Alas there are no coincidences under the sun

[nadinbrzezinski]

and this is not a coincidence.

I love TDS... alas TDS is part of the Comedy Central Network, which is owned by Vivendi, which is in turn owned by Universal.

MSNBC is owned by GE.

GE sells it's majority stake to ComCast, who also gets Universal, by extension Vivendi, by extension Comedy Central... by extension the Daily Show...

And worst than just that, now we are down to FIVE corporations who control 98% of all you read, watch, et al.

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/who-owns-the-media-the-6-monolithic-corporations-that-control-almost-everything-we-watch-hear-and-read

No, I don't expect the monopolies to be broken up. I just expect increasingly bland pulp and control of information. This is about who controls what... and why I wrote to the FCC demanding they do not aprove of this merger... but they will not listen.

Oh and by the way... for all of you screaming about comparisons to the Nazis... have you ever asked WHY the Fairness Doctrine came to be? No, not because we had these huge monopolies in the US... there was the Sherman Antitrust which was like used and shit (last president to use it was Carter with the Ma Bells)... it was because of the absolute control of all media that the German people consumed by 1939.

So what if the media is not directly controlled by the government, which you could argue in Germany? But the Fairness Doctrine was enacted to PREVENT any single kind of control over what the American people consumed. It was a DIRECT lesson of Germany and the 1930s, and propaganda. Alas history never evah repeats itself, 100%... but realize that TODAY we have a SIMILAR control of all you read, all you watch and all you consume. If you ever wondered why movie studios are essentially redoing old scrips? Or why formulas are so damn predictable that yes I can tell to a second in a movie when a plot point will be reached... it is because we no longer have independent creators.

If you ever wondered why books in the US are written to such a bland level... (guess what they are but not by major, with access, publishers), it is because of the tight control. It does not matter if you buy Avon, or you buy Simon and Shuster... they are no longer independent from each other.

And tonight you and I saw us take one more step towards absolute control... and until the end, the fall, this will just continue... to concentrate. It wil suck even more.

But we should not, EVAH, discuss echoes from history when using Nazis. Perhaps using Franco will be better, if less understood... can I use Franco? Or what about Stalin and the KGB? Get familiar with a term... Zamisdat press... I fear we are there.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samizdat

[glinda]

1. I tried to rec'd but alas some " elephant" would not let me.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. You are at the tail end and I get the trunk?

You heard of the story of the blind men trying to ID an Elephant right?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_men_and_an_elephant

[Kurovski]

3. K&R. (nt)

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. And you and me friend have predicted these things

and people have called us conspiracy loons.

I take cold comfort in that.

[Kurovski]

17. A loss of liberty is a loss of liberty, no matter the reason.

It's never good.

And history has shown that right wing authoritarianism will push through to the top. It doesn't disappear just because you ignore it or think it isn't really happening. Or because someone calls it "Nazi". Or recalls similarity to any other fascist in the past.

The right has had many decades to perfect their techniques, and all the money in the world to pay the best people...or pay off the worst.

[Kurovski]

19. And:

just to be clear, I'm considered more of a "loon" in general, rather than one having any more precise classification than that.

:crazy:

[nadinbrzezinski]

24. Ah a common loon

Some laughter is required tonight.

[bertman]

45. during breeding season they are UNcommonly beautiful birds!!

[CrispyQ]

69. Thanks for posting that stunning photo!

Love that little guy!

[Odin2005]

5. K&R

[NRaleighLiberal]

6. Yes. The way I describe it (my favorite analogy)...

People tend to be easily swayed by advertising (how else could Bud Light be the best selling beer).
The vast majority of media is GOP owned - they own the message.
Right wing views always outnumber left wing views on news shows. (hence the large number of Americans who believed Saddam was responsible for 911, for example).

Without balance, the liberal/progressive views get easily drowned out by the deafeningly noisy lies coming from the right.

Even so called balanced shows like Diahe Rehm don't ever get to this truth, this root cause - they get caught up in the false equivalence trip.

And THAT is the first thing that ran through my mind when I heard about the Keith departure - we are in deep, deep shit.

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. That is a good one

and yes, that is the basis of advertising.

[femrap]

75. Just this past week Keith

was discussing how horrid our college students are performing today. Everyone is stupid...W set the example. Stupidity isn't so bad...look how far he got. And intelligent people are told, 'Who do YOU think you are!'

