Now that we have the Congress back, isn't it time for us to go after the Judas media?

[wcepler]

Now that we have the Congress back, isn't it time for us to declare total legal/political war on the Judas media?



**********************************************************************

A contemptible fact which stands out above all others during the last six years is that America's unofficial "4th branch of government" (i.e., the press) has utterly sold its soul to the Bush/Republican Heart of Darkness.



Of course, there are a handful of wonderful exceptions to this rule, but they're simply the exceptions which prove the rule. If a year or two ago, George Bush announced that it was patriotic to wear your underwear on the outside of your clothes, a zombie army of anchors and columnists would start preaching the doctrine that only terrorists wear their underwear on the inside.



And "preach" is the word since it's increasingly impossible to distinguish between the "news reports" of these fascist collaborators, and the death wish, Armageddon "sermons" of sexually preoccupied religious fundamentalists.



The simple truth is that we haven't had (and STILL don't have!) a level playing field when it comes to journalistic news. Indeed, genuine journalists (in America) are now effectively an extinct species.



So here we are. Bush is beyond being a lame duck; he's more like a packaged collection of legs and thighs in a grocery store. He has been permanently mandated into the dust bin of history and will be lucky if he isn't impeached and imprisoned.



The Bush/Republican/Fundamentalist juggernaut isn't juggering anymore. Yes, it's still out there emitting sparks and smoke, but it’s not going to go very far with a pitiful 31% support.



So what are we waiting for? Let's start doing whatever we have to do (and now CAN do) to get this neo Nazi pap out of our media. Petitions, boycotts, committees, whatever, whatever, but let's maximize our creativity to work out how to get this Rupert Murdoch-like infection out of the body politick of America.



Remember back in year 2000 how much despair was added to our lives by assuming that Fox Snooze, etc., was giving factual, objective news about that stolen election? We were still naive enough to think that we were listening to journalists. Only later, did we gradually realize that our media had become to America what the collaborators were to France during WW2 (they would do well to remember how France treated those collaborators after the war).



Only later did we realize that our media was almost entirely made up of puppet people -- liars and traitors who had somehow crowded out all our journalists.



But the hands inside those puppets have suddenly shriveled. Karl who? Dick Cheneyburton? Georgie Porgie?



God knows, we still have our work cut out for us on several levels. This fascist/fundamentalist thing that took over our government is almost certainly now getting its second wind, but THIS time our guard is up and THIS time we've got both houses of Congress (and all those potent committees).



And THIS time we know its time to kick the Judas media's ass all the way to Jupiter.



So, let’s all pull our legs back and one, two, . . .

**********************************************************************
wcproteus

[ewagner]

1. Just how?

How can it be done?

I've heard that Congress should restore the "fairness doctrine" but that was eliminated by the Board at the FCC which is still controlled by Repubs....

We can't "legislate" fairness in the media, in fact, we can't legislate anything pertaining to the "free press".

So what do you have in mind?

[wcepler]

4. good question

Painful question, since I confess I don't have any terrific answers. I guess things like sign petitions like mad and keep goosing our congress people to come up with SOMETHING to level the playing field. Wishful thinking, I know, but the market place may now be our best friend because the media is going to have second thoughts about pandering to a loser minority.

[immerlinks]

2. You hit the nail squarely on the head here

The right wing bias of the news media is so obvious it's painful. I'm not just talking about Fox "News" but the entire lot. These "people" owe an explanation to the American people for their collaboration.

[cleveramerican]

3. They go where the viewers are

The competition is too fierce to believe in any institutional bias in either direction. They don't care about politics, they only care about ratings which translates into dollars for themselves and their shareholders.


They will put on whatever the public tunes in for, and that will never change.

[Doctor_J]

5. Oh, bullshit

bizarre fantasies like this are part of the problem. If any "journalist" had grabbed the Plamegate story and run with it, the ratings would have gone through the roof. Yet not a single one did.

The TV and radio netowrks are run by ultra-conservative zillionaires who campaign openly for their republican aganda.

[ewagner]

7. Maybe I can answer

one of my own questions and throw it open for discussion....
What if, we legislate an anti-trust law pertaining to media. Break up the media conglomerates. That would break up media monopolies like Sinclair and Clear Channel.

