Democracy Under Attack--In the Media
Summary
In a recent blog post, Arianna Huffington asks why the media is ignoring a Karl Rove story that, by all rights, should get him indicted. But that issue is only one small part of a much larger problem--a problem that threatens the very existence of democracy in America
400 words
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by Eric Armstrong
In a recent blog post, Arianna Huffington asks why the media is ignoring a Karl Rove story that, by all rights, should get him indicted. But that issue is only one small part of a much larger problem--a problem that threatens the very existence of democracy in America.
The larger problems result from the fact that :
Five media conglomerates now control 90% of the media in America--as a result of the repeal of anti-monopoly statutes for communications companies.
The first sign of the collusion was a recent NewsWeek special issue called "The Future of Health". In reality, it was about the future of *Medicine*, which is far removed from the subject of real health. There was no serious discussion of prevention, which would have led to a call to reject dietary ingredients that are *already* illegal in Canada and Europe.
In other words, NewsWeek is acting as a shill for the medical industry, while avoiding any sort of conflict with the "food" manufacturing industry. They are helping to gull the American public into thinking that "all is right with America" and that "we live in the best democracy, with the highest standard of living on earth"--paying lip service to things that *used* to be true, while real democracy goes down the tubes, along with our standard of living.
Finally, if there was any lingering doubt on the subject of corporate collusion, it was all but put to rest by Time-Warner's decision to give up its reporter's sources. (I don't know the details of that story, so I can't say for sure. But it's scary.)
Then there the attempts to scuttle PBS--the only remaining source of independent news--first by putting a staunch conservative at the helm, and then by attempting to slash its budget by 100 million dollars.
In short, the giant megalithic corporations have played their cards exceedingly well. They've influenced government enough to allow giant media conglomerations, and the influence that the media wields is giving the capacity to forestall a public outcry, regardless of the size of the scandal.
In short, most of our media is under corporate control, along with much of our government. The peril for democracy is huge.
About Eric Armstrong
Eric Armstrong is computer systems designer, writer, and philosopher. He is currently working on a book that uses the principles of General Systems Theory to explain how America's epidemic of obesity and disease stems from profitable, but unhealthy, ingredients in the food supply; how the corporate financial system (and our own retirement plans) are complicit in the problem; how the American political system allows it to happen; and how our problems with the environment, a dwindling standard of living, and even our problems with the global economy all stem from the same constellation of systemic interactions. At www.treelight.com/health, he focuses on nutrition and fitness. At www.citizensAdvisory.org, his forming non-profit is working to get the money out of politics. At www.artima.com/weblogs, he writes about software, web technology, and development tools.
About Citizens' Advisory
Corporate money has hijacked the ballot box. The Citizens' Advisory aims to take it back. Our goal is to put people in charge of the political process. The voting-advice system recommended by the Citizens Advisory lets people choose advisors they trust. Done right, that system will enable multi-party coalitions in cyberspace. The system appeals to voters because it's convenient. It appeals to social activists and their organizations because it levels the political playing the field and empowers them with a stronger political voice.
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