Amy Goodman: Take Back the Airwaves (Truthdig)

[marmar]

Take Back the Airwaves

Posted on Apr 10, 2007
By Amy Goodman

As the TV pundits on the networks gab about the tens of millions of dollars raised by the top presidential candidates, what they don’t talk about is where that money is going: to their own networks.

Money is now considered the single most important factor in our electoral process. Ideas and issues take a back seat to the bottom line. This prostitution of our electoral process has one key culprit: television advertising.

Political advertising makes or breaks candidates, and it takes a huge amount of money to implement a national advertising strategy. Now more than 20 states are piling onto Feb. 5, 2008, as their primary day, including states like California and New York, with large, expensive media markets. The early, deciding role of money and television advertising in determining who gets to run for president is secure.

The costs of running for federal office have been skyrocketing. More than $880 million was raised by the 2004 presidential campaigns. The 2008 election is predicted to cost more than $1 billion. Sixty percent will be spent on advertising.

Citizens are the losers, and the broadcasters and elite political consultants are the winners. We ought to turn this around. The public owns the airwaves that are being used by the big corporate broadcasters. The broadcasters, like NBC, ABC and CBS, have an obligation to use those airwaves “in the public interest, convenience and necessity.” These profitable corporations take these public airwaves for free, then peddle them for exorbitant advertising rates.
...(snip)...

Now Durbin is taking another crack at the NAB. He has introduced the Fair Elections Now Act, which would both grant vouchers for broadcast ads and also mandate a 20 percent discount beyond the lowest unit cost of ads near primary and election times.

While the public airwaves are sold off to the highest campaign bidders (often to push negative ads, but that is another issue), the broadcasters fail miserably to report on the campaigns. After all, if the broadcasters fulfilled their public-interest obligations and actually reported fully and consistently on the various candidates and their issues, and not just on the campaign horse race, then there would be less need for campaigns to buy ads in the first place. .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/take_back_the_airwaves/

[Robson]

1. Taking back OUR networks means this

It means that the networks that play to America represent America in its entirety and not to specific ethnic groups. I want to see a news media that represents the USA in its entirety, not Israel or not Harlem or not white America. Many don't agree.

[marmar]

2. There's a network that represents Harlem? I must have missed that one.

:shrug:

[Robson]

3. Correct

There is no news network that represents Harlem, or non Jewish America, or Hispanics or Asians or Muslims....and that mis-representation of America should bother all of us.