The Corporate Mainstream Media

A Special Report On the Gatekeeper of Crime

 
The Vaunted Protector of Our Democracy Is Long Gone

Few Know of The Concerted Plan To Influence The Media In This Country
NewsFocus, By Tim Watts 031209

What Most Don’t Know About Media In The United States
The Takeover And Control of News And Information in America

In the beginning we had the Gutenberg printing press. Books and newspapers were the information king, but printed material was often voluminous and disbursement was slow.

The dawning of the technical age of media allowed the spread of information at a much faster pace than ever before in the history of mankind. With the advent of the electronic age came the telegraph and then the telephone, with radio, television, cable, and satellite to follow. The flow of news and information could now travel instantly around the globe, allowing thoughts and ideas to be shared with lightning speed. The information age was born.

Just as this new age could become a boon to mankind, allowing the propagation of knowledge to enlighten humanity, it could also become a dangerous shackle by disillusioning man with disinformation and propaganda. The dissemination of media was only as good as those that created and delivered it.

The electronic age brought about an era of ingenuity unlike any ever seen before in the history of mankind. Technology moved along at a breakneck pace due to the rapid flow of information. The invention of the computer would be the topper of them all, giving us the electronic storage and instant retrieval of data, while allowing it to be quickly sorted and analyzed it in ways never before imagined.

As a result of the computer, a new medium would soon be born that would involve three of the preceding electronic technologies; the invention of the internet would employ telephone, cable and satellite to forge a new medium that offered broadband delivery capabilities for disseminating all media, newspapers, radio and television, from one source.

Recognizing the vast potential of electronic media brought about government intervention for registration as well as regulation. Commercial patents would need to be issued, along with guidelines for business use and the establishment of competitive markets.

A History of Broadcast Regulation

The first act to regulate the licensing of radio was the Radio Act of 1912 which formally assigned three and four letter designations to radio stations. It also demanded all amateur radio operators (HAM) to be licensed and prevented them from transmitting over federally assigned commercial and military wavelengths. Regulation of the act was assigned to The United States Department of Commerce and Labor. They were given authority to impose fines and to revoke the licenses of any radio operator caught violating the new act.

Surprising enough, part of its inception was brought about by the sinking of the Titanic. It required all seagoing ships to maintain 24-hour radio contact with coastal stations and all other ocean vessels. The Wireless Ship Act of 1910 was seen as not definitive enough as a standard, thus the 1912 act was born.

An ensuing military concern only scant years later brought about the 1927 Radio Act,  passed by Congress and originally said to be designed to regulate broadcast radio in "the public interest, convenience, and necessity," however a little known impetus would allegedly be to prevent the use of wireless as a weapon of war, not as a transmitter of enemy propaganda; so the story has been suggested.

Another Theory

One other more interesting thought that might be entertained, if you understand the 1913 meeting at Jekyll Island (see Federal Reserve story), is that it very well may not have been radio, per se, that they were interested in regulating regarding this innovative new and most powerful persuasive medium. Radio indeed held the capability to provide instant communication with large populations, thus holding the potential for what some might consider to be dangerous and persuasive free speech that could emanate from this sweeping new technology, dispensing hidden truth that could be disseminated and radiated en masse to not only local and larger geographical regions, but an entire nation.

This new regulation of communications was handled by two government entities, the Department of Commerce and the Interstate Commerce commission, but in 1934 the Congress and President Franklin Roosevelt were pressured to combine regulation of both wired and wireless into one act. The idea was to create a unique, unprecedented power over all electronic communications, an omnipotent overseer to regulate interstate and foreign communications commerce, not just for the public well being, but to a greater degree, for the national defense.

The Communications Act of 1934

Roosevelt's request was made public in January of 1934. It was debated by the Senate for several days in March while the House took but one day in April. Both bills were finally coalesced into one bill on June 19th by the 73d Congress and the new Communications Act was born. (Public Law # 416) While the act had few detractors, there were some critics who were worried about the well being of public radio, although in the end the final bill left commercial and educational broadcasting to be struck down by the new Commission. In 1941, radio frequencies were finally set aside for public broadcasting, but not on the then popular AM band, rather instead only on a new, less utilized channel, known as FM.

The Communications Act of 1934 was divided into several dozen sections, which were in turn split into six parts called titles.