If you have Comcast, get another provider. Get The Dish...the least of the 'corporate business model'....you'll get Free Speech TV and Link TV.

Comcast is the enemy...specifically the Ceo....he's the repugnant. Hit him in his little pocket book.

[Alameda]

83. Free Speech TV, Link.........you don't get those on Concast!

I hate Comcast. They remind me of the Mafia...

[femrap]

86. They're on

The Dish. Change your provider if you have Comcast. It's easy to do. Really.

[Alameda]

87. I already have Dish, and have for 5 years.....hate Comcast.

[femrap]

88. When I move I'm going

to get The Dish as well.

[Hannah Bell]

13. diane rehm, "balanced"?

[NRaleighLiberal]

16. Nope - but that's what they want people to believe. But not me.

I end up trying to call in, get frustrated and angry, and turn it off after I can't take it any more!

[Hannah Bell]

33. i hear ya. she's a winger, just a "high-class" one.

[hootinholler]

42. Diane Rehm? Balanced?

If you call 2 from the Enterprise institute and one from Cato balanced, I guess.

-Hoot

[Enthusiast]

65. Plus One.

NPR is controlled. Before long not a word will be uttered that is contrary to the official story.

[handmade34]

8. who owns the Media?

"The U.S. media landscape is dominated by massive corporations that, through a history of mergers and acquisitions, have concentrated their control over what we see, hear and read. In many cases, these giant companies are vertically integrated, controlling everything from initial production to final distribution. Here is information about the largest cable companies..."

http://www.freepress.net/ownership/chart/cable

http://www.cjr.org/resources/index.php

http://investigativereportingworkshop.org/connected/story/comcast-nbc-merger/

http://investigativereportingworkshop.org/connected/story/industry-lobbying-keeps-public-dark-about-broadban/

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. And that needs updating

we've gone from six to five... soon will be four. This looks like a bad episode of Highlander.

[handmade34]

10. I have become more

troubled everyday by what is happening... always have considered trying times as opportunities for action... time to act!

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. I think it is time to invest in a mimeograph....

we are moving to Zamisdat Press territory. The best fiction in the USSR... was within the Zamisdat Press... see Gulag Archipelago. I fear that relatively soon that which does not support the regular narrative will need that kind of distribution.

Where we are NOW, some of us said we would up to ten years ago... and people laughed at us... for being scandalous.

[handmade34]

12. a smile

remembering the mimeograph I used to publish my 'alternative' newspaper in High School... trying times indeed

[nadinbrzezinski]

14. I wonder how many of the "kids" here on the Old DU

know what we are talking about?

Here for historic completeness...



Getting the ink I fear will be the most difficult part.

[handmade34]

15. soy ink...

;-)

[jtuck004]

41. But it won't have the funky smell... n/t

[PBS Poll-435]

29. I remember the "ditto" machine

Weird blue ink for math tests when I went to Catholic school.

[nadinbrzezinski]

30. Ours were a nice shade of purple

:-)

[Contrary1]

31. And the sniffing of the ink...

I, and most of my classmates were addicted to it.

[PBS Poll-435]

32. I just did the problems

Turned in the tests and went and washed my hands.


Might have made the next class more interesting though...


:)

[nadinbrzezinski]

35. I was a loner in school

but the guys at the media lab adopted me. So I helped stable oodles of hand outs.

Trust me, the smell was something else.

[Enthusiast]

66. Me too......nt

[CrispyQ]

70. "If you're posting on the Internet then it's not a police state."

You hear that frequently on DU.

They've been using the internet to watch & read & know who to keep an eye on. And they are putting in place, a way to clamp down on the internet, if they have to.

Mimeograph - was that the purple ink docs we all knew as kids? Exams, especially, I remember being printed with bright purple ink. Sometimes the paper was slightly wavy because the ink was still damp.

[nadinbrzezinski]

79. Yes

[PBS Poll-435]

18. I thought that Viacom (legacy Westinghouse/CBS) owned Comedy Central

I think that Comcast/NBC is an entirely different animal.

[nadinbrzezinski]

21. Once somebody bothers updating who owns what

It needs to be updated...

but if I get my mergers correctly vivendi was sold to Universal a while ago... it is called vivendi universal

Here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivendi

And no, it is not easy to keep up with this crap.

[PBS Poll-435]

27. Viacom is not Vivendi Universal

Two different animals.

Viacom is legacy Westinghouse/CBS with a little Snooki thrown in.

