Wednesday June 24, 2009, 4:18 pm
There are four reasons that the mainstream media is worthless.

1. Self-Censorship by Journalists...

Initially, there is tremendous self-censorship by journalists.

For example, several months after 9/11, famed news anchor Dan Rather told the BBC that American reporters were practicing "a form of self-censorship":

"there was a time in South Africa that people would put flaming tires around peoples' necks if they dissented. And in some ways the fear is that you will be necklaced here, you will have a flaming tire of lack of patriotism put around your neck. Now it is that fear that keeps journalists from asking the toughest of the tough questions.... And again, I am humbled to say, I do not except myself from this criticism.
"What we are talking about here - whether one wants to recognise it or not, or call it by its proper name or not - is a form of self-censorship."

Keith Olbermann agreed that there is self-censorship in the American media, and that:

"You can rock the boat, but you can never say that the entire ocean is in trouble .... You cannot say: By the way, there's something wrong with our .... system".

As former Washington Post columnist Dan Froomkin wrote in 2006:

Mainstream-media political journalism is in danger of becoming increasingly irrelevant, but not because of the Internet, or even Comedy Central. The threat comes from inside. It comes from journalists being afraid to do what journalists were put on this green earth to do. . . .

There’s the intense pressure to maintain access to insider sources, even as those sources become ridiculously unrevealing and oversensitive. There’s the fear of being labeled partisan if one’s bullshit-calling isn’t meted out in precisely equal increments along the political spectrum.

If mainstream-media political journalists don’t start calling bullshit more often, then we do risk losing our primacy — if not to the comedians then to the bloggers.

I still believe that no one is fundamentally more capable of first-rate bullshit-calling than a well-informed beat reporter - whatever their beat. We just need to get the editors, or the corporate culture, or the self-censorship – or whatever it is – out of the way.

And Air Force Colonel and key Pentagon official Karen Kwiatkowski wrote:
I have been told by reporters that they will not report their own insights or contrary evaluations of the official 9/11 story, because to question the government story about 9/11 is to question the very foundations of our entire modern belief system regarding our government, our country, and our way of life. To be charged with questioning these foundations is far more serious than being labeled a disgruntled conspiracy nut or anti-government traitor, or even being sidelined or marginalized within an academic, government service, or literary career. To question the official 9/11 story is simply and fundamentally revolutionary. In this way, of course, questioning the official story is also simply and fundamentally American.

2. Censorship by Higher-Ups

If journalists do want to speak out about an issue, they also are subject to tremendous pressure by their editors or producers to kill the story.

The Pulitzer prize-winning reporter who uncovered the Iraq prison torture scandal and the Mai Lai massacre in Vietnam, Seymour Hersh, said:

"All of the institutions we thought would protect us -- particularly the press, but also the military, the bureaucracy, the Congress -- they have failed. The courts . . . the jury's not in yet on the courts. So all the things that we expect would normally carry us through didn't. The biggest failure, I would argue, is the press, because that's the most glaring....

Q: What can be done to fix the (media) situation?

[Long pause] You'd have to fire or execute ninety percent of the editors and executives. You'd actually have to start promoting people from the newsrooms to be editors who you didn't think you could control. And they're not going to do that."
In fact many journalists are warning that the true story is not being reported. See this announcement and this talk.

And a series of interviews with award-winning journalists also documents censorship of certain stories by media editors and owners (and see these samples).

There are many reasons for censorship by media higher-ups.

One is money.

The media has a strong monetary interest to avoid controversial topics in general. It has always been true that advertisers discourage stories which challenge corporate power. Indeed, a 2003 survey reveals that 35% of reporters and news executives themselves admitted that journalists avoid newsworthy stories if “the story would be embarrassing or damaging to the financial interests of a news organization’s owners or parent company.”

In addition, the government has allowed tremendous consolidation in ownership of the airwaves during the past decade. The large media players stand to gain billions of dollars in profits if the Obama administration continues to allow monopoly ownership of the airwaves by a handful of players. The media giants know who butters their bread. So there is a spoken or tacit agreement: if the media cover the administration in a favorable light, the MSM will continue to be the receiver of the government's goodies.