Title 1 - general FCC regulations
Title 2 - common carrier regulations
Title 3 - broadcasting regulations
Title 4 - administration & procedural regulations
Title 5 - penal provisions, fines and forfeiture regulations
Title 6 - miscellaneous sundry regulations

The advent of public broadcasting in 1967 broadened Title 3, along with the creation of National Public Radio (NPR) in 1972, and the Children's Television Act of 1990, but it was the premier of cable in 1984 that brought about an all new amendment altogether, Title 7, later expanded further in the cable act of 1992. although one would think Title 7 would have been covered already under the wired and wireless acts.

Creation of The FCC

The Communications Act of 1934 was long considered a pillar of American broadcasting, with the stated purpose of bringing together under one roof the governance of both wireless and wired communications. As a direct result, it brought about the creation of the Federal Communications Commission, a then seven member panel commonly known as the FCC.

The FCC is technically considered an independent regulatory agency, although it is under the direct review of both Congress and the President. Today It is headed by five commissioners who are appointed by the president, with the advice and consent of the Senate. The collective commissioners serve staggered five year terms, with no more than two representing any one political party. That leaves the fifth member, the chairman, who is excluded from this restriction, thus still leaving room for a political imbalance, depending on the political party in power. Since the sitting president appoints this chairperson, the political influence of the commission swings with each presidential election.

The FCC's jurisdiction covers the 50 united states, and all of its U.S. possessions. It is directly responsible for regulating interstate and international communications of radio, television, wire, satellite, microwave, and cable, while also including the cellular telephone industry, digital broadcasting, and personal communications systems.

The commission grants commercial licenses for a limited number of individual frequencies, while reportedly withholding roughly fifty percent of all available frequencies for the federal government for national security and public safety. The FCC also regulates interstate common carrier systems, radio systems for industry, trucking, taxis, police and fire departments, emergency medical vehicles and marine-ship systems, as well as all aviation communication.

Ideally, the Communications Act essentially should work in conjunction with the First Amendment's freedom of speech and its press provisions, relying on the commerce clause of Article I, section 8. The airwaves have always been considered as public domain and rightfully need to be regulated in the public interest. The conservative far right has often screamed of what they call a liberal media bias; translation, an unfair advantage against the corporate rich, in favor of the  common man. The corporate right has long argued that the FCC has over-regulated the electronic media, thus giving the unfair advantage to the average American. As a result, many of the corporate wealthy have aberrantly called for major alterations to the act, even going so far as proposing to abolish the FCC and its long entrusted duty to protect the public interest.

While the Communications Act of 1934 lasted for many decades, it was itself amended more than once due to the vastly new fast emerging technology advancements, such as the Communications Satellite Act of 1962, the Cable Act of 1992, and the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

Telecom Act of 1996

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 changed the law in order for corporate entities and wealthy individuals to buy unlimited numbers of radio stations. There used to be a limit, but now that restriction has been lifted, allowing as many as they can possibly finance nationwide, with up to eight allowed in a single town. This was expressly prohibited under the previous law for very good reason. It prevented one person, or a group, from buying up the media in order to indoctrinate the populace with their own jaded political or religious ideology.

What we have now under the new law is dangerous to our republic and the democracy that we used to know and cherish. Gone now is the protector of our Constitutional rights. Lost is our watchdog over political skullduggery and corporate malfeasance.

We are now stuck with an elite group of wealthy owners and corporate entities that decide what we all get to hear on local radio or view on our televisions.

This cabal of predominantly conservative individuals and entities now deliver only their version of politics, brainwashing the masses as a result. We are now continually bombarded with far right wing ideology that drowns out the liberal or moderate voice in our country. As a result, listeners are now inundated with the far right opinions of Rush Limbaugh, Laura Ingram and Michael Savage, to name but a few. Television viewers are subjected FOX News and it's glaringly biased right wing disinformation, spread through not only its news department, but also its myriad commentators such as Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity. These people don't just spin the news around us, they purposefully lie about it to further the jaded political ideology of their corporate master, in this case, Rupert Murdoch.

What good can one possibly say about a person who publicly states that he is free to print, publish or broadcast whatever he wants through his media properties, whether it is the truth or not? This is the warped opinion of Mr. Murdoch and his faux news organization. So much for journalistic integrity.