[nadinbrzezinski]

28. You are correct

my bad

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/04/22/entertainment/main550489.shtml

But the control of media still stands.

As I said, keeping up with this crap is not easy.

[Hannah Bell]

94. "universal" & vivendi have *never* owned cc. you took a meme & ran with it

without checking.

nothing to do with "keeping up," just the same knee-jerking you condemn others for.

nbc *is* "universal."

NBC Universal was formed in May 2004 by the merger of General Electric's NBC with Vivendi's Vivendi Universal Entertainment.<4><5> General Electric (GE) owns 87.66% of NBC Universal with the remaining 12.34% owned by Vivendi.<6>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBC_Universal

cc was time-warner, then viacom.

[lonestarnot]

51. Nope somebody stole more money yesterday. they now own such and such.

Who owns cox as of last hour?

[Avalux]

20. And what of our willingness to trade freedom for gadgets?

I'm probably going into woo woo territory here, but I often think about our addiction to bright and shiny gadgets with bells and whistles; how they run our lives and how dependent we are on them. One day in the not too distant future, libraries will close, books and newspapers will be obsolete.

What happens when those in control pull the plug on our gadgets?

[nadinbrzezinski]

22. Net control is coming

and not because of that... but to keep things like this out of your and my life and awareness level.

[WinkyDink]

54. Absolutely. The rumor of an "Internet ID, to help us not have to remember multiple passwords"? Yep.

[Enthusiast]

67. Yeah, so we won't get confused

by multiple passwords, lol. Proposed by Obama they said.

[RainDog]

34. And when books are "electronic" you will only license the right to content

that can be removed (and has been) without warning.

people who recognize this, however, are now viewed as luddites. the reality, however, is that, just as in Soviet Russia, the real media will come from those who are not among the wealthy and connected.

actually, that's always been the case in the U.S., as well, with occasional hiccups because of one lone "troublemaker" or another who refuses to play by the rules.

[nadinbrzezinski]

36. I admit, I use electronic books

but mostly because... I ran out of space a while ago.

Alas Kindle and 1984 come to mind.

[RainDog]

40. and there are good and useful things about them

but they are also a way to limit content.

and they cut off the poor from educational materials - just as in the 1990s the poor did not have computers and were left behind (some never to catch up) - and of course various technologies will be deprecated so that people have to buy more electronic gadgets to utilize those things that are available.

also - google has tried to claim copyright to many things that are now in the public domain when they exist in electronic format - even tho universities are the ones making the content available to google.

France had to sue to claim copyright to their declaration of rights - The Rights of Man - b/c google tried to claim they held electronic copyright.

profit is a truly nasty motivation for lots and lots of things that are important in life. but Americans are like cult members and politicians preach the prosperity gospel, no matter how false their claims.

[nadinbrzezinski]

43. I agree, alternate press will truly be zamisdat

we are close to the point where our equivalent to the Gulag will NOT see the light of day. In fact, I suspect we are there.

[WinkyDink]

55. Who will be the first poet to risk jail here? I see us as too soft compared to the Russians.

Or Czechs. Or....

[nxylas]

76. Jailing poets would be too crude for our overlords

They'd be more likely to broadcast the talking point that "only fags read poetry" 24/7 on every media outlet they own in order to marginalise a dissident poet.

[catzies]

68. I don't think that's woo woo at all, and remember our gadgets need the grid to live

What happens when the grid goes down and our gadgets are useless? And then, like you said, there are no libraries?

[Paka]

89. Thank you for reminding us of gadgets.

I enjoy the internet, but I still send snail mail and eschew cell phones. Getting harder and harder to travel without a cell phones. Public phones are disappearing everywhere. Libraries and newspapers and holding books in my hand; fond memories I insist on clinging to.

[applegrove]

23. No matter what industry, when there is deregulation it results in a few huge corporations

who can get economies of scale and many, many tiny players. The mid sized journalism enterprises are gutted.

[nadinbrzezinski]

25. alas control of information and thought control

1984 had it right.

[kentuck]

26. The thread that runs so true.

so true.

[MadBadger]

37. Comedy Central is owned by Viacom, not Vivendi

[nadinbrzezinski]

38. Was too late to correct the OP

yes I was corrected, my mistake, the major point of media consolidation still stands though, in spades.

