The media trivialize vital issues

[Guest guest]

" Arlene Montemarano " <mikarl

Mon, 21 Aug 2006 06:49:53 -0400

[RandiRhodes] WELL DONE LETTER ABOUT THE LOSS OF OUR FOURTH

ESTATE

 

 

 

PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY

 

 

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/281799_firstperson21.html

 

The media trivialize vital issues

Seattle Post Intelligencer - USA

 

.... (The answer will surprise you.). Two companies count 80 percent of

the votes in US elections? (ES & S and Diebold.) And that the owners of

the two are brothers? ...

 

 

Monday, August 21, 2006

 

The media trivialize vital issues

 

CARL A. COOK

GUEST COLUMNIST

 

How does one go about making massive changes in a modern society? In

our case, fellows of think tanks were paid to create rationales for

predetermined economic and political positions, much as in the old

Soviet Union. Billions of dollars have been spent to convince the

public that its interests and those of the corporations are the same.

 

A first step was when the Fairness Doctrine was abolished and radio

stations were no longer required to air opposing viewpoints. The

rationale was that corporations have a right to free speech, although

corporations are far more powerful than people.

 

Then, behind closed doors, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 was

passed. All radio regulations were thrown out, and independents were

bought up. That legislation resulted in the rise of right-wing radio,

coast-to-coast. Is it a coincidence that Clear Channel's Tom Hicks

bought the Texas Rangers, making George W. Bush a multimillionaire?

 

The reason corporations such as GE and Westinghouse own media outlets

now is to keep certain issues quiet, such as lobbying, pollution and

job exportation. The way the media treat corporations these days is

the same as Soviet media treated communism in its heyday -- with

deference and discretion. Did you know that:

# George H.W. Bush is making millions through Carlisle, thanks to

administration policies?

# A billionaire funded the Arkansas Project to try to bring down the

Clinton presidency?

# The wealthiest 5 percent own 84.4 percent of everything in America,

and the bottom 40 percent owns less than 1 percent?

# Our national debt now equals $30,000 for each person? And which

political party has accumulated most of this debt? (The answer will

surprise you.)

# Two companies count 80 percent of the votes in U.S. elections? (ES & S

and Diebold.) And that the owners of the two are brothers?

# Last month, half the lawyers in the IRS's Estate Tax Division were

laid off en masse? (DemocracyNow TV)

 

You would think the media would be delighted that those issues

happened on their watch, but some things are too important for them to

cover. News is supposed to provide us with information on vital issues

and should educate us so we can make good decisions. But now vital

issues are trivialized, and fluff such as movie stars and gossip

command vast coverage.

 

Rep. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., says: " Rupert Murdock has had a tremendous

influence in the worst possible way, on culture and media in the U.S.

and England. His shtick is appealing to working-class people, and

taking them to the right. And he does this through violence, through

superpatriotism, and through sensationalism. Fox Television is the

first example we've seen that makes no pretense of objectivity. All of

their talk shows are controlled by extreme right-wing Republicans; it

is a front for the right-wing of the Republican Party. "

 

Some stories disappear (no-bid contracts to administration companies)

while others are repeated endlessly (Monica Lewinsky). The media do

not discuss the disparity between the rich and poor in this country,

or the disappearance of the middle class. Sanders asks, " Why is it,

that with all this advancement in technology, and all the efficiency

gains we have, that the average American is now working longer hours,

for less pay, than he did 25 years ago? "

 

Says Gary Sick, U.S. diplomat in past administrations: " We know what

to do with someone caught misappropriating funds, but when confronted

with evidence of a systematic attempt to undermine the political

system itself, we recoil, in a general failure of imagination and nerve. "

 

Carl A. Cook lives in Seattle.