Why, to me, what CBS did with its conservative audience pandering big lie is really huge news.

[NRaleighLiberal]

It reaffirms that which most of us here probably realized for a long time - certainly since the (election*) of Dubya the first time. The fix is in.....nothing that is reported on television news or in print can be trusted due to manipulation by the corporate right wing owners to distort reality. It is the result of the media consolidation, the demise of the fairness doctrine, and an outcome of the Citizens United ruling.

We've all observed it for years from the stacking of "news" programs by right wingers (today, I noticed on NPR's Diane Rehm show, it pretty much was Fox, Bloomberg - often Politico - but never, every anything even remotely balancing from the left.)

Sadly, TV and print news is how most of America gets its news. This is a monstrous problem...the right wing echo chamber is now all-encompassing and only those of us who know enough to seek alternate news sources stand a chance at the truth.

All the lines have been crossed, and trust is now lost. And I don't see a way for them to get it back.

[NightWatcher]

1. Network was supposed to be a dark comedy/satire

[bananas]

41. Satire of what actually happens, which is why it's funny. (Or not). nt

[DFW]

60. I think Glenn Beck used Howard Beale as his role model. n/t

[Warpy]

2. I finally got disgusted enough to turn them off in 2004

and can't think of a reason in the world to turn that confection of infotainment and disinformation and lying by omission back on.

The only ones worth watching are Jon Stewart and rarely Rachel Maddow.

[spanone]

3. when 60 minutes is in on 'the fix' our media is gone.

i hold little hope for it improving.

[NRaleighLiberal]

4. exactly.

[spanone]

5. mike wallace would have torn a chris christie to pieces....

exposed a darrell issa

shown what an asshole eric cantor is.....

[zbdent]

8. how many times have I warned about the "liberally-biased media"

making sure that Repugs get a resurrection like nobody ever could imagine ...

[JI7]

12. many of those original 60 minutes reporters are dead

[spanone]

13. ...along with the integrity of the program.

[FirstLight]

6. Fairness Doctrine

when that was repealed in the 80's...THAT was the end of REAL media as we believe it should be.

ETA: and we have Regan to thank for that one...

[Blue Owl]

7. Textbook Propaganda 101

[gopiscrap]

9. I fully agree k and r

[SDjack]

10. Shocking: Katie Cuoric left CBS, and it continues its decline.

CBS's Benghazi strategy is driving away DEMs and GOPpers. The apology left a lot of Repugs looking like naked asses.

[moondust]

11. CHRIS CHRISTIE!!!!!!

Sunday news shows this week:

ABC's "This Week" — Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J.; Gov. Rick Perry, R-Texas.

___

NBC's "Meet the Press" — Christie; Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Bob Corker, R-Tenn.; Rep. Donna Edwards, D-Md.

___

CBS' "Face the Nation" — Christie; Leon Panetta, former defense secretary and CIA director.

___

CNN's "State of the Union" — Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; former Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan.

___

"Fox News Sunday" — Christie.

[SoapBox]

20. I can't even look at

Krispy Kreme Christie.

He makes me want to puke.

[Enthusiast]

38. We haven't seen such media cheerleading for a political figure since Dubya Bush after 911.

It is very clear that Christie is the media choice for president in 2016.

Democracy? I don't think so.

[Oilwellian]

44. Correction

He's not the media choice, he's the Wall Street choice, because it is they who control the media.

[Enthusiast]

47. Well, right.

[winter is coming]

50. Overexposing that loud-mouthed asshat is more likely to harm than help his candidacy.

Can you imagine his idea of international diplomacy?

[Enthusiast]

56. When war is the objective, loudmouth international diplomacy becomes an asset.

I'm only saying.

[Generic Brad]

14. They don't even report history accurately

Dan Rather's reporting during the Kennedy assassination was ingrained in the nation's consciousness and was feather in CBS's cap at the time. But since they forced him out after he was set up by the Bush cabal, CBS has chosen to ignore his place in history entirely.

Really, CBS's pettiness towards Dan Rather and this recent 60 Minutes lie shows they have integrity similar to FOX.