3. Drumming Up Support for War

In addition, the owners of American media companies have long actively played a part in drumming up support for war.

It is painfully obvious that the large news outlets studiously avoided any real criticism of the government's claims in the run up to the Iraq war. It is painfully obvious that the large American media companies acted as lapdogs and stenographers for the government's war agenda.

Veteran reporter Bill Moyers criticized the corporate media for parroting the obviously false link between 9/11 and Iraq (and the false claims that Iraq possessed WMDs) which the administration made in the run up to the Iraq war, and concluded that the false information was not challenged because:

"the [mainstream] media had been cheerleaders for the White House from the beginning and were simply continuing to rally the public behind the President — no questions asked."
And as NBC News' David Gregory (later promoted to host Meet the Press) said:

"I think there are a lot of critics who think that . . . . if we did not stand up [in the run-up to the war] and say 'this is bogus, and you're a liar, and why are you doing this,' that we didn't do our job. I respectfully disagree. It's not our role"
But this is nothing new. In fact, the large media companies have drummed up support for all previous wars.

For example, Hearst helped drum up support for the Spanish-American War.

And an official summary of America's overthrow of the democratically-elected president of Iran in the 1950's states, "In cooperation with the Department of State, CIA had several articles planted in major American newspapers and magazines which, when reproduced in Iran, had the desired psychological effect in Iran and contributed to the war of nerves against Mossadeq." (page x)

The mainstream media also may have played footsie with the U.S. government right before Pearl Harbor. Specifically, a highly-praised historian (Bob Stineet) argues that the Army’s Chief of Staff informed the Washington bureau chiefs of the major newspapers and magazines of the impending Pearl Harbor attack BEFORE IT OCCURRED, and swore them to an oath of secrecy, which the media honored (page 361) .

And the military-media alliance has continued without a break (as a highly-respected journalist says, "viewers may be taken aback to see the grotesque extent to which US presidents and American news media have jointly shouldered key propaganda chores for war launches during the last five decades.")

As the mainstream British paper, the Independent, writes:

There is a concerted strategy to manipulate global perception. And the mass media are operating as its compliant assistants, failing both to resist it and to expose it. The sheer ease with which this machinery has been able to do its work reflects a creeping structural weakness which now afflicts the production of our news.
The article in the Independent discusses the use of "black propaganda" by the U.S. government, which is then parroted by the media without analysis; for example, the government forged a letter from al Zarqawi to the "inner circle" of al-Qa'ida's leadership, urging them to accept that the best way to beat US forces in Iraq was effectively to start a civil war, which was then publicized without question by the media..

So why has the American press has consistenly served the elites in disseminating their false justifications for war?

One of of the reasons is because the large media companies are owned by those who support the militarist agenda or even directly profit from war and terror (for example, NBC is owned by General Electric, one of the largest defense contractors in the world -- which directly profits from war, terrorism and chaos).

Another seems to be an unspoken rule that the media will not criticize the government's imperial war agenda.

And the media support isn't just for war: it is also for various other shenanigans by the powerful. For example, a BBC documentarysdocuments:

There was "a planned coup in the USA in 1933 by a group of right-wing American businessmen . . . . The coup was aimed at toppling President Franklin D Roosevelt with the help of half-a-million war veterans. The plotters, who were alleged to involve some of the most famous families in America, (owners of Heinz, Birds Eye, Goodtea, Maxwell Hse & George Bush’s Grandfather, Prescott) believed that their country should adopt the policies of Hitler and Mussolini to beat the great depression."

Moreover, "the tycoons told the general who they asked to carry out the coup that the American people would accept the new government because they controlled all the newspapers." See also this book.

Have you ever heard of this scheme before? It was certainly a very large one. And if the conspirators controlled the newspapers then, how much worse is it today with media consolidation?

4. Censorship by the Government

Finally, as if the media's own interest in promoting war is not strong enough, the government has exerted tremendous pressure on the media to report things a certain way. Indeed, at times the government has thrown media owners and reporters in jail if they've been too critical. The media companies have felt great pressure from the government to kill any real questioning of the endless wars.

For example, Dan Rather said, regarding American media, "What you have is a miniature version of what you have in totalitarian states".