[fishwax]

39. for the record, comcast didn't acquire vivendi or (all of) universal

I see somebody upthread has already pointed out that Viacom (rather than Vivendi) actually owns Comedy Central, but I also wanted to correct the notion that, in acquiring NBC Comcast also acquired Vivendi and/or Universal.

Prior to the most recent merger, Vivendi owned a 20% stake in NBC. The specifics can be a bit confusing because NBC is called NBC Universal. That name came about because NBC purchased a majority share of universal studios several years ago. (At that point, Universal Music, which Vivendi still owns, was spun off from Universal Pictures, which was owned by NBC Universal, which will now be 51% owned by Comcast.) So Comcast *did* acquire Universal Studios.

As part of this most recent merger, GE bought out Vivendi's stake in NBC. (They purchased Vivendi's stake in NBC, not Vivendi itself.) Now Comcast owns a majority of NBC and GE will (after the sale from Vivendi is complete) own the rest. I could be wrong, and hope that someone will correct me if I am, but as far as I know Vivendi remains it's own yet powerful enterprise and retains full control of the Universal Music Group.

I agree with the OP that the concentration of media voices is troubling, but wanted to clarify a few of the facts.

[lonestarnot]

48. The whole who owns who bullshit is so fucked up. Thanks for the clarifications, but cannot rely on

even these as tomorrow, someone may have stolen more dough.

[DeSwiss]

44. K&R

A Feast of Bullshit and Spectacle

But having been in the media business one way or another for almost 40 years, and having watched it increasingly take on a life of its own, I know that nothing of significance in the news is what it appears to be. This is not the result of some media conspiracy, mind you, but rather that the people working in the media have internalized the process so thoroughly they do not even know they are conditioned creatures in a larger corporate/state machine.

Put simply, Katie Couric and the dumbshits grinding out your local paper actually believe they are in the news business. In today's system, everybody is a patsy for the new corporate global order of things -- the well-coiffed talking head, the brain dead audience, even the terrorists themselves. All play out their parts in our holographic image and information process.

http://www.joebageant.com/joe/2007/08/the-great-ameri.html">By Joe Bageant, The Great American Media Mind Warp

[slay]

46. That first link you posted is great!

and scary as hell - you're right - we're in Really Big Trouble.

[nadinbrzezinski]

62. and... outdated already

it's gotten worst.

[slay]

72. Yeah I noticed that

sigh. it's going to be way too late by the time people realize what's happening/happened - the corporate takeover of America will be complete - hell it just about is already. :(

[lonestarnot]

47. Thanks Nadine for the links! ZAMISDAT PRESS.

Yes we are there.

[Swamp Rat]

49. 'Corpofascist' works for me

I have used nazi references and swastikas in relation to the current crop of corporatist-fascists, but that's kinda their fault, not mine. :D

They've had branding issues, and desperately need a single, unifying logo (something different than a swastika, and more like '©' or '®').

[woo me with science]

50. K&R

Hollow and sick.

[WinkyDink]

52. SOME people refuse to grasp that Nazi Germany happened actually in SOME of our lifetimes.

SOME people like to think---Prescott Bush, NASA, BMW, the OSS/CIA to the contrary---that Nazism is as ancient as Ba'al worship (and I'm not so sure about that).

[Ichingcarpenter]

53. Unrecommend... for using a NAZI reference

JUST KIDDING GOEBBELS

Yes its frightening and US citizens should be alarmed

NOW WATCH WHAT COMCAST DOES WITH THE INTERNET.

[WinkyDink]

56. WITH the happy collusion of Google and Zuckerberg's ("Man of the Year") FB.

[Ichingcarpenter]

61. There are no coincidences”.

There are no coincidences”.

“There are no coincidences”. What this generally means is that, whenever something seems serendipitous, or appears to have come about by chance in a particularly orderly way, or contains an unlikely pattern reminiscent of something else, or is in any other way quirkily coincidental, then you can bet that there’s something deeper going on, something we’re not seeing but which has caused things to align themselves in such a pattern, something that deliberately made things this way.

Anytime something seems oddly out of place, or circumstances are just a little too “convenient”, you should be suspicious, and try to find out what’s really going on under the surface. There are no coincidences.

Now think.... why would NBC do this at the last moment during the final deal?
And claim its not related?

[cali]

57. what a garbled pile of garbage.

