If you don't think the media is the biggest single issue we face - bigger than the economy .........

[Stinky The Clown]

..... consider this.

The electorate took almost seven years to figure out the deal with bush. They got it and they went for the Democrat in a big way. When "the Democrat" became Barack Obama, they went even harder.

But now we're back to business as usual. A lot of his groupie type supporters have moved on to other things. Those who pay attention are being assaulted with some of the heaviest incoming the repubic owned and controlled media has ever launched.

The honest debate about the issues of the day are being INTENTIONALLY obscured by the media.

I have almost no faith in the capacity of the American public to to see substance over bullshit.

And bullshit wins every time.

Right now, we Democrats are in control of the whole magilla.

It seems to me that by hook, crook, chicanery, or threats we need to fix the media problem. not with the fairness doctrine. Instead, by restoring media consolidation rules. Break them up.

And find a way to do it to cable, too, not just newspapers and the broadcasters.

Everybody.





Why is this number one?

Without an honest media we get NO airing of an honest discussion of the actual issues.

It IS that simple.

[Mist]

1. Agreed. Kicked and rec'd. nt

[HowHasItComeToThis]

2. HOW ABOUT REPUBS&MEDIA AND THE RICO ACT

COME ON REC THIS POST

[stray cat]

3. I suspect those who are broke or unemployed may disagree with the comparison

but it is an important issue

[Taverner]

4. I am 100% in favor of trust busting

And Teddy R, hallowed be his name - did just that

And best yet - he did it in a way that made everyone a lot richer

So you can point that out to the Republicans :)

[liberalmuse]

5. Something awakened the American people in 2006.

I woke up in 1998 when the assholes tried to impeach my President over a blow job. I could have easily fallen asleep again, but was rudely jolted awake once again on 12/03/2000. The cold hard truth is, I thought once Bush was out I could relax. HAHAHAHAHAhahaha! What a crock. Once you are truly awakened, you're doomed to never sleep again. Maybe some Americans who caught on to the bullshit will go back to slumber, but many will not, and I'm hoping that is just enough to stop this shit from ever happening again.

[Sydnie]

6. We need to bring back the fairness doctrine now!

We need to have that discourse in front of people and let them make up their own minds what they think and feel about the issues. To do that though, we have to have a completely new crop of talking heads so that no one gets blind support from long established "relationships" between the participants and the viewers.

If we had to bring real discussion to light, how things could change. The people might actually think for themselves again.

[stillcool]

11. The Fairness Doctrine will not do it...

we need to bust up the consolidation of media.

The Fairness Doctrine had two basic elements: It required broadcasters to devote some of their airtime to discussing controversial matters of public interest, and to air contrasting views regarding those matters. Stations were given wide latitude as to how to provide contrasting views: It could be done through news segments, public affairs shows, or editorials. The doctrine did not require equal time for opposing views but required that contrasting viewpoints be presented.<3>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairness_Doctrine

[Sydnie]

18. Well that is true

but I would love to see legislation that states that equal time must be given just as they do for candidates ... or used to at least. I can remember a time when equal time, on the same stage, at the same moment (other than debates) was the norm. They duked it out with ideas not with soundbites.

Would love to see that happen too.

[stillcool]

20. but they can say they already do...

represent opposing views. The problem is one view and often times both views are a lie, and they are accepted as truth.

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Broadcast_Media/HowToWatchTVNews.html
excerpts from the book
How To Watch TV News
by Neil Postman and Steve Powers
Penguin Books, 2008, paperback

Though today's media reach more Americans than ever before, they are controlled by the smallest number of owners than ever before... in 1983, there were fifty dominant media corporations, today there are five.
---------------------------
The top five programmers - Viacom/CBS, Disney/ABC, NBC, Time Warner and News Corp./Fox - now control 75 percent of prime-time programming and are projected to increase their share to 85 percent.

[Stinky The Clown]

12. Would that the Fairness Doctrine would do it.

It will not.

We need to break the corporate media apart once and for all. A good start is to reinstate the rules that fuck Reagan threw out.

[smalll]

23. Not only is the "fairness doctrine" contrary to the spirit of the First Amendment - just imagine....

what the Repubs could ask for in return -- a "fairness doctrine" in academia (every time some turtle-neck-wearing, goateed aging hipster associate professor teaches the coeds in flip-flops to hate America, they get equal time to hagiography Reagan)

-- a "fairness doctrine" for the arts (every time someone vivisects a shark to make some deep point about the unstustainable corruption of late capitalism or whatnot, they get equal time to glorify their own imaginary worlds, a la Norman Rockwell or Fragonard.)