Tom Brokaw said "all wars are based on propaganda.

And the head of CNN said:

"there was 'almost a patriotism police' after 9/11 and when the network showed [things critical of the administration's policies] it would get phone calls from advertisers and the administration and "big people in corporations were calling up and saying, 'You're being anti-American here.'"
Indeed, former military analyst and famed Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg said that the government has ordered the media not to cover 9/11:

Ellsberg seemed hardly surprised that today's American mainstream broadcast media has so far failed to take [former FBI translator and 9/11 whistleblower Sibel] Edmonds up on her offer, despite the blockbuster nature of her allegations [which Ellsberg calls "far more explosive than the Pentagon Papers"].
As Edmonds has also alluded, Ellsberg pointed to the New York Times, who "sat on the NSA spying story for over a year" when they "could have put it out before the 2004 election, which might have changed the outcome."

"There will be phone calls going out to the media saying 'don't even think of touching it, you will be prosecuted for violating national security,'" he told us.

"I am confident that there is conversation inside the Government as to 'How do we deal with Sibel?'" contends Ellsberg. "The first line of defense is to ensure that she doesn't get into the media. I think any outlet that thought of using her materials would go to to the government and they would be told 'don't touch this . . . .'"

Of course, if the stick approach doesn't work, the government can always just pay off reporters to spread disinformation. Indeed, an expert on propaganda testified under oath during trial that the CIA employs THOUSANDS of reporters and OWNS its own media organizations (the expert has an impressive background).

And famed Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein says the CIA has already bought and paid for many successful journalists. See also this New York Times piece, this essay by the Independent, this speech by one of the premier writers on journalism, and this and this roundup.

Indeed, in the final analysis, the main reason today that the media giants will not cover the real stories or question the government's actions or policies in any meaningful way is that we live in a country that is not all that free (see point number 6). Mussolini said that fascism is the blending of the government and corporate interests, and the American government and mainstream media have in fact been blended together to an unprecedented degree.

See this book and the following 5-part interview for further information on 9/11 and the media: (Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 3 • Part 4 • Part 5 (visit site)

Can We Win the Battle Against Censorship?

We cannot just leave governance to our "leaders", as "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance" (Jefferson). Similarly, we cannot leave news to the corporate media. We need to "be the media" ourselves.

"To stand in silence when they should be protesting makes cowards out of men."
- Abraham Lincoln

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"Powerlessness and silence go together. We...should use our privileged positions not as a shelter from the world's reality, but as a platform from which to speak. A voice is a gift. It should be cherished and used."
– Margaret Atwood

"There is no act too small, no act too bold. The history of social change is the history of millions of actions, small and large, coming together at points in history and creating a power that [nothing] cannot suppress."
- Howard Zinn (historian)

"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent"
- Thomas Jefferson

THE NEWS THAT IS THE NEWS, IS NOT THE NEWS AT ALL!

Wednesday June 24, 2009, 6:08 pm
Thank you, David. Unfortunately, I do not need anyone to tell me how mainstreammedia lets down the American people. This is how Larry Neal's family wound up almost six years later with no accountability whatsoever about my handicapped brother's secret arrest and death - denial of due process of law and intimidation against Larry's family for daring to ask "WHAT HAPPENED TO LARRY NEAL?"

The MEDIA carries ads for the attorney firm that used its position as our wrongful death lawyers to protect Shelby County Jail where Larry died. Furthermore, the media refuses to warn other people in the community by printing or broadcasting any news about a major law firm claiming in court that it does not exist in Georgia - a claim that was falsely made to dismiss a fraud lawsuit.

The media is often a part of the problem, not the solution, in denial of justice in America.

After The Cochran Firm was allowed to enter perjury in Georgia Superior Court to dodge accountability for working on behalf of Shelby County Jail to help it dodge accountability for Larry Neal's wrongful death there, the Neals then sued The Cochran Firm in USDC under the Diversity Rule (which cannot legally be used unless defendants have no office in the state with plaintiffs). Judge Batten allowed Shelby Co. Jail to refuse to honor the federal subpoena to release records on Larry's incarceration

Judge Batten then allowed Cox Enterprises (owner of Atlanta Journal Constitution and Channel 2) to ignore a federal subpoena to release records on The Cochran Firm's advertising that attracts African Americans and Latinos to that firm. Judge Batten then gave The Cochran Firm summary judgment, calling their breach of contract and fraud against Larry's family "immaterial."