A Right-Wing Biased Shift In American Media

The beloved Reagan Administration was the evil behind the 1988 deregulation of our media. It was under Reagan and Bush Sr., that the genesis for media monopolization began. They also did away with the Fairness Doctrine, Federal requirements that governed our political debates, equal time, and the personal attack rule. This essentially made it easier for the right to lie and spread political propaganda without fear of retaliation.

The advent of 1980s Reagan-era deregulation, along with recent commission rulings of the 90s and new millennium, has allowed a select group of major corporations to now purchase a domineering control of mass media throughout the country, bringing about a dangerous and unprecedented far right influence over the American media. The FCC was allowed to scrap broadcast ownership limitations, allowing dangerous monopolies that the law was originally intended to prevent. Under the new ruling, broadcast owners  were able to freely sell their licenses as commodities with no regard for the public trust.

The Reagan deregulation of our media has arguably been the death knell for our highly revered republic. Our watchdog of democracy has, as a result, been taken from us. The license to broadcast used to always be held in the "public interest." Sadly, that is no longer the case. It is now in the "corporate interest," with an undeniable financial bottom line which governs its direction and purpose. Before deregulation, a broadcast licensee was made to hold their license in the first term for a minimum of five years and then for every renewal afterwards, a duration of three years, whether the license holder was making a profit or losing their shirt entirely. It was for the "public good."

What we have now is what this author refers to as "Century-21 broadcasting," for you can now buy a media outlet and immediately turn around the next minute and hang a for sale sign on that license, with the sole interest of profit, with no longer any regard for the public good. That is what has allowed our broadcast media to now be boiled down to a mere six corporations.

THE EIGHT YEAR TAKEOVER OF THE US MEDIA

All it took to seize total US media control was money and 8 years time.
From 50 large media companies to just six in eight years.

(Viacom and CBS split gives us six corporations since this printing.)
Graph courtesy of the Corporate Accountability Project www.corporations.org/media

Broadcast Deregulation: A Dark Oman For Democracy 

Aside from the loss of varied  and distinctive viewpoints that are now missing from our society, we have also greatly diminished our ability to safeguard our republic and the democracy for which it stands. With no one asking the tough questions, who is actually protecting our rights and our democracy anymore?

The only way to usurp democracy is to fool the people. The only way to fool the people is through their news and media. Once deregulation was allowed, the plan for the takeover of the U.S. was finally able to accelerate by having big money buy up and consolidate all the U.S. media.  

The deregulation of the protector of our Democracy is often called by many now as “short sided thinking,” one with dire consequences for our republic, but others challenge that it was a calculated step towards the taking over of our media. 

The Reagan-era deregulation of broadcasting brought about media consolidation to the point where news and information in our democracy is now able to be controlled. Sadly for our nation’s democracy, our media ownership has dropped from 50 major ownership organizations in 1983 to just six groups today. That’s a very dangerous precedent for the vaunted protector of our democracy. Each of these media giants is also a multi-BILLION dollar enterprise with numerous media outlets in their fold. (TV, radio, newspapers, movies, etc.)

Taking over the media is a necessary phase in toppling a government “by the people” because it is an invaluable tool in shaping the public’s opinion. Our credulous acceptance of the news as gospel should punctuate easily enough why people fell for the Iraq 9/11 connection. Even though President Bush II later admitted publicly that Iraq had no ties, a third of Americans still believe the lie. That is the all powerful persuasion of the media. (Being a lemming helps too.)

Rupert Murdoch says that the remaining six corporations controlling our media will eventually be pared down to just three and he fully expects to be one of the three left standing.

Creation of Monopolies

FCC ownership deregulation has allowed the monopoly acquisition of television, radio, newspaper, and cable providers, all previously expressly prohibited so that one person or group could not impartially influence a widespread audience with political, philosophical or religious ideology.

These recent changes have brought about a convergence of media, expressly prohibited until now, creating once forbidden monopolies, dangerous for the overbearing influence they can impose on a democratic society. Many constitutional scholars and advocates of democracy argue vehemently that the FCC has failed to protect the public interest, deferring instead to a political agenda in favor of the extreme far right. One most notable example would be the FCC abandonment of the Fairness Doctrine which forced broadcasters to present opposing viewpoints to its audiences.

Sadly, under Republican leadership, the FCC has essentially adopted a more corporate stance towards regulation moving towards the right wing conservatives dream of a market-based interpretation of FCC regulation.