[dotymed]

58. THE FAIRNESS DOCTRINE.

Yes, I am sure many of you at DU are so tired of my posts on this subject. It was the greatest regulation in place, to ensure that our citizens were accurately and comprehensively informed. Reagan after having his FCC head trash this rule, said that the free market should determine the content of our news(?).
WAR IS PEACE.
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.
Catch the reruns of this timeless message on a broadcast network, anytime.

[defendandprotect]

92. Our elected officials know all of this, as well -- but they are enabling the forces ...

which took down The Fairness Doctrine - -

and certainly making no move to restore it --

Our problems are certainly with corporate power -- but we have to remember

they are bribing our elected officials to get what they want --

it is our elected officials we have to gain conrol over.

[Joanne98]

59. This is exactly how I feel.

[xchrom]

60. recommend

[felix_numinous]

63. Few people understand

chaos theory. I come from a family of mathematicians and scientists. Believe me, I missed out on most of those genetics :) but when you study probability, systems theory and synchronicity, life becomes very interesting. I have always looked for patterns in a seemingly chaotic world, I don't attach myself to any theories I have but over time I test them against actual events. You know, this is a fascinating world we live in when you take the blinders off.

[Enthusiast]

64. Kicked and Recommended!

I agree with this completely. We are in deep shit here, folks. We had best recognize that fact now.

[Octafish]

71. Ben Bagdikian war correct.

And when it comes to Corporate McPravda and the Media Monopoly, so is nadinbrzezinski.

K&R118 or so.

[Demoiselle]

73. You're right, Nadine. Very sad, very scary. Thanks. (nt)

[Kurovski]

74. Kick. (nt)

[Name removed]

77. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Caretha]

78. For your very first post

you certainly are full of critism. Are you always this negative? Are you always this judgemental? Are you always so opinonated? I find those definitions define a certain segment of our society.

IMNSHO - you are not welcome to DU.

[ladywendylyn]

82. Help

Help me out here. What does IMNSHO mean? Not familiar with it,Caretha.

[hay rick]

84. Guessing

because I haven't seen it either. IMHO usually means "in my humble opinion" so IMNSHO might mean "in my not so humble opinion."

Suggestion: if you are interested in grammar, usage, etc. you might look up the Writer's Group in DU: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=216

Observation: DU is a discussion forum, not a literary site. Many of the posts include emoticons and text message/chat acronyms. Many posts are dashed off in a minute or two and are devoid of literary pretension.

Welcome to DU.

[nadinbrzezinski]

80. Where do you want me to send you that red pencil teach?

and what about the content teach? Or are you just concerned with grammar?

[cbdo2007]

81. Even with your rant, it doesn't change the fact that this is all about MONEY.

not power.

Books in the US are written to a bland level because they will sell $$$$$$

They redo movies rather than make new scripts because it is easier and makes $$$$$$$

The reason MSNBC got rid of Olbermann???? Fox News makes more MONEY!! $$$$$$$ By a long shot. and Keith wasn't worth it.

This isn't about power or mind control. It is about the easiest way to make a sh*tload of money.

[nadinbrzezinski]

85. Actually you are wrong at many levels

but I will leave it at that...

[Elmo SinJohn]

90. One could point out that the biggest monopoly breakups happened under GOP administrations

Bell Telephone and Standard Oil.

[defendandprotect]

91. Corporations are not empowering themselves ... they are bribing their way ....

it is elected officials who are empowering corporations by overturning

New Deal regulations -- and ignoring anti-trust laws --

Granted WEALTH is greasing the corporate way -- but it is our elected officials

we are taking the money and doing the dirty deeds!

[Hannah Bell]

93. you got the story wrong. comedy central is owned by viacom.

thus it's ironic when you make blanket generalizations about how uninformed *others* are....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viacom

[Generator]

95. Good night and good luck

Yeah, but Nadine you can't even say the truth about Obama on DU. Which is why I left about a year ago. Just came back to read some stuff about Keith Olbermann. Feeling very sad and nostalgic about that.

Obama is a Republican-a "moderate" one but a Republican nonetheless. And everyone here will have marching orders to vote for him coming soon. And this is such a sad sad end to this place. Ten years! Well, good luck to everyone. Because we will all need it. (also before I logged in I got an AD BOT! WTF? How corporate can you get-not just the ads but an AD BOT? How fitting to our corporate president!)

There are some blogs out there where you can say the whole truth but DU ain't one of them anymore-another reason was my posts (After Obama only!) started to be not edited but deleted outright-not for calling people names but for calling out the big liar in chief.

When you cease to exist you get the message. I got the message.