[grasswire]

15. true dat

Although why anyone expected competency and objectivity after the Rather incident is surprising.

[Enthusiast]

39. CBS has zero integrity.

Ever listen to the bullshit from Scott Pelley?

[JEB]

16. So many catapults for so much propaganda

it takes a lot of work to find a bit of truth.

[canoeist52]

17. I just now finished watching three episodes of "The Newsroom".

It explains the why of everything you just wrote -right down to the Koch's ownership of the news. Thanks for a timely post.

Netflix has it on cd's only unfortunately.

[VPStoltz]

19. Kind of like the show. Do NOT like the British lead though - too contrived.

[arthritisR_US]

46. This years episodes or the first season? nt

[canoeist52]

52. First season, so far.

[Arugula Latte]

62. There is something that happens in the second season that has very strong parallels to

the false Benghazi story. However, it's on the opposite end of the political spectrum.

[VPStoltz]

18. The ironic - or rather sickening - thing is...

a report discussed on NPR about a month ago revealed that most "liberal" journalist won't report the TRUTH because they are unwilling to take the Reich Wing barrage of hate they will have to endure.
That and their employers not so tacitly make it clear that the news is business and business is in the business of making $.
There is no such thing as the "liberal" media.
Just another Reeper talking point.

[NRaleighLiberal]

21. Courage negated by fear of loss of...what? money? or just fear of bruised egos by narcissists?

No matter what....they are not serving the public well - at all - in the least.

[canoeist52]

24. We need to consider the possibility of something worse.

"The Newroom" episode actually suggested death threats.

[NRaleighLiberal]

25. I've actually pondered that possibility. Problem is, when huge money and greed is involved,

I don't consider anything out of bounds....I think that the public at large is very naive and unaware.

[SoapBox]

22. +1

[Chathamization]

30. The media acts like those people in offices/schools/organizations who

will treat you decently one on one, but if a bully comes through and decides to pick on you they're the first to jump in, in order to to make sure that they stay on the bully's good side.

[mc51tc]

23. The Telecommunications Act of 1996

signed by a Democratic President unfortunately caused the demise of the media in this country. I so wish that Clinton had not signed it. Consolidation and bias set in right away with the corporate take over, and it has only gotten worse.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications_Act_of_1996

[Laelth]

34. +1. n/t

-Laelth

[snot]

36. Clinton was a key enabler in many areas.

[arthritisR_US]

48. Thanks for posting this! I was reading a few posts

up someone blaming it all on Ragean and I knew it had happened under Clinton and with his blessing.

[reACTIONary]

61. FYI, The Fainess Doctrine...

... mentioned in the original post, and a few posts back was rescinded under Raegan.

The FCC decided to eliminate the Doctrine in 1987, and in August 2011 the FCC formally removed the language that implemented the Doctrine.

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

[arthritisR_US]

73. So one got the ball rolling and the other let the

final nail be hammered into its coffin

[mountain grammy]

26. My trust was lost long before this incident.. can't exactly remember when.

[TwilightGardener]

27. CBS had Sharyl Atkinson giving the teabaggers woodies all year with her "investigative"

attempts to turn up something big on Benghazi, and it never really materialized. I guess CBS couldn't keep teasing the sad little 'baggers forever, they were starting to lose heart--time for a big 60 Minutes reveal! Or, not, as it turns out.

[NRaleighLiberal]

28. now they turned her loose on the ACA website - she is a shameless panderer for the right wing.

[TwilightGardener]

29. Yep--not even Fox is matching the negative anecdotal stories CBS is churning out lately on ACA.

They're trying to expand their viewership beyond the frail elderly, I guess.

[DeSwiss]

31. Now that you've awakened.....

...open your eyes wide.

- It'll be harsh at first, but you'll get used to it.

K&R

[dougolat]

55. ++ ..nt

[JHB]

32. It's also an example of excessive concentration in other ways...

How much of the lack of diligent scrutiny by 60 Minutes was due to simple cross-promotion across different divisions of the same corporate ownership? In this case the effect was greatly amplified by the politics.