Mainstream media sells ads for The Cochran Firm across America, and keeps the news of Larry's death and the firm's fraud out of the news. Guantanamo-type conspiracies are used against Larry Neal's survivors to prevent open disclosure and accountability about his death. Since this writer began reporting about it on the Internet, I was subjected to cyberterrorism and in-person stalking as reported in The Cochran Firm Fraud 1 and 2 videos on YouTube, but police did not respond to my 911 emergency call when trapped at an area Chevron station surrounded by four cars of men and a US DOT truck, and they will not investigate any of my stalking events that were witnessed by many people.

Death and abuse of inmates and extreme measures to prevent public disclosure are NOT limited to Guantanamo.

WHO DID YOU SAY THE TERRORISTS ARE AGAIN? I AM NOT COMPLETELY CLEAR ON THAT.

Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill
http://Care2.com/c2c/group/AIMI

Wednesday June 24, 2009, 7:15 pm
All I can say is the media sucks. They do more damage than good. Great article. Thanks David.

Wednesday June 24, 2009, 8:13 pm
You are right, Joycey.

One day after Judge Shoob dismissed our lawsuit against that Cochran Firm because it claimed (and she agreed) that it did not exist in Georgia, my son was watching TV and saw a Cochran Firm commercial for its Atlanta office.

He called the television station and told them we have a court order saying there is no Cochran Firm in Georgia.

The TV station said, "So?"

Wednesday June 24, 2009, 8:36 pm
Socking news. Thanks for this stuff.

Wednesday June 24, 2009, 10:02 pm
Y'know, I think I have some good pointers on how to overthrow the system. FIRST: Try to shop from second-hand sources as much as you can (get your clothes & other stuff from thrift shops. Go to Flea Markets & Garage sales, 'dumpster dive', etc.). SECOND: If you can, get your foods from independant sources like Organic Food shops, local farms, etc. (you can shop online as well as go to local produce places, etc.) THIRD: Grow your own foods. FOURTH: Get or make gizmos to save on energy (you can learn this stuff online). FIFTH: Make your own health & beauty stuff (Care2 has recipies!). SIXTH: NO CABLE TV! Don't get a TV signal! Just use the "boob tube" for the occassional DVD of Movies or Shows, the Media & it's stupid commercials brainwash! SEVEN: Take care of your health, lose some weight if your fat. Use alternative medicine...thus you wont tax the Health Care System as much. AND IF YOU MUST VOTE: Vote for someone either Independent or Liberal (you still must vote cuz if you don't, the wrong folks will vote & it will make things worse). If you must know the news, go to Independent news sources online, Good News, Bad News, different sources, etc. And, as the article says: We must make OUR OWN MEDIA! I'd state the same concerning Charities, Public Assistance, etc. why wait for the Govt. to be "Mommy & Daddy"?...DO IT YOURSELVES! We must take control & we DON'T NEED the System's approval! I guess there are other things one can do. Just do what you can & "Babylon" will fall & America will live up to it's promises!

Wednesday June 24, 2009, 10:09 pm
Amen Julie!!!! Thanx much David and Mary N U rock!

Wednesday June 24, 2009, 11:34 pm
Dan Rather mentions having
"the flaming tire of anti-patriotism"
being put around journalist's necks.
Patriotism is sh*t, and is what has
lead to almost every war that's ever
been fought.
If people could dump their patriotism,
and get their minds around the fact that
we are one people, one planet, there is a
chance that we could see some real peace!
Imagine that!
Thanks, David.
noted.

Thursday June 25, 2009, 7:05 am
The most effective way to overthrow capitalism and replace it with a democratic, egalitarian system that ensures human rights for all people, is to join and build the socialist movement and socialist parties, such as the Socialist Workers' Party in the USA.

Thursday June 25, 2009, 3:49 pm
* If you're a Republican candidate guilty of adultery, don't worry, the Washington Examiner can help pretend it didn't happen.