Reply #5: Our social self perception is reflected in the distorted mirror of corporate media.

[Beam Me Up]

This author is right on the money and as he points out this isn't only true in regards to the economy. Often, even here at DU, I see people surprised, even shocked, to discover that the corporate news doesn't tell them the truth, or only tells it to a very limited and relatively superficial extent. They ask, "Why aren't the media doing their job?" as if "their job" is to inform and empower the public. That isn't their job. Their job is to manage public perception. Chomsky:

The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable public opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum - even encourage the more critical and dissident views. That gives people the sense that there’s free thinking going on, while all the time the presuppositions of the system are being reinforced by the limits put on the range of the debate.