-- a "fairness doctrine" for rock. Or for rap. Or for the fashion industry (look out, Kenneth Cole!) Or for Hollywood...

Look, we've got the House, the Senate, the Presidency, Hollywood, popular music, fashion, the art world, academia, etc. etc. etc. --

If we can't win because the only thing we DON'T have is some dying Mickey Mouse AM Radio talk shows, well...

:shrug:

[stellanoir]

7. Hey Stinky

You might like this article . . .

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marty-kaplan/the-media-are-the-message_b_167324.html

Aaand look at all those hearts. Somebodies luv ya.

:hi:

[Stinky The Clown]

13. Mr. Kaplan is spot on ......

.... and lookin' at your hearts .... somebody loves you too, yanno! :)

[joeunderdog]

8. Read "blinded by the Right" and you'll know how right you are.

The Republicans took over the media and the Judiciary branch of government and since then, the rest has been theirs for the taking.

We need to take back the media or we won't be able to do anything of any substance regardless of merits.

Election reform would be next.

[Stinky The Clown]

14. That's the book that put clarity into what I had been seeing for years.

[joeunderdog]

29. It was horrifying. What seemed to be just a storm of factors was a contrived plan

by the RW zealots including all branches of government and the media. They attend parties together and work on their master plan.

Remember that when Bush first took office, he ripped up all protections against media consolidation in the face of bipartisan opposition. Michael Powell was the head of the FCC at the time. It was no coincidence that he put so much effort into this issue that was off most people's radar at the time. In hindsight, we now know why.

Time for Obama to take back the media or he'll be treading water for 4 years.

[Cirque du So-What]

9. Our economy is built on trust

As long as the corporate media keep busily sowing seeds of doubt and discontent, banks, businesses & consumers will continue eyeing each other warily. The corporate media are finding fault with every move the Obama administration makes, which keeps anxiety at high levels.

It's ironic when you consider that the economy does better under Democratic leadership than when the repugs are in charge, but the plutocrats are willing to add slightly less to their coffers if it means that the entire middle class is held back. Look for no praise of Democratic initiatives from the corporate media; their overlords wouldn't have it any other way.

[Beartracks]

33. >sowing seeds of doubt and discontent

That's how the media operates: conflict sells.

[nradisic]

10. The media is making itslef irrelevant...

Just like the GOP, the MSM with its repeated same old shit slanted towards the GOP is basically irrelevant. Look at the ratings for the cable news channels, it is paltry at best. The American people have figured it out and the MSM is basically blowing smoke up their own butts all the way to total irrelevancy.

Look at the latest polls. The GOP in Congress has an approval rating less than 20% and Obama is around 70% approval. The American people have finally figured out the deal...the jig is up and the vast majority of Americans have come to the realization that the MSM should not be listened to. They are wrong, biased towards the corporate world and the GOP. Since the media is pushing the same anti Democratic and anti-populist meme and the polls are telling us otherwise....it has basically come down to total lack of trust in the GOP and the MSM. We don't nee to regulate these morons any further. The cable networks and their news outfits will soon become an unprofitable albatros around the necks of their corporate masters. They are spelling their own end into total irrelevancy, just like the GOP. The internet and blogers are giving them a helping hand.

[hay rick]

15. Better antitrust law is a start.

I think we also need a change in our culture. We have become a society in which people think like consumers (which is how the commercial media treats them) instead of thinking like citizens. The difference is that consumers make their political choices based on market values- perceived costs and benefits to themselves- while citizens operate on a more philosophical basis of universal rights and responsibilities. The second half of the citizenship equation- responsibility, is often shunned as an avoidable cost. Citizenship is just another marketplace transaction. I tend to see the corporate media and the electorate as a chicken/egg conundrum.

I agree with your essential point- that our existing media is an impediment to achieving a just and prosperous democracy. I think systematically discrediting the corporate media is a necessary first step to replacing it with something better.

[Sebastian Doyle]

16. We just need to roll ALL the laws back to what they were before Reagan.

All the deregulation crap. All the tax cuts for the rich. Fairness Doctrine. All of it..... and the media whoreishness is a huge part of that.

[madokie]

17. I been saying this from day one

[spanone]

19. when any party can own the media, be it right or left, democracy is screwn

[wiggs]

21. Yes. Public discourse is ruined. Intentionally. Misinformation is power.

The basis of democracy is a well informed public...Lincoln. Therefore if the public is misinformed, democracy is undermined and elections are about the media and bs instead of people and issues.

