2016: A Bad Year for Democracy, but “Best Ever” for Big Media

Written on January 13th, 2017 in politics Comments Off

Published on truthout, by Michael Corcoran, Jan 11, 2017.

… But while pundits on cable news outlets argue about these issues, media executives who sign their paychecks are positively elated about the 2016 election, which thanks to $2.4 billion in political ad spending and record ratings, was great for Big Media’s bottom line. “This is the best year in the history of cable news,” said CNN President Jeff Tucker in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

This jubilation is rooted in the two biggest threats to any semblance of democracy, both rarely examined by the media: (1) the pervasive role of corporate money in our elections, and (2) the fact that the media outlets that should be vigorously investigating this trend are owned by the same corporate interests that profit so much from it. This scenario is not merely a conflict of interest but a crisis of democracy.

A Post-Citizens United World: … //

… Trump and 2016: “Bad for America, Damn Good” for Dominant Media: … //
… Media Fail to Cover Campaign Finance Issues: … //
… The Media Lobby at Work: … //

… The Way Forward:

When corporations have the power to spend limitless amounts on advertising, broadcasting and cable companies will benefit. When politicians’ outrageous, offensive ruminations garner great ratings, the dominant media will happily provide them the platform to spread their lies and insults, so long as viewers tune in and advertising costs spike. And when corporate America is given more power and access, corporate media get more power and access too.

This dynamic makes it impossible for mainstream media to function as a press must function in a real democracy: as a vital civic tool to inform the public.

The perverse fact that the Donald Trump campaign made 2016 the best year in the history of cable news should scare Americans. It should also motivate the public to organize and liberate our political system — and the press — from the grip of corporate control.

(full text, many hyperlinks).

(Michael Corcoran is a journalist based in Boston. He has written for The Boston Globe, The Nation, The Christian Science Monitor, Extra!, NACLA Report on the Americas and other publications. Follow him on Twitter: @mcorcoran3).

Links:

Von Das Wort Freiheit auf YouTube hochgeladen:

Washington seems on brink of ‘civil war’ as elites fuel anti-Trump hostility – former German MP, on RT, Jan 12, 2017;

Documents Alleging “Trump-Moscow Ties” Leaked to Media, Intensifying Conflict within US State Apparatus, on Global-Research.ca, by Joseph Kishore, Jan 11, 2017;

Syria: Everything in the World is Changing Regarding Syria, on Axis of Logic, by President Bashar al-Assad, SANA, Jan 10, 2017;

South Africa’s junk credit rating was avoided, but at the cost of junk analysis, on Pambazuka News, by Patrick Bond, Dec 8, 2016: major investors were hoping Zuma would fall, but the ruling ANC turned to well-tested strategies to yet again protect him. And although credit rating agencies had offered pessimistic commentary on Zuma’s reign in their most recent statements, they did not downgrade South Africa to junk status. But the whip remains poised above the country’s head, awaiting next June’s ratings;

Negative ‘noise’ affecting economy – says treasury sec-gen, on Fre Malaysia Today, by Minderjeet Kaur Jan 5, 2017: Irwan Serigar Abdullah blames alternative media for feeding Malaysians misleading information on the state of the country’s finances;

OJK: Capital Market as Financing Alternative, on Tempo.co/english, Jan 4, 2017;

Obama’s Economy Pushed Many Women, Men, Into Part-Time Work – report, on Breitbart, by CHRISS W. STREET, Dec 30, 2016;

30 CREEPIEST PLACES ON EARTH, on GEEK’s VIP, Sept 28, 2015; start the slideshow;

… and this:

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