While the FCC has been involved in much litigation regarding these new dangerous media monopolies, the US Supreme Court has failed to exercise its judicial purview in more cases than not. Congress itself has has amended the Communications Act many times in a lobbied effort to strengthen the act back towards the public interest, but the right has argued that their new monolithic converging monopolies should be allowed to let a free marketplace determine the fate of American media for the common man.

Rules governing libel for printed media and slander for vocal electronic media are now easily skirted and sorely abused under the guise of "commentary" The new right-wing controlled faux news organizations stack their anchor rosters with countless talking heads, all delivering commentary under the guise of journalistic news to an uneducated and altogether far too trusting American public.

Arguably the most alarming of all, the Commission has shirked its responsibility and duty in reviewing renewal applications for broadcasting licenses, essentially making such license privileges permanent.

Foreign Ownership

There was a day when a foreign national was not allowed to buy into our media, due to the inherent danger of our way of government being influenced by contrarian concepts to the ideals that our forefathers fought so hard for and left to us as caretakers of. We have failed miserably in that regard as it is now legal for foreigners to buy into our media, as the Australian Murdoch has, thus circumventing and usurping our republic and its democracy.

FOX news owner Rupert Murdoch of News Corp has said that in the very near future, we will be down to just three media owners and he is adamant that he will be one of them. That is a scary thought for many, considering the fact that Murdoch claims he can print or broadcast whatever he likes, whether it is the truth or not.

At this perilous point in our country, we quite literally, have the FOX watching over the hen house. Pun intended. Rupert Murdoch has changed our media. 

Please, watch the movie “OutFoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War On Journalism.”  (see video below) Find out how Americans have been fooled, as told by reporters and news editors who have worked there. Those who already watch FOX are in for an awakening. FOX is arguably the most biased in their news, but all the major networks have their shortcomings. Look to alternative forms of information and news, but do so with a watchful eye and wary mind. Be discerning with the source of your media, for it is blind media gullibility that has indeed cost us all dearly here in America. We were far too trusting of the media we had with our one true treasure, our democracy.  

Media Gone Awry

Seemingly gone are the days of broadcasting in the public interest as the commission apparently leans in favor of the corporate interest, weakly requiring broadcasters to present their own feigned view of public interest programming.

Consider this quote from John Swinton, former managing editor, The New York Times (and New York Sun)...

"There is no such thing, at this date of the world's history, in America, as an independent press. You know it and I know it. There is not one of you who dares to write your honest opinions, and if you did, you know beforehand that it would never appear in print. I am paid weekly for keeping my honest opinion out of the paper I am connected with. Others of you are paid similar salaries for similar things, and any of you who would be so foolish as to write honest opinions would be out on the streets looking for another job. If I allowed my honest opinions to appear in one issue of my paper, before twenty-four hours my occupation would be gone. The business of the journalists is to destroy the truth; to lie outright; to pervert; to vilify; to fawn at the feet of mammon, and to sell his country and his race for his daily bread. You know it and I know it and what folly is this toasting an independent press? We are the tools and vassals of rich men behind the scenes. We are the jumping jacks, they pull the strings and we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes." -John Swinton

The watchdog of democracy, our hallowed and formerly esteemed press, became easy pickings for corporate takeover. Government deregulation in the 1980s made it possible for the conversion of our media into the complicit, homogenized, neutered, spineless industry that it is today.  

Even back in the day, our forefathers were also concerned about the media. 

“The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers.”  Thomas Jefferson

The current media of the United States is controlled by a mere half dozen men. Those six individuals have total control over what you see and how your news and information in the world is shaped and presented to you. See for yourself in the following table.    

 U.S. MEDIA OWNERSHIP

Disney – ABC 
Robert Iger

General Electric – NBC
Jeffrey Immelt

Westinghouse - CBS 
Les Moonves

Viacom – UPN
Philippe Dauman

Time Warner-CNN Richards Parson

NewsCorp – FOX 
Rupert Murdoch

"The gathering of more and more outlets under one owner clearly can be an impediment to a free and independent press." Former CBS News anchorman Walter Cronkite 

With six people in charge of our current media, it is now all too easy to propagandize and manipulate the people through the press. Until people give up their longstanding, naive faith in our corporate news media, they will never find their way out of oppression, nor ever know the real truth.

