,50
98 Turkey 25,00
99 Georgia 25,17
100 Kosovo 25,75
- United Arab Emirates 25,75
102 Armenia 26,00
- Gabon 26,00
- Guinea 26,00
- Indonesia 26,00
106 India 27,00
107 Thailand 28,00
108 Lebanon 28,25
109 Chad 30,00
- Kenya 30,00
111 Kyrgyzstan 32,00
112 Ukraine 32,50
113 Malaysia 33,00
- Tajikistan 33,00
115 Sri Lanka 33,25
116 Peru 33,33
117 Haiti 33,50
118 Swaziland 35,00
119 Kazakhstan 36,17
- Morocco 36,17
121 Djibouti 37,00
122 Rwanda 38,00
123 Bahrein 38,75
- Nigeria 38,75
125 Afghanistan 39,17
126 Sierra Leone 39,50
127 Mauritania 40,00
128 Colombia 40,17
129 Algeria 40,33
130 Gambia 41,00
131 Ethiopia 42,00
132 Palestinian Authority 42,50
133 Equatorial Guinea 44,00
- Sudan 44,00
135 Mexico 45,50
136 Yemen 46,25
137 United States of America (in Iraq) 48,50
138 Russia 48,67
139 Philippines 50,00
140 Singapore 50,67
141 Azerbaijan 51,00
142 Bhutan 51,50
143 Egypt 52,00
144 Côte d’Ivoire 52,25
145 Syria 55,00
146 Democratic Republic of Congo 57,33
147 Tunisia 57,50
148 Maldives 58,50
149 Somalia 59,00
150 Pakistan 60,75
151 Bangladesh 61,25
152 Belarus 61,33
153 Zimbabwe 64,25
154 Saudi Arabia 66,00
155 Laos 66,50
- Uzbekistan 66,50
157 Iraq 67,00
158 Vietnam 73,25
159 China 83,00
160 Nepal 86,75
161 Cuba 87,00
162 Libya 88,75
163 Burma 88,83
164 Iran 89,17
165 Turkmenistan 93,50
166 Eritrea 99,75
167 North Korea 109,0

http://www.rsf.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=554

US Falls in World Press Freedom Ranking
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/20/AR2005102001987.html

[blm]

7. Wasn't it rated 16 when Bush took office?

.

[JuniperLea]

4. Right... dammit!

That's why Bush is never asked any hard questions. Reporters are worried about their jobs; if they ask a hard question, they will never be given the chance to ask another.

We need a real free press! We should start one. Hard copy. Like the good old days when newspapers meant something.

[Chimichurri]

5. BINGO.

Unfortunately, we have to be our media by talking to our friends and family. This, as you know, is slow and ineffective for quick change. Realistically, it will be a long time before anything changes. I mean, imagine what needs to be done. We, the people must organize for change against big Corporations and big government. It can get ugly before it gets better but it is not impossible.

[KittyWampus]

9. Well BLM, bitching about it isn't going to do anything

Elected Democrats need a strategy to deal W/Media NOW. And they seem totally incapable of coming up with one.

bitching about it isn't going to help
pretending there is no problem isn't going to help
sucking up to the mediawhores isn't going to help
waiting for some mythical future date when we can re-regulate the media isn't going to help

[blm]

12. I started a thread requesting MediMatters and TBTM lead an action

to expose the GOp control of the media. And to enlist DNC in the efforts. Hope they see it.

[Zensea]

10. Freedom of press is limited to those who own one

-- mencken

[BIgJohn83]

13. Well that's what happens right?

When republicans allow for the media to grow into these monsters of monopoly. Long Live Clear Channel! (yeah, right...) Free and independent media (and news, of course) is essential to a free democracy.

Not to splinter into another thread within this one, but it seems as though things are coming full circle. In addition to gov't influence over most forms of media, we are seriously experiencing a case of taxation without representation... just look at it... yes we have 'elected' representatives, but when was the last time one of them did anything other than serve their selfish interests? Sure you can use your US Rep to get a flag that was flown over the capitol, you can have them give you a tour of the capitol when you come to D.C., you can have them put in a good word for your kid at the various Military Academies, and your US Rep. can get you a passport really quickly... other than that... what use are they?

[Skidmore]

15. Starve the medias' entertainment divisions.

That's where they make the money, not on the news. Use that as leverage to get fairness back into the news divisions.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

16. You are on it right now

THIS is the free press. Grass roots.

[brook]

17. A bigger problem...

in my opinion is that too many citizens abdicate their responsibility as citizens. Being informed, making the phone calls, sending the faxes, asking for answers and actions, etc. It's been my experience that far too many of them exercise their jaws and nothing else. As I told one of these 'nominal' Democrats this morning, "I'm not interested in discussing outcomes with those who make no effort to affect those outcomes."

That is not to say I disagree with your statement. OTOH, these corporations understand the bottom line. If we each lived our lives a bit more in accordance with our convictions, perhaps that iron grip would be loosened.

[blm]

19. If thr parent company is a war profiteer, endless war IS your bottom line.

.

[KoKo]

18. How LONG have we been on this blm...and Our Dems try...but it just never

works getting it out there. :shrug: I don't know what else to do? We had a HUGE DU ACTIVIST MOVEMENT...going after the FCC and the Dems like Michael Copps were TOTALLY RESPONSIVE!

But no Candidate from the 2004 Election EVER ADDRESSED THIS...including your beloved John Kerry.

(If you have Kerry statements on this...I'd be glad to read them...maybe I missed his diatribe against's Reagan and Clinton's war against "Fairness Doctrine and "Balanced Media." :shrug:

[blm]

22. Kerry was on it when few were looking - In fact, shortly after Kerry filed

this resolution, media dropped most coverage of his campaign, declaring it dead by fall.

USA: FCC Rule Fight Continues in Congress

Opponents of Ownership Consolidation Also Plan Legal Strategy

by Frank Ahrens, Washington Post Staff Writer
June 4th, 2003



Several lawmakers and advocacy groups vowed yesterday to fight in the courts and on Capitol Hill to overturn the Federal Communications Commission's new media ownership rules, saying they give big newspapers and broadcasters too much influence over public opinion and hurt smaller media companies.

On Monday, the FCC voted 3 to 2 along party lines to relax or eliminate some ownership restrictions, such as a rule barring media companies from owning television stations in markets where they publish daily newspapers. The commission's three Republicans, led by Chairman Michael K. Powell, voted for the changes, while the two Democrats dissented.

Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) said he would file a "resolution of disapproval" to block what he called the "wrongheaded vote." Such a resolution can overturn rules set by regulatory agencies and requires a simple majority of each house of Congress to pass. In March 2001, a resolution of disapproval was used to strike down an ergonomics standard set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Even if the resolution were to pass both Republican-majority houses, it would require President Bush's signature.

Kerry, a presidential candidate and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, said Monday's rule changes favor big media companies at the expense of small ones.
>>>>>>>>>>>

[bleedingheart]

20. a group of us is trying to start a local on-line newspaper....

i know it doesn't sound like much but we are trying...

[blm]

23. I think every little bit helps these days.

.

[PhilipShore]

21. The people of the U.S. have no voice because the people have no...

communication skills or culture/art. The world sees us -- as babbling idiots, glued to the screen--watching moronic Jerry Springer shows.