Knowledge may be power but it seems that it is not simply the attaining and retaining of knowledge that grants one power, the distribution and packaging of said knowledge seems to the reserve of the truly powerful...
Such power resides in a number of corporations, all subject to the personal opinions and prejudices of their respective owners and editors. Should the news be subject to tight controls over what is presented or would such controls be seen as a unecessary attack on the freedom of the press.
If such restrictions are to be put in place who would be given the right to moderate? The government? Or should the honesty and objectivity of the media be subject only to market forces, in this case falsehoods will be observed and as befitting of a good of inferior quality, will go out of business...
What are your views on this matter?
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There is always a bias and an agenda in the mediahttp://www.prisonplanet.com/analysis_louise_01_03_03_mockingbird.htmlVoted for by Carpool.
Starting in the early days of the Cold War (late 40's), the CIA began a secret project called Operation Mockingbird, with the intent of buying influence behind the scenes at major media outlets and putting reporters on the CIA payroll, which has proven to be a stunning ongoing success. The CIA effort to recruit American news organizations and journalists to become spies and disseminators of propaganda, was headed up by Frank Wisner, Allen Dulles, Richard Helms, and Philip Graham (publisher of The Washington Post). Wisner had taken Graham under his wing to direct the program code-named Operation Mockingbird and both have presumably committed suicide.
Media assets will eventually include ABC, NBC, CBS, Time, Newsweek, Associated Press, United Press International (UPI), Reuters, Hearst Newspapers, Scripps-Howard, Copley News Service, etc. and 400 journalists, who have secretly carried out assignments according to documents on file at CIA headquarters, from intelligence-gathering to serving as go-betweens. The CIA had infiltrated the nation's businesses, media, and universities with tens of thousands of on-call operatives by the 1950's. CIA Director Dulles had staffed the CIA almost exclusively with Ivy League graduates, especially from Yale with figures like George Herbert Walker Bush from the "Skull and Bones" Society.
Many Americans still insist or persist in believing that we have a free press, while getting most of their news from state-controlled television, under the misconception that reporters are meant to serve the public. Reporters are paid employees and serve the media owners, who usually cower when challenged by advertisers or major government figures. Robert Parry reported the first breaking stories about Iran-Contra for Associated Press that were largely ignored by the press and congress, then moving to Newsweek he witnessed a retraction of a true story for political reasons. In 'Fooling America: A Talk by Robert Parry' he said, "The people who succeeded and did well were those who didn't stand up, who didn't write the big stories, who looked the other way when history was happening in front of them, and went along either consciously or just by cowardice with the deception of the American people."
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"News" is just a tool to persuade the opinion of the public into anything the government desires. We are slaves in our own minds. There is no such thing as "free press". Any media that is even considered semi-powerful is monitored/controlled by the CIA. To know what is ACTUALLY going on in the world, the only thing you can do is independent research.
This is not just in the US, try looking into BBC news also.
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It's about profitI would say that the main driving force behind bias in the media is profit. Of course the journalist's and editor's opinions affect the point of view of the article/programme, but you also have to think of the fact that their profits depend on catching the reader's/viewer's eye and holding their interest, as more audience = more money. Dramatic or emotive headlines get more attention, so often sensationalism and exaggeration get in the way of factual reporting.Voted for by aerozeppelin.
I would say it's no coincidence that two of the best selling newspapers in the UK - the Sun and the Daily Mail - are also two of the least impartial and most likely to use sensationalist headlines to grab the reader's attention. Unfortunately, gossip and scandal sells more than balanced and objective journalism.
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petethemeat
December 7, 2007
December 7, 2007
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petethemeat
December 7, 2007
Founder John Reith, did not give access to the up and coming Labour party, at a time when many feared socialist revolution.
December 7, 2007
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petethemeat
December 7, 2007
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In the UK the words 'War on Terror' are not spoken by politicians for fearing of sounding too American. This obviously does not mean that it is not happening, yet they do it in a less flagrant manner as the US.
I do however see that many things are not news-worthy, yet I atribute this more to the shallow interests of their target market than actual political conspiracy.
May 9
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There are those out there that did have a lot of power, and power over others, and it was wrong for them to do that.
That's why it's our responsibility To use our knowledge and know that, individually, we will be alright together, and build our own community.
Every one has the ability to use their brain.
Heck, don’t you think it’s a good thing what the media is doing for you now!
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