Battle of the Journalists - the Independent Fight against the Corporations

*_*_*_*_*_*_*Conspiracy Warning_*_*_*_*_*_*

I offer you all a quick warning before I begin: there will be accusations of conspiratorial relations. Please, escort all small children and those with heart problems, high blood pressure, and pregnant women out of the room. As well, there is one required reading for this post Toxic Sludge is Good for You by John Stauber, Sheldon Rampton, and Mark Dowie; this opened my eyes to corporations' hand in the media and is where i got my basis of understanding for my research on fake news.

I would like to begin by saying that it's extremely difficult to unearth large corporations' rooting within the Media industry. However that is rightfully so, why would the Media publicize its own shortcomings? With that said, most all cases of corporately-funded news in this post comes from unauthenticated sources; such as other bloggers and the independent media.

So to get down to it, where has journalistic integrity gone? In a 2006 study, the Center for Media and Democracy found that roughly 77 news stations had aired corporately-sponsored videos over a ten month period and disguised them as their own reporting. These networks included ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox which are all big-name stations, watched regularly by the majority of North America. They aired videos by General Motors, Intel and Pfizer. These 'advertisements' are being considered real news in a time where war looms around every corner, where the majority of people in the undeveloped world go to bed starving each night, and where people die every second of disease.

Democracy Now! then aired a show dedicated to fake news. They spoke with Robin Raskin, who has appeared in many video news releases, who explained her involvement with the companies releasing the video news releases. As well, they spoke with Jonathan Adelstein the commissioner of the FCC, who told them he was surprised by the study's findings. "...The irony of this all is that broadcasters are supposed to operate in the public interest," said Adelstein. This shows a complete lack of journalistic integrity on the part of the broadcasters, leaving the public weary of trusting the media.

I'm going to pick on Fox News for a second because I recently read a blog post that claimed the government is becoming involved in the censoring of news. One of the founders of Books For Soldiers, a government recognized charity, was set to appear on Fox News for an interview, however on the morning of the interview he was phoned and told that something else came up. When he watched the newscast he found that his 10:20 spot was given to the victim of a non-lethal snakebite at a Florida Wal-mart. He believes that his charity represents an inability for the military to supply the soldiers with necessities and thus his interview was pulled from airing to save face. In what mindset must you be thinking to qualify a snakebite story as more important than a charity for ill-equipped soldiers?

With so much information being miss-fed to the public and over looked altogether what might be the implications of these fake news stories? Well, with the media clearly abusing its power it's becoming harder and harder to trust what you see and read in the newspaper and on television. Furthermore, with the FCC clearly not regulating broadcast stations as rigorously as they should be this problem seems like it could only get worse. But most importantly, with so much doubt surrounding the mainstream media there just might be a greater market for the Indymedia in the future.

This leaves just one thing left unsaid (disregarding all that broadcasters have left unsaid) think about everything you see and read. We must begin to confront more forcefully what we are being dealt by the media; it is a great source of information but its word is not god, do not be afraid to challenge it.

I would like to leave you with one final thought, from Toxic Sludge is Good for You, "...a single public relations professional with access to media, a basic understanding of mass psychology and a fistful of dollars can unleash in society forces that make permanent winners out of otherwise-evident losers - whether they be products, politicians, corporations or ideas."

I urge you all to visit the affiliated websites of everyone mentioned in this post and to look into donating to local and international charities.