Mainstream Media: An Instrument for Enlightenment or Collective Propagandist?
“Some degree of abuse is inseparable from the proper use of everything; and in no instance is this more true, than in that of the press.” James Madison
I’ve heard a handful of people over the past few years talk about the bias and hypocrisy of most of the mainstream media. Those on the left, or the low info voters would not see this, because it’s hard to understand if one only ever watches say, MSNBC all day long.
Vladimir Lenin once said, “The press should be not only a collective propagandist and a collective agitator, but also a collective organizer of the masses”.
Since the advent of 24-hour news such as CNN, MSNBC and others, the average daily viewing by Americans has increased incredibly. It’s not only news, but also all forms of entertainment that is heavily laced with liberal ideology. From TV shows, news, movies, music, magazines and books, Americans spend countless hours watching, listening to and reading what could be described as Lenin’s vision, a collective propagandist machine of the masses.
Has anyone considered the fact that the same corporations who own the News media also own publications and entertainment businesses as well? For example, Comcast Corporation now primarily owns NBC, which is the majority owner of NBC Universal with a 51% interest. GE holds a 49% interest. If anyone is paying attention, they will know that Jeffery Immelt, who took over leadership of GE in 2001, was also appointed to head Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. So, in essence, Obama’s jobs guy was part owner of MSNBC. What about Comcast though, who owns 51%. What else do they own? In television channels alone, they own Bravo, CNBC World, NBC Sports Network, E! Entertainment Television, MSNBC, Universal HD, USA Network and The Weather Channel among others. They also own Universal Pictures and Universal Studios Home Entertainment along with Universal Parks and Resorts. They own shares in digital media as well: Hulu (32%), iVillage, NBC.com and CNBC Digital. This doesn’t even include their other ventures and communications.
Let’s have a look at entertainment. Walt Disney, the creator of the best Cartoon films of all time grew up knowing how to work hard. He started with simple sketches that developed into his famous cartoon based empire. How diversified is The Walt Disney Company now? Touchstone Pictures, Marvel Entertainment, Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation are just a few of their film and theater holdings. They also own ABC Television Network (ABC Daytime, ABC Entertainment, and ABC News), ABC Family, ABC Studios, A&E Television Networks (50%) and History (former History Channel) (50%) and 80% of ESPN Inc. Publishing companies they own include, ABC Daytime Press and Disney Publishing Worldwide, Disney Digital Books, Global Children’s Magazines, U.S. Magazines, ESPN The Magazine (50% with Hearst) and ESPN Books. They also own The Baby Einstein Company, The Muppets Studio and UTV Software Communications among others.
Time Warner Inc. owns Home Box Office (HBO), Cinemax, HBO2, HBO Comedy, and HBO Family. Turner Broadcasting System which owns Adult Swim, Cartoon Network, CNN, Much Music, NASCAR.com, PGA.com, TBS, truTV, Turner Classic Movies, Turner Sports and CNNMoney.com., Warner Bros., DC Comics, MAD Magazine, New Line Cinema, Warner Bros.,The CW Television Network and Warner Horizon Television. Time Inc. publishing including, Time Inc., Coastal Living, Cooking Light, Entertainment Weekly, Essence, Fortune, Golf Magazine, Money, People, Sports Illustrated, Sports Illustrated Kids, Southern Living, This Old House and Time For Kids. This doesn’t include the digital and investment interests they own.
National Amusements has controlling interests in CBS and Viacom, which owns all of CBS Television Network and Showtime and CBS radio outlets. Publishing companies owned include Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing and Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. Online Properties include BNet, CBS.com, CBSNews.com, CBSSports.com, College Network, CNET, Help.com, Shopper.com and SmartPlanet.
Let me be fair and balanced. News Corp, which owns FOX, also owns shares in National Geographic Channel United States (71%) and FOX, Twentieth Century Fox film corporations. They own New York Post, The Wall Street Journal and FSI (SmartSource Magazine) among others. Dow Jones, eFinancialNews, Dow Jones Averages and Dow Jones Investment Banker. They own International Publishing, HarperCollins Publishers, Walden Pond Press and Zondervan Online Properties.
These are five of the main American News sources, so is it any wonder that on most days all news sounds the same?
Something else that may make some people take notice is that there is a close relationship between the press and our current administration. Matthew Jaffe, a reporter for ABC News and Univision is married to Katie Hogan, Obama’s deputy press secretary. Obama’s Ambassador to the UN during the Benghazi attacks, Susan Rice, who was also a part of his national security team, is the wife of Ian Cameron, who at the time of Rice’s appointment was executive producer of ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos”.
Speaking of Stephanopoulos, he was a part of a small group at Harvard University that met for a period between 1997 and 2000 to promote involvement with U.S. community institutions. Obama was also a part of this same group. Stephanopoulos has since had a few exclusive interviews with Obama. Martha Raddatz, Senior Foreign Affairs Correspondent for ABC News was married to Julius Genachowski who along with Obama, worked on the Harvard Law Review and was later appointed by Obama as chair of the Federal Communications Commission. Obama was even invited to their wedding.
It recently came out that ABC News President Ben Sherwood has a sister, Dr. Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall who is a Special Assistant to Obama. CBS News President David Rhodes has a brother, Ben, who is Obama’s deputy national security adviser for strategic communication, and is one of the main people who worked on changes of the Benghazi talking points. Former Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Tom Nides is married to CNN executive Virginia Moseley. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney is married to ABC News contributor Claire Shipman.
It doesn’t matter if one is a liberal or conservative- it should make people question the integrity of today’s journalism and news when there are so many ties between those who should be reporting the news and those who make the news. Instead, people go about their daily lives absorbing the same talking points no matter what mainstream media outlet they listen to, as they also go to movies, read books and listen to music put out by the same corporations who make the news. Is it any wonder why we no longer have more than a handful of hard hitting, dirt sifting, and true investigative real news anymore? When the few come along who do, those who ask real questions are in danger of almost hostile attitudes from their employers. Is it any wonder that a recent survey by Rasmussen found that only 6 percent of all Americans consider the news media to be “very trustworthy”?
Once, journalism was thought of to be a noble profession, that whole Truth, Justice and the American Way ideal in which news journalists could help influence society for good. Now we have conglomerates that influence all of society during all waking hours through all forms of media, and most of it is done with a liberal/progressive view.
It’s no secret that most news is politically far to the left. The mainstream media is far more liberal than the average American, yet many who follow still somehow find these to be fair and unbiased reporting, and often accusing conservatives as being brainwashed. People who get their steady diet from the mainstream news have very little understanding or belief that what they see, hear and read is biased and often times not the whole truth. They see one side- the side that the media wants them to see. I could write a whole series of articles about the hypocrisy and blatant omissions done purposely to paint conservatives and “Fly over country” Americans as racists, bigots, and clingers.
Benjamin Franklin once said, “A nation of well-informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is the region of ignorance that tyranny begins.”
We need to change media from being the collective organizer of the masses, which has kept people ignorant by telling the masses only what they want them to know, by helping to promote that which helps people to be as informed as they can be. Thanks to Internet media, which by the way, Obama and many leftists in the media despise, we are heading in the right direction.