The reason I underlined "legislate" is because that is the only tool we have available to us at the moment...which is a HELL of a lot better than having NO tools. Our strength is that we can legislate if we are smart enough and careful enough to avoid the fillibuster....

thoughts?

[Doctor_J]

8. It would certainly be a thought

If we would just fix PBS so that it's not overrun with Bush cronies, that would be an excellent start. Then there would be a least one place where we could hear the truth over the airwaves.

[Elidor]

9. Just what I was going to say

And we can start by propagating a meme to attach to the news media using key phrases like "anti-trust," "conglomerate," and "corporate media." Frame them in public debate (a process which has begun, but still has a long way to go), and encourage our congresscritters to break up the newsmedia the way Ma Bell was broken up, and to reinstate the old rules of media ownership, from the 1960s.

As Exhibit A at congressional hearings will be the Disney Company, which has repeatedly tailored news to the interests of Disney. Fox News will be Exhibit B, for doing the same thing, and also for extreme bias and outright falsehoods, including the court case in Canada where it was found they have no obligation to be truthful, being a corporation. On to NBC and various others. There are several people at FAIR.org and Media Matters who can testify exhaustively and at length on how consolidation of media ownership has hurt diversity of opinion and helped government manipulation of the news. Unfortunately, these companies are much better represented in Washington than we, the people are. I don't know if the new Democratic majority will have the sand to deal with this, but we must goad them into action regardless.

[Cookie wookie]

11. This must be done and as quickly as possible.

The damage the corporate media does to Democrats is immense. One of their tricks is to brainwash people into thinking that there isn't much difference between the parties. I hear this from lots of otherwise intelligent people who watch too much of the corporate media. My sister is a prime example. I told her recently, go look at Democrats voting records -- the difference between the parties is stark and undeniable.

Also get people like Joe Biden OFF the airwaves and make sure he stays off.

Interesting article in Newsweek online, "The New Team in Town" is a prime example of insidious media lies. In the paragraph on Tom Lantos, the author states: "...his voting record overlaps significantly with Hyde's...." TA comparison of the voting record of Lantos with Hyde at least in the last two Congressional sessions, shows only one vote the same, on flag burning. Otherwise they are the complete opposite. This is "significantly" voting like Hyde? In what universe?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15638694/site/newsweek/

[PoiBoy]

6. Access and money...

..that's how the reds started to infect the corporate media... it was a two pronged attack, IMO.., working on the corporate HQ on one hand, and on the other hand, 1) working to avoid the appearance of corporate interference in reporting, 2) maintaining the facade of "fair and balanced", and 3) creating the illusion of street reporters "getting the real story" by granting access to certain reporters (known affectionately and honesty here on DU as Media Whores) and generating financial support via ad buys and sponsorships of red friendly programs...

I think Dem politicos and their staff should take the same approach... deny access to known and blatant Media Whores, i.e. Candy Crawler :-), Chris Wallace, et al... while granting full and exclusive access to truly fair and balanced reporters ala Keith Olbermann and..... Keith Olbermann.

We should focus on a single network... CNN or MSNBC.. and work actively at taking them over.. turning them blue by the judicious use of access and money... at the end of the day, corporate HQ is only concerned with keeping their shareholders happy, and the shareholders only care about ratings and revenue... access and money..

:hi:

[ldf]

10. unfortunately, it can't possibly happen...

for it TO happen, there has to be a media outlet that is only interested in truth, fairness, the good of the country.

which means we must OWN an outlet, to give americans a choice of truth, or spin.

owning a media outlet requires a sizeable investment, LOTS of money.

and as is obvious, or it would have happened already, there are NO DEMOCRATS with lots of money.

:sarcasm: just in case you didn't get it...

[nolabels]

12. Billionaires set sights on L.A. Times

Billionaires set sights on L.A. Times

(snip)
Adding to the intrigue is the adversarial relationship between Geffen and Broad, which dates to their roles in the ultimately successful effort to secure the 2000 Democratic National Convention for Los Angeles, according to a profile of Broad in "Vanity Fair" magazine.

Still, Geffen, Broad and Burkle have much in common. Each rose from modest circumstances to great wealth. Each is a philanthropist. And each actively supports the Democratic Party.
(snip)
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8LBMH5O0.htm