...of people like Murrow that made the power brokers realize the control and manipulation that could be wrought, if only television could be had. And had it was.
While most of the time I don't feel so privileged being as old as I am, this occasion is an exception. Because I do recall Edward R. Murrow's program "See It Now" on tv as a kid. When it came on, it was usually my signal to go outside and play. But I did watch sometimes. And I remember his ground-breaking program of black sharecroppers and tenant farmers living in destitution in the South as a re-broadcast in around 1959. It was a mind-boggling concept for the placid days of 50s and Eisenhower. A time when everyone believed that all was right with the world. Or so we were told.
But short of writing the press into the Constitution as a protected estate and watchdog over government, I know of no way in which its role as guardian over our liberties can be saved from the ravages of free enterprise's "supply and demand" model. Divestment and anti-monopolistic regulation now and for some time has largely been for show. As the global economy has blurred the distinctions between the players and their interests.
It is said, that he who plays piper calls the tune. In this case, the top 50 entities who finance the MSMs spent over $3 billion in advertising in 2005-06 on just cable alone. These are the shapers and distorter's of what we see:
Rank ADVERTISER - Top 50 Cable Advertisers of '05/06Advertising Expenditures (in Millions $US)
1 PROCTER & GAMBLE CO $921
2 TIME WARNER INC $314
3 GENERAL MOTORS CORP $298
4 ALTRIA GROUP INC $248
5 DELL INC $226
6 SONY CORP $221
7 WALT DISNEY CO $212
8 SPRINT NEXTEL CORP $212
9 GENERAL MILLS INC $201
10 GE GENERAL ELECTRIC CO $191
11 GLAXOSMITHKLINE PLC $182
12 PETMED EXPRESS INC $181
13 US GOVT $179
14 VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC $178
15 PEPSICO INC $175
16 PUBLIC SERVICE ANN $165
17 KELLOGG CO $164
18 DAIMLERCHRYSLER AG $164
19 YUM BRANDS INC $162
20 FORD MOTOR CO $160
21 NATIONAL AMUSEMENTS INC 152
22 BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC 152
23 NEWS CORP 149
24 NOVARTIS AG 145
25 JOHNSON & JOHNSON 144
26 AT&T INC 144
27 PROGRESSIVE CORP 133
28 TOYOTA MOTOR CORP 127
29 HYUNDAI CORP 126
30 PFIZER INC 121
31 NESTLE SA 120
32 HONDA MOTOR CO LTD 120
33 MATTEL INC 119
34 UNILEVER 112
35 NISSAN MOTOR CO LTD 108
36 AMERICAN EXPRESS CO 99
37 BAYER AG GROUP 97
38 MCDONALDS CORP 96
39 NAUTILUS INC 95
40 SEARS HOLDINGS CORP 94
41 ALLSTATE CORP 92
42 CLOROX CO 91
43 CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORP 90
44 SC JOHNSON & SON INC 84
45 COCA-COLA CO 83
46 HOME DEPOT INC 83
47 LOREAL SA 80
48 MARS INC 79
49 RAZOR & TIE DIRECT LLC 78
50 TEXAS PACIFIC GROUP 76
http://www.onetvworld.org/main/cab/research/AdvertisingExpenditures/top-50-cable-advertisers--6.shtmlSo we can talk about the decline of the important role that newspapers, radio and television once had. And even the internet which has bogarded and elbowed its share of the advertising pie away from the others. But in the end, the answer lies in the advice of Deep Throat of Watergate fame:
"Always follow the money." The place where the money controls, is the place where responsibility lies for the diminished role of our press. It lays at the altar of lucre -- outstretched and vulnerable. A caricature of its once proud self -- a parody. Next, maybe the news will become a reality program where normal people report the news. And vote each other off the air for their bad stories. While we pull for one blond, blue-eyed, blow-dried reporter to find true love with the cute weather guy, or better still, pull for the underdog, The Best Boy.
Anything for ratings in the fine art of selling us soap....
IMHO
DeSwiss K&R