With the media unified now under consolidated corporate ownership, literally in lock-step with each other, it’s much easier to propagandize with disinformation, such as the infamous 9/11 link to Iraq, or non-existent weapons of mass destruction to encourage our entry into an oil war.

To quote the fictitious character Howard Beal from the 1976 movie Network “We’ll tell you any shit you want to hear.”
 

The problem today with society

You've got to get mad if you want justice


For What Purpose Has This Happened?

If you think for one minute that this media conglomeration has all been for nothing more than the almighty dollar, you would only be half correct. What is at stake here, to quote President George HW Bush, is a bold new idea. There are those of the wealthy elite who have been working for a new world order for quite some time. This grand endeavor is not just about money, but also power; world domination under the control of but a few.

This grandiose plan for total control was born overseas, out of the uber-rich Rothschild bankers. It's indoctrination into our country came during the reconstruction period following the American civil war. After the murder of three sitting U.S. Presidents, (Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley) the seed blossomed on Jekyll Island in 1910 when Senator Nelson Aldrich invited a small private cadre of America's wealthiest men to a secret meeting that was withheld from the press and the public. It was at this meeting that a sinister cabal was formed among these men, one that would soon take over our government through the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913. (Read The Truth About The Federal Reserve for an eye opener on how democracy was stolen from "We the People."

It was under President Woodrow Wilson's watch that this heinous institution was born and Wilson is said to have regretted with deep remorse the allowance of this evil birth.

One other President sought to rectify the damage inflicted on our country, but sadly he too met the same fate as the other three who were assassinated before him. John F. Kennedy and his brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy were both determined to undo the Federal Reserve, but unfortunately they were silenced before they could fulfill their noble mission for a country they loved so dearly.

It should be noted that what the ultra wealthy fail to realize (in their quest) is that while they may indeed be in on the ground floor of a bold and arguably questionable plan for corporate world hegemony, they too are at the eventual risk of being swallowed up in hostile takeovers and corporate mergers. Much like the pyramid, the power of  the elite begins with a large base of support, but eventually narrows dramatically as it ascends to a pinnacle of one central power, one dominant corporation, one dominant force over all.

Loyalty can lead to a dangerous precipice of servitude unless it learns about and questions its unwavering devotion.

Media Abuses At The Highest Level Of Government

Americans in general may say they are suspicious of their government, but in all reality they are quite naive when it comes to understanding or truly believing in what some factions within their government are actually capable of. Disinformation has been employed in the past, but outright propaganda has shamelessly been used as well.

Disinformation -  Deliberately misleading information announced publicly or leaked by a government or especially by an intelligence agency in order to influence public opinion or the government in another nation, or to purposefully confuse a rival. (foreign enemies or business competitors etc.)

Propaganda - Information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc. This especially applies to systematic propagation of specific doctrines or principles by an organization or movement which solely reflect their political view and interests.

While these two definitions may seem similar to some, the distinction lies in spinning the truth versus outright political dogma. Unfortunately, the last three decades have seen much domestic disinformation, especially since deregulation of the media in the 80s, but the turn of the last two decades has brought increased political propaganda from the extreme far right in the U.S.

When George W. Bush took control of the Presidency, he made numerous attempts to develop a specific office for domestic information dissemination. Call it disinformation, propaganda, or both, the one thing you cannot call it is news. The Bush II administration called it TIA, short for Total Information Awareness. DoD Advanced Research Projects Agency head (DARPA) John Poindexter, previously of non-lethal weapons infamy, was tabbed to be the new TIA director, but Congress and the American people said no to the plan more than once. Bush persisted, bringing the plan back under new legislation with new verbiage, but nevertheless with the same intent. 

Even though the Bush administration was rebuffed it secretly continued on with its plan under a little known covert operation called Mockingbird. Even though his father claimed that journalists would no longer be paid by the CIA, Bush Jr., was caught red handed employing several reporters to push his agenda in the mainstream corporate media.

Armstrong Williams was paid $240,000 to push Bush's no child left behind agenda, a bill which actually was the antithesis of what it was sold as with the American public.

Syndicated columnist Maggie Gallagher was also bribed to push the Bush agenda. Gallagher was paid $21,500 by Health and Human Services (HHS) to peddle the White House's $300 million initiative to encourage marriage.

