VIDEO: From Conspiracy Theories to Cable News

 

 

 

 

And what can we do about it when cable news is controlled by some of the largest global corporate enterprises in the world?

Misinformation makes NO difference to them. Viewers, ratings and ad revenue is all that does.

Integrity is non-existent.

In order to arrive at any viable and constructive solution to this problem, the problem of a privately owned and controlled mass media in America, a media whose purpose is more often to influence and manipulate the political opinions of the American People, than to inform them... in order to get anywhere in this debate, at least two extraordinarily important points MUST differentiated:

1. The difference between media that is broadcast on the Public Airwaves (television and radio), and media that is not (such as newspapers and magazines and books even), this difference must be made and must be pointed out.

2. The media that broadcasts on television and radio, does so by no right or freedom whatsoever, but by License only, FCC License, to broadcast on and use the Public Airwaves (and this is in contrast to newspapers magazines books etc., who have a Constitutional 1st Amendment right to do what they do, and require no license whatsoever, because they use no Public Resource: unlike television and radio broadcasters, who use the Public Airwaves, and need a License from the FCC in order to do so... the requirement of a License being the obvious proof, that there is no right to do whatever it is, that the License permits).

And until those two things are differentiated, and weighed for their great importance, you and everybody will else be perpetually complaining to no real effect, about a "misinformative media".

You know, just twenty years ago, television and radio broadcasters couldn't do the thing they do regularly now, and get cited for here in MMfA's pages: that thing being to broadcast for the purpose of influencing and manipulating the political opinions of the American People.

Twenty years ago, the FCC had as it's Regulations, that if a broadcaster broadcast political opinions to the American People, on their Public Airwaves (and that's IF they do that: they don't have to do that you know, they can just stick to the news, and leave out the opinions and commentary), if they did that, then they must also give time on those Public Airwaves to different or opposing political opinions (EQUAL TIME): and if those broadcasters broadcast personal attacks (as they often do on cable, and usually of a political nature also), then they must provide an opportunity on the Public Airwaves to the person who was attacked (REPLY TIME).

And I just don't understand why it can't be easily seen by all concerned, that the present television and radio broadcasting we see regularly cited in these web pages, broadcasts whose only point is to influence and manipulate the political opinions of the American People, this present state of things, was begun twenty years ago, in the disasterous unilateral act of de-regulation (unilaterally by Reagan's FCC, w/o Congressional consent), that repealed the FCC Regulations of EQUAL TIME and REPLY TIME.

That's the genesis, the origin, of this thing that plagues our American Democracy presently, this thing where television and radio broadcasters work 24/7 at influencing and manipulating the politcal opinions of the American People, on those same People's Public Airwaves.

EQUAL TIME and REPLY TIME would largely solve this problem today: and where broadcasters would still choose to broadcast political opinions and personal (often political also) attacks (and they don't have to do that you know), at least there'd be the fairness and balance of EQUAL TIME, and the Justice of REPLY TIME.

EQUAL TIME and REPLY TIME on the Public Airwaves, when it comes to broadcasters broadcasting their political opinions and personal attacks: if EQUAL TIME and REPLY TIME were good enough for the administrations of Roosevelt and Truman and Eisenhower and Kennedy and Johnson and Nixon and Ford and Carter and even Reagan too, until the old fool yeilded to the National Association of Broadcasters, and unilaterlly deregulated our Public Airwaves for them...

If EQUAL TIME and REPLY time was good enough for General Eisenhower, then it's good enough for me!

Seems to me that the root of the whole problem is that the owners of MSM make most of their money doing something else and the function of the media is to control public opinion for the benefit of those other money making matters. If the media specialized in just getting information out and had no other interests, it would be less likely to worry about how its message is affecting public behavior vis a vis something else. Seems to me that requiring media to have owners with no other distractions might be a good place to start along with going back to the regulations on how many radio, TV and newspapers one owner can have in any given metropolitan area.