Threshold Editions, a subsidiary of Simon & Schuster, which is owned by CBS, said on Friday they are notifying stores that copies of the book, titled "The Embassy House," can be returned to the publisher, New York Times' Julie Bosman tweeted.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2013/11/simon-schuster-pulling-benghazi-book-177108.html

ABOUT THRESHOLD EDITIONS

Threshold Editions is an imprint of Simon & Schuster that specializes in conservative non-fiction. Recent successes include #1 New York Times bestsellers Liberty and Tyranny by Mark Levin, An Inconvenient Book by Glenn Beck, and The Obama Nation by Jerome R. Corsi, Ph.D.

Authors include Glenn Beck, Karl Rove, Jerome R. Corsi, Mark R. Levin, David Kupelian, Lynne Cheney, Arthur B. Laffer, Mary Cheney, Jerry Doyle, Reid Buckley, Brian Jennings, George Melloan, Burton W. Folsom, and Stephen Moore.

http://imprints.simonandschuster.biz/threshold

[KoKo]

43. And who is "Editor at Large" for "Threshold Additions?

("Connecting the Dots" in our Media World)

Mary Matalin

Matalin has served Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush. Most recently, she joined the Bush/Cheney administration in the first term as Assistant to the President and Counselor to the Vice President. In that capacity, she preformed as senior advisor on major initiatives, including national security, homeland security, energy, economic growth and corporate governance policies. She oversaw the Vice President’s political and communications departments, advancing administration policies from the Middle East, Europe and across America to Capitol Hill.


Before joining the Bush/Cheney White House, Matalin hosted CNN’s critically acclaimed debate show, Crossfire. Matalin was also a former founding co-host of the Washington based CNBC political weeknight talk show, Equal Time. Today, she can be seen weekly as a CNN Political Contributor on such shows as The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer and John King USA. Matalin can also be heard weekly along with co-host Arianna Huffington on the nationally-syndicated radio program Both Sides Now, which is currently broadcast on over 100 radio stations across the country. The show - being called “the only ‘2 sides/ 2 women’ national talk program around” - represents a departure from traditional news talk product which is dominated across the U.S. by male voices.

In addition to her successful careers in politics, television, and radio, Matalin is also a widely read, respected and acclaimed author and serves as Editor at Large for Threshold Editions, a conservative publishing imprint at Simon & Schuster that has published authors from Vice President Dick Cheney to Karl Rove to Glenn Beck. Matalin, along with her husband James Carville, co-authored the best-selling political campaign book All’s Fair: Love, War and Running for President. Her most recent book, Letters to My Daughters was named a Book of the Month Club selection as well as The New York Times and The Washington Post best-seller lists. Letters to My Daughters was also selected for a condensed version by Reader’s Digest.[/b[

http://matalin.info/

[JHB]

49. Yes, and it must be nice to be able to dole out Wingnut Wefare...

...as long as you know who to call to arrange bulk-buys of the books. No surprise, she does.

[Hissyspit]

33. @BillMoyersHQ: "Confidence in the media as a check on abuses of power is collapsing."

@BillMoyersHQ: "Confidence in the media as a check on abuses of power is collapsing." -@NicholsUprising
http://t.co/2sLmFefCzF

m.twitter.com/BillMoyersHQ

[Enthusiast]

40. That's a good thing.

They are failing to maintain an adequate smoke screen. They believe their own propaganda.

Last night I heard professional liar Tom Brokaw tell David Letterman the nation was more liberal when it elected JFK than it is today. The right wing media is becoming more aggressive in their lies.

[Scuba]

35. Yet understandable ...

[Enthusiast]

37. Hey, that's why they did away with the fairness doctrine.

This is not a game. This is the nation moving toward wholesale Fascism right before your eyes. It's been a very gradual process.

Right wing forces in America cannot resist the temptation of this all powerful, potentially world dominating military. They have dreams of achieving what they failed to accomplish last century.

We simply cannot have a democracy without a balanced, fair TV media and free press. Of course, this is the objective—to do away with the democracy.

"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power." — Benito Mussolini

[SoCalDem]

42. Our sorry-ass media has MISSED "the story" for decades.

The "story" is about how media (all media) skews what they cover.. Of course it takes media to cover anything, and they will never "out" themselves.