Mike McManus received $53,000, also to promote marriage (to unwed couples who are having children) through his non-profit agency Marriage Savers. McManus had boosted the Bush marriage initiative in his column on several occasions since he began receiving government money in 2003.

These are but a few innocuous examples where Bush was caught manipulating public opinion, but the greater point would be, how many other instances was he not caught, and for what larger political purpose? What greater agendas were pushed through the use of Operation Mockingbird?

The pinnacle of Bush's known deceptions came when he blatantly lied to a complicit media in selling the Iraq war, by falsifying facts in a bogus claim that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMD), a claim now proven to be patently untrue. For this media duplicity we have attacked another nation without provocation (the Bush doctrine), killing hundreds of thousands while bankrupting our own country in a trillion dollar war for oil and Mideast basing rights.

This manipulation of the press would not have been possible without deregulation of the corporate media through the relaxing and elimination of previous federal guidelines and regulations. The enormous purchase of numerous nationwide broadcast outlets with ownership favorable to a far right wing cause made the unfettered spread of far right disinformation and state propaganda possible. With no unbiased media sources willing to hold the Bush administration's feet to the fire, it was all too easy to fool and manipulate the American people.

This now vast right wing media disinformation machine still operates freely to this day through conservative publications, right wing talk radio and most significantly, flag waving FOX News. Infamous fascist media mogul Rupert Murdoch controls a significant piece of the information pie with such holdings as DirecTV, FOX News, Fox Television, The Wall Street Journal, New York Post, National Geographic, The Weekly Standard, MySpace.com, as well as a multitude of foreign media holdings in numerous countries around the world.

The last frontier for unbiased news and information is now being assaulted in a like fashion. The internet has been under intense corporate attack in an effort to monopolize the medium, to stifle the distribution of free content and literally take over the broadband spectrum. Net neutrality has taken on a fever pitch with the big bucks coming out in force to lock up the internet for only commercial traffic and distribution. Since the internet is the best available option left for an alternative news source versus corporate mainstream news, it is understandable that those ruling over our present media state would wish to subvert this medium as well. It is imperative to us all that the internet remains a free and open medium. This battle is far from over.

In Summary 

The myth of the liberal media is just that, a myth. Long gone are the days of equal time and opposing viewpoints. The far right has taken over the mainstream press, including our broadcasting institutions and much of the programming that permeates from them.

Make no mistake about it, our media and press are controlled. Some would still say, no, it can't be true, but what they would be remiss in recognizing is that the media operates under a hierarchy of control, like all corporations.

Sure, there are plenty of very good reporters and editors left out there, but what people without broadcast experience fail to realize is that those reporters and editors answer to a higher authority, the station manager and ownership. It is the latter that sets the political agenda of that outlet. They raise the bar for the left while lowering it for the right. They alone have the final say in which topics shall be taboo and how far a story can go within their broadcasts or publications. That is how our press is controlled, plain and simple.

For those that ask how could all of this happen to us in such a short period of time, you may hopefully now have a much better understanding of the media's role in our current situation. You certainly have a good base with which to begin your own research.  

Whatever you do, don’t take the word of the national news media without first checking and verifying their sources of information. It can be done. Search on your own. The internet is a vast resource and invaluable tool for the people.  

Take the education of yourself into your own hands and quit being spoon-fed from a complicit media with no intention of telling us the whole truth and nothing but the truth. 

We have only to look today at our sage news and media veterans, anchors and reporters such as Walter Cronkite, or Bill Moyers, to name but only a few. They are now sounding the call that our democracy is indeed in peril. They know all too well why the danger that lurks is prevalent, because they’ve witnessed firsthand the infiltration of our vaunted media. They’re telling us to wake up! 

This is akin to Eisenhower warning us about the military industrial complex. When sage broadcasters warn us about our media, it’s time we paid attention. 

Democracy requires not only responsibility, and participation, but due diligence to keep it honest and make it work. 

It’s sad to say, that due diligence by all has been painfully lacking. 

“You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all the time.” Abraham Lincoln 

Another American leader had an altogether different take on that saying… 

“You can fool some of the people all the time, and those are the ones you want to concentrate on.” President George W. Bush  

This clearly appears to be our problem.
 

