Media Madness

[Mythsaje]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Our biggest obstacle to meaningful change is the media. The corporate media that is, rather than reporting the news, deliberately manipulating what the average American THINKS about "the news." Newspapers have taken a big hit recently thanks to the internet, but the newspapers are the least of our problems. In fact, many newspapers did serve a vital purpose, getting the news out and allowing average people a voice on the editorial pages. The way they often manipulated the information was by putting important stories below the fold, or farther from the front page. But they PRINTED them.

No, we all know the issue is really with the TV media and, to a lesser but not insignificant degree, the radio--particularly RW radio. For the past several years people like Limbaugh and Savage have gotten away with saying nearly anything they want with little censure. And when they're smacked for being dickheads, they act as though THEY have a right to be offended.

But we know all this. We saw the power of the media during the anti-war demonstrations, when they did their best to minimize and marginalize those of us opposed to the war, even as they designed eye-catching graphics and jumped on the bandwagon if only to increase their viewership. Hey, war's exciting. We get to see bombs and missiles and tracers in the night sky. Let's embed!

Jerk-offs.

When we realized what they were doing, we should have started protesting THEM. Picketing THEIR offices. It would have been news, regardless of how much they'd wanted to suppress it. The media can't resist a story, and even if they ARE beholden to corporate masters, they can't help but compete with one another.

We could do it now, but I'm not sure what good it would do. Maybe a little, maybe a lot. Those of us aware of what's going on certainly out-number the "tea-baggers."

Does the average American KNOW that any discussion of single-payer is being suppressed by the Finance Committee? Does the average American KNOW that Congress approves of predatory credit card practices? I don't watch TV media, so I'm not sure what we're being told. I hope Keith and Rachel are keeping at least some of us up to date, but I'm not sure. You tell me.

One thing we should all know by now is that "go along to get along" is a really crappy way to run a country. And we're not going to stand by silently as they turn their backs on us to support corporate rule. Not this time.

[ColbertWatcher]

1. The biggest obstacle is the GOP.

They happen to own the media and the courts and are hell-bent on destroying public education.

[Mythsaje]

2. Ah, but the GOP is a symptom, not the cause.

The corporatists might own the GOP and the Media, but the GOP, as a brand, is currently muddied and bloodied. The media, on the other hand, tries very hard to keep its hands clean. Failing, of course, but that's not really obvious to the average American on the street. The war is just as much their fault as it is anyone else's.

[ColbertWatcher]

11. The GOP is not just the muddied and bloodied political party.

It is also the think tanks, fraternities and societies, etc.

They control the media, the courts and education.

[DJ13]

4. The biggest obstacle is campaign financing

[Mythsaje]

6. Yup...and unfortunately the task of fixing that problem

is in the very hands of those who have no interest in doing so.

[ColbertWatcher]

9. Yes, the GOP. n/t

[Mythsaje]

14. Last I checked, the GOP wasn't in charge anymore...

Why aren't the Democrats doing something about it? Maybe because many of them don't want to either?

[ColbertWatcher]

16. Dems have been elected to many federal offices, but ...

... the GOP control the media, the courts and the schools.

[Mythsaje]

17. The schools? Universally, or just in certain areas? n/t

[ColbertWatcher]

18. They dominate certain regions and ...

... are moving to control the entire system through textbooks and privatizing everything.

[RandomThoughts]

10. The people setting agendas in media.

May be continuing to use the same method, even if they can not openly support GOP party, they can still distract from issues. Even the GOP meltdown being covered, instead of why they melted down, is an example of this.

How often to you hear detail comments on the deregulation and tax cuts only policy and all the other economic issues and transfers of wealth spoken of when they speak of GOP melt down.

Even the fixation on torture, keeps the conversation off of money and where it is going, and how it is distributed. The torture issue is very important to reestablish law, and needs to be made illegal, but can you see there are many ways to keep the topic off of the key economic issues they don't want explored.

With so much to do, its hard to keep one issue in the sights, and actually focusing on one issue getting it done, then moving to next is probably best, but there are so many issues that focus on one issue at a time gets split up a bit. Might be why they collapsed so many things at once.

[RandomThoughts]

3. People have to start discussing these issues with people.

Talk with friends and family, point out the contridictions, the manipulations. Note that I think many tv reporters are good people, but there is a bubble or ideology on how much of a topic is shown.

If they get angry, then it is a different issue, and if a person can't discuss without getting angry, working on that might be something to do. Support smaller independant voices you think are important by letting people know how to find them.

[Mythsaje]

5. That's something else I've been saying for some time.

Sometimes it's the one-on-one conversations that make the most difference.

[datasuspect]

7. dr. datasuspect's surefire cure

1. turn off your television

2. dispose of it

3. talk to your neighbors

4. get pissed

5. work together

[Mythsaje]

15. A surefire cure that will never happen is not a "cure" at all. n/t

[lunatica]

8. The media is only what we see. The true obstacle are the Corporations

who own the media and the newspapers and the radio stations. They're the head of the monster with everything else being just tentacles directed by the head.

They need to be regulated and I hope that Obama's plan is to do one step at a time. Maybe incremental changes will eventually turn into massive changes. I have my doubts, but then I have doubts in the other direction. There's not enough distance yet to actually see a real pattern. It took us a long while before we understood what Bush was doing. Especially with the media's obfuscations, again coming from their corporate owners.

[SalviaBlue]

12. I agree. Corporate control of information dissemination is the problem.

Corporate power needs to be reigned in big time.

[malaise]

13. 100% correct

You think GE intends to bring home the off shore money - or any of the rest of them.