Lots of people lack critical thinking skills these days, and are too ready to believe what "the news" tells them

[malaise]

45. Excellent post

Rec

[hootinholler]

51. Why Diane Rheem always has a voice from the left

Er, if you consider The Cato Institute the left.

She's been like that since the late 90's. IIRC whilst Newt was executing the contract on america the R's brought lots of pressure on NPR and managed to tip the board way right.

[spanone]

53. what is scary is that no one vetted this guy. not simon & shuster (publisher) or 60 minutes

preposterous

[valerief]

54. Bulworth said it in '98.

[progressoid]

57. +1

[colsohlibgal]

58. Mainstream Media Has Been Mostly A Disgrace For Years

They are supposed to ask tough questions then a follow up question if the answer to the original query is some combo of untrue/BS.

You almost never see that and haven't for some time. Reporters who dig for the real stories behind the "news"? One of the best is Greg Palast and he has to work in London because nobody will touch him here - they want lap dogs like David Gregory.

Their lack of integrity and their bending to the corporate rulers has caused so much harm to us and our image elsewhere.

[libodem]

59. I feel like I'm biting the hand that feeds me

When I complain about NPR. It isn't perfect but it is all I got, baby.

[hue]

63. Well said! How to get truth out to the RW media fed sheeple??????

[WillyT]

64. And THAT Is Why TYT Is... The Largest Online News Show Network In The World

Over a BILLION and a HALF "Views" on YouTube.



Link: http://www.tytnetwork.com/company/



& Rec !!!

[grandpamike1]

65. As far as News

Network and cable news are corporate toadies and pander to interests other than the American people. They all have heavy biases, mainly to the right, so the news we get is more opinion pieces than actual news. If you want to at least get a somewhat less biased, actual news from a different perspective, watch, BBC, CBC, Al Jazeera <which ATT Uverse will not allow on their stations>.

[Uncle Joe]

66. This is a great thread with many good points.

Thanks for the thread, NRaleighLiberal.

[NRaleighLiberal]

69. thanks...I am pretty humbled by the attention it is getting - just had to air out my frustrations

...and so many here at DU do this sort of thing so much better than I do....

[Uncle Joe]

70. I believe you did a great job just calling it like you see it.

[NRaleighLiberal]

71. thanks...what I feel in my heart is often more eloquent than my ability to put it into words....

I would make a really lousy attorney!

(or politician!)

[Uncle Joe]

72. But you might make a great community activist.

[ZX86]

67. Solution: Make News Media Tax Exempt like Religion

Any organization that gathers and disseminates public affair news and/or opinion should be tax exempt as long as they devote 15% of their content to outside review and they have no other business interests outside of public affairs news.

Problem solved.

[Major Hogwash]

68. The 4th estate has been "in the bag" for the rightwing filthy rich corporatists since 1980.

At least.

It became clear to me as the noon day sky over the Mediterranean Sea in October of 1983, after President Ronald Reagun sent the Marines into Lebanon and 244 Marines and Navy sailors were killed in just 1 day -- the largest loss of life suffered by the Marine Corps since the invasion of Iwo Jima during World War II -- and then Reagan invaded the tiny island of Grenada 2 days later, as he "wagged the dog" . . . and wound up taking the worst foreign policy blunder committed in more than a dozen years from right off of the front pages of the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times!!!

CBS and NBC barely covered the news of how most of those Marines that had been killed in October had been buried by over 200 tons of the battalion headquarters building when it was bombed by a terrorist that month in 1983.
However, they both provided daily coverage of VP Bush in 1983, wearing a helmet and a flak jacket, when he was in Lebanon later that year talking to reporters about how that debacle happened, and all those favorable reports of ol' George Bush "getting r done" were carried on a daily basis for several weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas that year.

So, you are absolutely right, my friend, the mainstream media can NOT be trusted to tell the American people the truth.
Those halycon days of the news being brought to us by honest men like Walter Cronkite, who was voted as the "most trusted man in America" in 1970, are long gone.