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Originally posted by TheCommodoreAfro+Sep 20 2004, 03:09 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (TheCommodoreAfro @ Sep 20 2004, 03:09 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>
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Originally posted by Cowperson@Sep 19 2004, 11:12 PM
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@Sep 19 2004, 06:46 AM
I don't think Lanny is a conspiracy theorist.# I think that's just a label and monicker bandied about by those who dismiss any form of media that isn't really controlled by a large corporation.
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Or used by those who dismiss a media source because it is owned by a large corporation.
Cowperson
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Touche.
My favourite quote about standard media practice is as follows, from fan favourite Noam Chomsky. Here's the gist of the excerpt:
What is presented to us daily in 5 minute snippets is taken as fact. We know what it is, we know how it got their. Mass media has to present it to us in that way, as they have a business to run.
Now imagine if I came on TV and said to you that the American government was quietly supporting an Indonesian government that has inflicted genocide in East Timor. Would the time allotted in a "full of clout and honesty" news network allow me the time to even establish my point (or the location of East Timor, in that case) before I could provide evidence that this was happening? Highly unlikely, so pundits like this are dismissed.
The whole objective of news networks is to sell enough advertising to sell the news their people want to hear. Same goes for newspapers. The whole basis for that model isn't consistent with fair and balanced reporting, in any medium. [/b][/quote]
Considering Chomsky is clearly used as a filter of news by his legions of young proteges, his comment is hilarious.
Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh attempt to marginalize the mainstream media in the same fashion as Chomsky, even though the parties are at opposite ends of the political spectrum.
The left and right sell the same thing. "Believe me. Don't believe them because they're not telling you the real truth. Only I can tell you the real truth."
There are people who are right in the thick of the debate on the off-topic board who believe the mainstream media is a Republican party mouthpiece and there are people in the thick of the debate here who believe the mainstream media is out to get GW Bush in this election campaign.
Which side is right? Probably neither.
The reason the half hour "network news" is diminishing in popularity, if not marginalized, is the success of cable news in providing more in-depth analysis, whether you agree with the points of view expressed or not. That in turn wouldn't be happening if the public weren't interested and, in the words of Chomsky, willing to pay for it. Which they appear to be doing in increasing numbers, defeating Chomsky's argument.
As a sidebar, the Sunday New York Times is available in most news stands across the USA. It weighs about 10 pounds and costs about $5 or so. Lots of depth in that puppy if you have the arms to carry it home!! I guess Chomsky's never picked one up. Its just one example.
I presented this link on where people are getting their campaign information, the changing pattern, in another thread. Here it is again.
http://people-press.org/reports/disp...3?ReportID=200
And the second link with a commentary:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5520569/
Cowperson