Dan Rather hits the nail on the head. I have worked in and with corporate-owned media, and have seen the same things. You don’t need to believe in any kind of conspiracy — either right or left wing — to understand how the slavish obsession with profits of our corporate controlled media is destroying the free exchange of ideas that our founding fathers knew and declared to be so vital to our democracy. Instead, you are told, repeatedly and with little regard to the truth, that which will make them the most money. Even if it kills you.
6 Comments
When I first went to college at Sam Houston State U. in the 90s, the communications building there bore Dan Rather’s name. At the time, I didn’t know the impact he had made on the media that a building should be named after a living, present day TV reporter.
However, I think it was well deserved.
I was evening supervising nurse in two private nursing homes. Just sickening. I wanted to warn everyone that your private nursing homes are the worst. Now some San Francisco nursing homes have been taken to court and found guilty of letting profit win over care. Consumers Reports listed the worst nursing homes as private, next worst state homes, and best are the Religious homes. Money Magazine listed private nursing homes as wonderful investements. In 1991, resident would put in her hard earned money $5000 a month for a room with a vinyl floor the size of a bathroom. Her money was not used for her care, it was used to pay the investors. Corporate greed. Ten years later my mother was paying $2500 a month in a Religious home for a carpeted room with large bathroom and floor to ceiling windows, all her own furniture. Closet space, etc. Her husband was in the room next to her with a door cut between. I wasn’t even given a key to get patients food in the evening. Sick, sick, sick.
“Corporate media”: Another example of “capitalism” run amok, typified by newspapers feverishly reprinting virtually each of Mad Dog Palin’s facebook posts verbatim. Serving the public interest has been displaced by “getting eyeballs”.
Corporate media is, hopefully, in its death throes. It will be a long-needed and well-deserved death. It’s unfortunate for journalists who could contribute in a meaningful way, but hopefully they may find a gainful means of support via the web.
At least we still have the internet (for now).
It’s not just corporate media though. There’s a generation of kids growing up on Standardized tests, being taught little more then to parrot what their teachers tell them. They aren’t taught critical thinking skills and to come up with their own opinions via their own research.
@ZJD
We won’t have the free internet if deals like the Verizon-Google plan go through. If the Republicans do win the upcoming election, you can bet they will go through. And you can bet that any open news sites will be very slow or unaccessible.