“When the Seattle Times publishes an op-ed on the concentration of media ownership in the hands of ‘six huge corporations’ written by Amy Goodman and her brother, I have to gasp, and then post it.” — Howie Martin. (Excerpts from the op-ed are below the fold.)
From the Goodmans’ op-ed (The Seattle Times: subscription, free):
When it comes to issues of war and peace, the results of having a compliant media are as deadly to our democracy as they are to our soldiers. Why do the corporate media cheerlead for war? One answer lies in the corporations themselves — the ones that own the major news outlets.
[…..]
As Phil Donahue, the former host of MSNBC’s highest-rated show who was fired by the network in February 2003 for bringing on anti-war voices, told “Democracy Now!,” “We have more [TV] outlets now, but most of them sell the Bowflex machine. The rest of them are Jesus and jewelry. There really isn’t diversity in the media anymore. Dissent? Forget about it.”
The lack of diversity in ownership helps explain the lack of diversity in the news. When George W. Bush first came to power, the media watchers Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) looked at who appeared on the evening news on ABC, CBS and NBC. Ninety-two percent of all U.S. sources interviewed were white, 85 percent were male, and where party affiliation was identifiable, 75 percent were Republican.
In the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, there was even less diversity of opinion on the airwaves. During the critical two weeks before and after Colin Powell’s speech to the United Nations where he made his case for war, FAIR found that just three out of 393 sources — fewer than 1 percent — were affiliated with anti-war activism.
Three out of almost 400 interviews. And that was on the “respectable” evening news shows of CBS, NBC, ABC and PBS. …
and my hair is short and my beard is trimmed 🙂
Looks like everyone has caught the slidebar bug. Thanks Sirocco.
I did not realize quite how bad the rah-rah was for war. 3 out of 400 is staggering.
I guess I dislike the slidebar thing.
Me too. Makes things difficult for me to read.
You look so handsome now. Time to hit the Gem.
I don’t know about anyone else, but on my computer, the comment section is partially cut off, and covers up the laft side so I cannot even see the reply button.
Do not have this problem with any other diary on this site.
I just adjusted the width, so it shouldn’t be so wide now.
I think the slide thingie is so cute. But I can do a quote without the slider, so say the word.
It still cuts off part of the page, I like the slider tho, maybe it is still too wide. I haven’t had a problem on other pages using the slider, so it may be the width.
Thanks for the feedback. I narrowed it by 30 more pixels and took out the slider. See if this works for you.
I get more of the page now, but not all the way, still cannot read full comment. Below is how this comment looks to me.
and my hair is short and my beard is trimmed 🙂
Looks like everyone has caught the slidebar bug. Thanks Sirocco.
I did not realize quite how bad the rah-rah was for war. 3 out of 400 is staggering
Thanks for the great diary, it’s an important issue and a worrying one, with the new head of the FCC reported to be even worse than the last. I heard the Donahue interview with Goodman on Democracy Now and it was very good.
My daughter and co-workers got to see them Saturday night in Seattle. She said it was fantastic. She enjoyed Donahue even more than Goodman, who she’s seen before (and whose show she listens to every day at work). She loves Donahue’s energy and smarts. And she said that it was very clear that Donahue and Amy think very highly of each other.
(I don’t know how Amy does it. A 50-city tour and she’s still doing her show every morning from whatever city they’re in and wherever they can find a studio.)
Of the 210 respondents — out of 1,000 invited by e-mail to participate, 73 were in Iraq during and after the war.
Respondents from European and Middle Eastern news organizations were not as confined as the U.S. media in showing graphic or disturbing images, according to the survey.
There is an “unspoken rule” against publishing images of what would be horrifying, such as a “bloody stump on an amputee or a mangled corpse,” a journalist said. Another said publishing or broadcasting the dead, dying or injured went too far.
A print journalist embedded with the U.S. military said that on some occasions the reports he sent were subtly edited to make them less negative and more in line with official views, though it was not a systematic practice.
Another said: “The real damage of war on the civilian population was uniformly omitted.” link
Unless they are called “Shiavo”.
An on-the-fly comment (five minutes til the afternoon of twirling w/children commences).
I heard McChesney and Nichols speak about media ownership last summer. Eye-opening, to say the least. I highly recommend their book ‘Our Media. Not Theirs.’ For me it was like finding the holy grail. 🙂
Related to this is a diary from dKos yesterday, written by KingOneEye about a national media conference. It sounds very, very interesting, and for those able to spend 3 May days in St.Louis, I think it would be an excellent opportunity.
If anyone does go, please diary!
Blogs and online media aren’t there yet, but I imagine that in another 2 or 3 years, they will be. Not replacing the major media, but certainly giving it a run for it’s money… and that is really the entire bottom line, for the current media. Money.
There are a number of old time reporters still, some of whom are quitting in disgust.. it’s to be hoped that they will join up with (or start their own) independent media organizations, and maybe even TV ones, to break this stranglehold that the big corporate houses have now. Lot’s going on in the world that we are not even told about, unless people are dead, and then only if there are enough of them that are dead, and if they are dead in a really spectacular way (like the tsumani). Or if they are famous or the Pope, of course.
We can change that 🙂
Very good points.
And I hope some of us explore the world blogs faetured by RSF (Reporters without borders) and REPORT BACK HERE. I’d love to learn about some of them.
Yes they look interesting, athough I’ve not had time to read them. Also, I came across this while reading this interesting article at the BBC site.
More sources for different views and voices, worldwide. Maybe we should have an Explore and Report Back Day :). I can just imagine the variety that would get brought back, as different things appeal to people’s interests and personalities.
Once we get past the ones listed here, we’ll only have about 8 million or so blogs to go…
I was sort of kidding with the last suggestion, but now that I think about it… why not? Maybe nothing formal, but have an explore thingy, people bring back blogs that interest them, the community maybe votes on which one is the best (at this time) and then that blog is featured. AND.. the blog owner is informed that not only is their blog being featured on the famous booman tribune, but that there is a major discussion going on about its’ content… come join in, tell your visitors about the honor and pick up your frog plaque. Or something like that.
Instant free advertising (if it works) for both blogs.
I LOVE that idea, Nanette! Since it’s yours, would you like to spearhead it? Maybe post a new diary and invite people?
We’d all probably learn a lot from each other’s exporations about other, worthwhile blogs.
And, I’d love to invite some of these bloggers to diary here. Especially in the U.S., we desperately need to broaden our horizons.
Okay, I’ll write up something in the morning and see how it goes. I think it would be pretty fun, although it may take a couple of run throughs to catch on.
There are so many blogs on the reporters/borders site that look interesting..could spend weeks there no doubt. If you’re up to checking out some that would be great.
SUPER, Nanette!
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=762&e=1&u=/ap/20050405/ap_en_tv/gore_tv_chann
el&sid=84439559
Al Gore is finally launching network for younger viewers. I hope this turns out well and does get more younger people interested and informed about the world around them.