Forum Post: The TV is the voice of the one percent.

Have you ever wondered why the TV is so out of touch? And what should be done?

The entire TV, and its supporting media, is the enemy of the 99 percent! The TV is controlled by the one percent. Here is a summary of significant ownership details.

ABC TV was sold by the Reagan FCC to CIA front company Capital Cities. Iran-Contra CIA Chief William Casey was one of the main founders and owners. It later merged with Disney who had his own CIA connections. Example article http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/L-libmedia.htm

NBC TV was sold to the biggest Gulf War contractor, General Electric, also courtesy of Reagan. GE made tens of billions on the ensuing wars. Despite the recent 'spin-off,' GE still holds a very influential block of NBC stock.

CBS TV went to holding company Loews, then later to Westinghouse, another military contractor. Eventually, it was spun-off, but the ownership and management make-up did not change much. During the 11-17 Direct Action day, CBS Evening News actually dared to report, "the number of protesters is in the hundreds."

TV stations are not the only corrupt sources.

The New York Times has published known false facts and propaganda to push toward every war for 60 years, and issued tiny corrections later. More info http://www.mediabistro.com/articles/cache/a3179.asp

Washington Post and Los Angeles Times did massive firings in the Bush years, to hone the propaganda into a narrower range.

Even PBS has been largely underwritten by the very people who fund the tea party and the notorious right wing families: Koch, Olin, Bradley, Scaife, Coors. See the bias here http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2967 Read about the five families here http://www.pfaw.org/media-center/publications/buying-movement

Wire services feed the media. However, Reuters is headed by a member of the CFR who is also on the boards of an investment company and a drug company.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Glocer

Not many people directly read wire services though. The big media picks up stories that favor its agenda, plays those, and props them to the 'echo chamber.'

The 1996 Telecommunications Act merged most of these companies and entities. Now more than ever, they blare out similar or complimentary propaganda in slightly different flavors. With its unprecedented provisions for automatic deregulation, the 'telecom act' promises to remove merger limits in the future without requiring more action from Congress. See http://benbagdikian.net

The telecom act also allowed most of the radio stations to be purchased by Cumulus, Entercom, and of course, Clear Channel, destroying localism, cutting good jobs, breaking up music formats, and censoring both talk and music.

The major movie studios, music companies, and book companies, along with many major magazines, are under the control of these same media conglomerates.

Bank of America, with the help of a small group of finance companies, holds enough voting stock in the big networks to 'significantly influence' the agenda. Check the public information on institutional holders and you will see the same names over and over. Bank of America is one of them.

Then, there is the coverage. It is hard to miss. Just one example: Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. For more, listen to Counterspin weekly. You will be overwhelmed. http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=5

Remember Howard Dean? First, the media ignored him. When that was no longer possible, the media ridiculed him. Then, the media appeared to promote him. Finally, the media doctored and replayed the notorious 'Dean scream' over and over, which destroyed his campaign. See this report issued after the damage was done http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxZVKAzTCT4

The bias of FOX is far too self-evident to think you can change the views of people who buy-in. All this focus on FOX tends to lend credibility to the other networks, to make the other networks appear to be reasonable alternatives, and to limit the discussion. See http://www.newshounds.us

WHAT CAN WE DO?

It is essential to break up media ownership and re-regulate with lower ownership ceilings. This is a content-neutral method of restoring the First Amendment. More owners guarantees more different views.