Ed Note: Don't be a lemming! Do not take this author's word for it. Research for yourself and find out the truth. Think on your own. Find alternative press outside the corporate media. Don't be caught up in left versus right. Reason the facts. Big money controls the world and wants to fool you. Thanks for reading.


Robert F. Kennedy Jr. On The Failure Of Our Media
 

The only way to usurp democracy is to fool its people. The only way to fool the people is to steal their media. -NewsFocus
 

Operation Mockingbird: CIA Media Manipulation
The National Expositor, Mary Louise on 03 August, 2007
The CIA's secret activities, covert missions, and connections of control are all done under the pretense and protection of national security with no accountability whatsoever, at least in their minds.  Considering the public is held accountable for everything we think, say, and do there is something seriously wrong with this picture.  The CIA is the President's secret army, who have been and continue to be conveniently above the law with unlimited power and authority, to conduct a reign of terror around the globe. The "old boy network" of socializing, talking shop, and tapping each other for favors outside the halls of government made it inevitable that the CIA and Corporate America would become allies, thus the systematic infiltration and takeover of the media. ...

MOCKINGBIRD - The Subversion Of The Free Press By The CIA
What Really Happened - by Alex Constantine
As terrible as it is to live in a nation where the press in known to be controlled by the government, at least one has the advantage of knowing the bias is present, and to adjust for it. In the United States of America, we are taught from birth that our press is free from such government meddling. This is an insideous lie about the very nature of the news institution in this country. One that allows the government to lie to us while denying the very fact of the lie itself.

Two Dead Presidents And Operation Mockingbird ...

Operation Mockingbird
 

The Media: What Once Used To Be Is Sadly No Longer

N3TWORK finds out that the media takeover is reality. All it took was money.
 

 THE EIGHT YEAR TAKEOVER OF THE US MEDIA

All it took to seize total US media control was money and 8 years time.
From 50 large media companies to just 6 in eight years.

(Viacom and CBS split gives us six corporations since this printing.)
Graph courtesy of the Corporate Accountability Project www.corporations.org/media

Wake Up And Smell The Media
This Is Nothing More Than A Thought To Ponder

The only way to usurp Democracy is to fool the people. The only way to fool the people is to steal their news media. Once you control the information flow to the people, you will then be able to control the people in any perceived free democratic society.
[ see movie... OutFoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War On Journalism posted below ]

OutFoxed: How Rupert Murdoch Is Destroying American Journalism
A review of Robert Greenwald's documentary investigating the Fox News Channel
Alternet, by Don Hazen 071004
Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism, a devastating new documentary that exposes Bush's biggest cheerleader ...

OutFoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War On Journalism

MUST SEE!
An investigative expose into the world of FOX News

 
More Reading:
 
The Truth About The Federal Reserve
America Stolen
The Great Divide
Conspiracy Theory
Socialism Is Not A Dirty Word
The Truth About The Federal Reserve
Lemmings & Leaders. Which Are You?
 

MEDIA MOVIES & DOCUMENTARIES
  
OutFoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War On Journalism  (Expose on FOX News)
The Classic Clip From The Movie Network  (Nothing Could Be More True)
Network (Full movie)  Watch the entire 1976 movie
The Media: Conspiracy Theory Rock (SNL was in trouble with NBC for this)
The Fifth Estate: Sticks & Stones  (Conservative Media Out of Control)
Bill Moyers: Our Democracy Is In Danger of Being Paralyzed  (RealPlayer)
Bill Moyers: Big Media Is Ravenous  (RealPlayer)
A Canadian Perspective on U.S. Media (Naomi Klein)
Bill Moyers: Media Reform
 RealPlayer video  |  YouTube video
Bill Moyers - Media Reform Convention 2008
Bill Moyers - Net Neutrality
Dan Rather On The Media
Weapons of Mass Deception
Independent Media In A Time Of War
The Revolution Won't Be Televised
The Power of Nightmares  Part 1  |  Part 2  |  Part 3
Orwell Rolls In His Grave
Manufacturing Consent
The Media Distraction
The Art of Spin
Spin
Bill Moyers - Illusions of News  Pt 1  |  Pt 2  |  Pt 3  |  Pt 4  |  Pt 5  |  Pt 6
 
 
Bibliography
 
The Museum of Broadcast Communications
www.criminalgovernment.com
FCC - Telecommunications Act of 1996
Early Radio History
Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media
 
 

 

 
Return to NewsFocus.org