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Bill Moyers: Media Power Grab

post #1 of 7
8/25/07 at 12:56am
Thread Starter 
Airtime: Friday, August 24, 2007 at 9:00 PM EDT on PBS (check local listings at http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/about/airdates.html).
Quote:
Media power grab? The FCC is considering new rules that will govern how much control the media titans will have over what we read, see and hear. "Bill Moyers Journal" examines what's at stake for democracy.

Local news is the heartbeat of democracy, so why is it disappearing from many communities around the nation? Media consolidation isn't widely covered by the mainstream press, but potential changes being considered to the rules governing the nation's big media companies could have far-reaching effects on democracy. "Bill Moyers Journal" devotes an hour to this important issue with a report on the disappearance of local news and community radio in extensive interviews with journalist Rick Karr, media activist Hannah Sassaman and FCC Commissioner Michael Copps.
Look no further than ABC News, which twice censored a poll on its website asking "who won the ABC democratic debate" when Dennis Kucinich took the mantle both times they posted, and then yanked, their poll for the tiniest glimpse at the mainstream's attitude.

Consider also some of the alternately amusing and disturbing entries in Wired's list of salacious edits to wikipedia, including:

Quote:
Clear Channel Doesn't Like Air America Radio
by Katie

Clear Channel blanks out entire programming overview from the Air America Radio entry.
These are just recent observations and obviously microcosmic examples of the deep $#!& we are in as a people, to have our allegedly free press muzzled not by fascist laws but by corporate and federal collusion for mutually beneficial power and profit grabs.
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post #2 of 7
8/25/07 at 1:10am
I actually feel a little bit better about the situation after watching this. If there's at least one FCC commissioner who not only is not a corporate hack, but actually seems to have a progressive understanding of media ownership, maybe there's a little hope. I assumed that by now, the commission would be entirely stacked with Bush administration puppets.

Thank God for Bill Moyers, man.
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post #3 of 7
8/25/07 at 1:20am
Media conglomerates bother me as much as the next guy, but is local news really a bastion of democracy? I can't stand local news because it is generally useless and sensationalized. The internet is the only place to get quality independent news as far as I know.
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post #4 of 7
8/25/07 at 2:00am
Quote:
Originally Posted by yt
These are just recent observations and obviously microcosmic examples of the deep $#!& we are in as a people, to have our allegedly free press muzzled not by fascist laws but by corporate and federal collusion for mutually beneficial power and profit grabs.
I think we've seen much of this in recent years. I don't know if a national mediais an answer, a la BBC or CBC, but I have to say I'm glad we have one.
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post #5 of 7
8/25/07 at 5:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Subotai
I don't know if a national mediais an answer, a la BBC or CBC, but I have to say I'm glad we have one.
Keep in mind that the CBC is constantly under fire to either be scrapped or severely reduced in order to foster greater competition from the private sector.

Of course, the private sector has been consolidating lately as well .... I hope it never gets to the point where we need to say, "Thank god for the CRTC!"*

* Canuck version of the FCC which deals with both content and level of competition.
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post #6 of 7
8/25/07 at 11:09am
Private media ownership run amok does the people a disservice. It doesn't have to, it's possible to own every radio station in the country and not use that power to push your own agenda, misinforming the public in the process, but that's not the case.
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post #7 of 7
8/25/07 at 1:45pm
Thread Starter 
This must-watch is online here: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/08242007/watch.html
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