[1]

22. sorry, bud. you fix the economy then you can work on the media...

the economy is the life of our society. media is the fluff to entertain. it has always been so.

people have to work to earn a living. so that people can have to have a place to live. so that people can eat. so people can stay warm in the winter.



and exactly what is your answer to "fixing" the media? break up the consolidations? cool. but how does that "fix" the media. what exactly is this concept of "honest media" or "honest discussion"???

honest?

all media has a bias. all media. deny that at your peril. the purpose of all media is to persuade. to convince. to advance an agenda. no matter what that agenda is. honesty and truth are far down on the list. because honesty and truth are so difficult to define.

truth? in the eye of the beholder.

same as it ever was...

[Christian30]

24. Agreed.

I've long said this. I work for an independent media nonprofit and I can't tell you how hard it is to fundraise for it. The left simply doesn't get that media is important.

[Wednesdays]

25. Agreed...nothing can get done until the noise machine is shut down

Free speech is one thing, but when only the rich have a say on the airwaves, then speech is no longer free.

[windoe]

26. We do not have freedom of the press.

Our mainstream press is owned, and part of the corporate criminal network. Their failure to accurately report to the American people what our government was truly up to resulted in countless people losing their lives, their homes, their jobs and their life savings. They have been entrusted with the responsibility to serve as communicators, and I believe they have abused this privilege for too long.

They do not deserve to be called journalists but should be called corporate representatives.

President Obama would certainly get a lot more done if the press were truly free.

[Hello_Kitty]

27. Very true. Also I'd like to highlight the importance of: LOCAL NEWS!!

Believe it or not more people get their news from their local affiliates than from Katie Couric or CNN. Whenever I tune into my local news shows it's interesting to note that there's a wide variance on how national news is reported. Sometimes it's craptastic and other times it's fairly decent. The problem is they devote less than 3 minutes to national news so you get a lot of distilled sound bites. When they are wrong, it's very important to send them mail about it. Also, the coverage of local issues is very important and can be terribly flawed if you don't keep on their cases. Local stations are more apt to be responsive to viewer contact AND they are often looking for good human interest stories. If you have an interesting experience about how, say, the Iraq war or the current economic downturn is affecting you, write your local news station about it.

[deaniac21]

28. When you see all the right wing media outlets like MSNBC,

the Washington Post, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN, Fox, Boston Globe.....the list goes on and on and on. It is truly sickening.

[defendandprotect]

30. The Fairness Doctrine should be part of the remedy -- it stood for more than 60 years . . .

and GOP hates it!

Meanwhile ... who in the hell is watching MSM . . . ??? and Why????

The electorate took almost seven years to figure out the deal with bush.

Hardly, the public haven't been voting for decades because they very well understand

that corporations control both parties.

Additionally, Americans aren't total idiots -- but computers are producing results

that have little to do with voters. Nor have election steals only been going on since

2000 or 2004. They began with the entrance of the large computers used by media in mid-

1960's to report election results quickly.

And increased as the electronic computers began to come in during the late 1960's which

enabled them to steal larger blocks of votes from greater distances.

We had steals before the '60s . . . the lever machines had plastic wheel counters which

they used to shave and that made them skip 200-300 votes at a time!

Two reporters were investing the computers back in the late 1960's . . .

http://www.constitution.org/vote/votescam__.htm


We have anti-monopoly/anti-trust laws which have not been enforced . . .

They're ready to go as far as I know!

[L0oniX]

31. FreeSpeechTV ...LinkTV ...PBS - Bill Moyers ...that's about it. Nothing else is worth watching.

[pmorlan1]

32. We Have a BIG Media Problem

Just watching them distort the results of the recent USA/Gallup poll should tell you they aren't interested in anything but manipulation. When you see several media stories where the "journalist" tells the reader that the poll said just the opposite of what it really said or they deliberately obfuscate the results in order to mislead then you know you have BIG problems.

The recent USA/Gallup poll reported the following:

Favor Criminal Investigation

Torture - 38%
Wiretaps - 38%
politicization Justice - 41%

Favor Investigation by Independent Panel

Torture - 24%
Wiretaps - 25%
politicization Justice - 30%

http://www.gallup.com/poll/114580/No-Mandate-Criminal-Probes-Bush-Administration.aspx


Check here for Obfuscation of the poll(this writer tries to convince the reader that more people favor independent investigations over criminal, when they don't).

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1879810,00.html

Check here for outright lying (you will have to view the comments because this writer finally corrected his work.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2009/02/13/leahy_commission/