Was just pondering today when our main stream media officially died....

[NRaleighLiberal]

We've gotten rid of most of our Cable TV stations (we probably should get rid of it all, since their is nothing remotely worth watching on the remaining "low number" channels, except Bill Moyers, when he is on PBS). But a few times over the last week or so we've tried watching the nightly snooze on NBC with Kevin Costner talk-a-like Brian Williams.

After the wonderful Viva Viagra hootenany ads and other various and sundry pharma-pushing "you all are sick and need these drugs" ads, if you add it all up, they do not report news. There is little to nothing of consequence of the relevant stories - Iraq, Afghanistan, the repeated lies and crimes of the misadministration. Even though they push the fear and destruction, they obviously consider that their watchers have the attention span and concentration of fleas (with apologies to the insulted fleas).

So, I've been trying to ponder the official date of the demise of the main stream media - in terms of actually trying to report the news and give the public relevant information to process. When is the last time that it was relevant? Watergate? Prior to that? Murrow? Just wonderin'. By the way, it has been years since I expected to hear the actual objectively presented news - it's been the internet for me for my news gathering.

Views? Also, is there a way to turn it around - because to me, trying to get through these dark Bush days with no media support (except Olberman) is not a fair fight.

[MADem]

1. When the Fairness Doctrine did, basically. When news became a commodity.

When major corporations bought up media entities as places to stash money and to use to tout their shit, be it Disney Movies or "GE, we bring good wars to life" -- infotainment, product bundling, forcing anchors to cover movie openings or new tee vee shows or theme park openings like that crap is "news"--it's disgusting.

News outlets used to be "not for profit" departments of networks. They made their money with their variety shows, sitcoms, dramas, and so forth. That's not the case anymore--ya gotta make those numbers.

No way to turn it around, save turning it off. They'll respond to the market if the market gives them a hearty Fuck You. Until then, they'll just keep churning out the shit. Unfortunately, the eighty percent who don't pay attention are just fine with this junk called 'NOOSE.'

[bunkerbuster1]

2. The hifalutin wall between entertainment and news divisions

was probably doomed from the start. After all, prior to the TeeVee, we'd only had a few decades where some daily newspapers had aspirations of providing objective, like-it-is news.

Anyway, I think it probably started, oddly enough, when 60 Minutes became profitable, and other networks realized they could have relatively low-production-cost programming that'd make money. All the other news magazines came along and before long, you had Reagan getting rid of the Fairness Doctrine.

Like I said, don't mourn the passing. America's citizens, for most of our nation's history, has had to sift through a lot of garbage to find the truth.

[spanone]

3. i think 911 was the kicker

everyone fell in line

[SharonAnn]

5. I remember summer of 2001. ACATT - All Chandra All The Time on CNN.

It was totally sickening. Even Larry King would host panels of four people speculating on the who, what, why, when regarding Chandra's disappearance. Repetitively. I was so sick of it.

That's when I noticed that it was pretty much the same on the other news channels. I couldn't find out anything else.

So, we lost the news a long time ago.

[nebenaube]

4. Remember...

They were pissed when Saddam got his intelligence from CNN during Gulf War I.

[mrcheerful]

6. That started the day Run away Ronnie irst opened his big fat lying mouth and

uttered the famous "the damn liberal news" line. Then enacted the dereglation of business. Remember Raygun was the real teflon kid when it came to media reporting the news, they became an arm of Rayguns propaganda machine.

[NRaleighLiberal]

8. Yep. I suspect many of us who are 10 percenters (hated Bush from the start,

even after his faux-leadership performance after 911) are also people who saw through/see through Ronnie Raygun and can't understand the brainwashed minions who bow at his feet.

I just feel like the whole world has been turned upside down - not by the terrorists who hit us on 911, but the terrorists who are using it to control our country with fear and lies.

[kenny blankenship]

7. I'm told Roone Arledge was the thin edge of the wedge.

But my doctrinaire capitalism Marxism capitalism Marxism capitalism Marxism market theory tells me that one man even a nuclear powered dynamo huckster rocketing up from the cesspools & fleshpots of professional sports journalism is JUST ONE MAN, the singular mask of a general Fate, as it were. He cannot have singlehandedly transformed network news into the razzle dazzle freak show of medium over message, celebrity scandal, cynical political oddsmaking, and lurid lowest common denominator soap-opera sensationalism over substance, unless the veiled Genius of the Marketplace had not already decreed it should be so.

[NRaleighLiberal]

10. I have to also blame the public for turning in and watching shit and lies

in such great numbers. For a country with so much potential amongst its citizens, it certainly settles for very little.

I also think that if we actually felt like we were in a war, actually had to sacrifice something - we'd all be a bit more suspicious about the crap that we are fed.

what a joke -

[Cyrano]

9. November 22, 1963.