Corporate Media: We Censor Candidates Who Challenge Status Quo

[MNeagle]

Preface: Liberals shouldn’t ignore the media’s censoring of Ron Paul’s popularity in straw polls because he’s “on the right”. Many progressive candidates have been shut out of political races by the big corporate media.
Corporate Media Admit They Censor Ron Paul

CNN and Politico admit that the mainstream media is in the business of picking candidates:

The big media simply delete Ron Paul from their polls (http://whatreallyhappened.com/category/corporate_media), even though Paul scored very highly in the Ames Iowa straw poll – and virtually every poll taken recently.
Indeed, CNN noted in May that Paul had the best chance of any Republican of beating Obama (http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/05/cnn-poll-still-no-front-runner-in-the-battle-for-the-gop-nomination/).
“Not Electable” Is Code for “Challenges the Powers-That-Be”

The pundits claim they are only censoring candidates who are “not electable”. But just as “not politically feasible” is code for “the powers-that-be don’t want it” (http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2009/04/real-meaning-of-not-politically.html), “not electable” simply means that the candidate would champion the interests of the little guy, and challenge the powers-that-be: the large defense contractors, the giant banks, big pharma or the mega-energy producers.
As Kara Miller notes (http://boston.com/community/blogs/culture_club/2011/08/what_happened_to_ron_paul.html), the media won’t cover Ron Paul:

because he doesn’t fit the media narrative. He’s anti-war and pro-small government …. Heavily influenced by each other, media outlets have sidelined Paul and embraced Bachmann ….
Corporate Media Always Serves the Rich and Powerful, And Acts As A Booster for War

In fact, the corporate media have long been presstitutes for the rich and powerful, and knee-jerk in supporters of all wars (http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/07/presstitutes.html).
They have always shut out candidates from either the left or right who challenge America’s imperial wars, America’s imbalanced policy towards Israel, the perpetual bailouts of the giant banks, Federal Reserve policy, or the inherent right of big corporations to do get all of the benefits of corporate personhood (http://www.rawstory.com/rawreplay/2011/08/ron-paul-rebukes-romney-corporations-are-not-people/), without any of the responsibilities of being a person.
The corporate media is owned by a handful of giant defense contractors. As I’ve previously noted (http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/07/presstitutes.html):

The government has allowed tremendous consolidation in ownership of the airwaves during the past decade.
Dan Rather has slammed (http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20090729/NEWS/907289967/1058) media consolidation:

Likening media consolidation to that of the banking industry, Rather claimed that “roughly 80 percent” of the media is controlled by no more than six, and possibly as few as four, corporations.

This is documented by the following must-see charts prepared by:

Media Channel (http://web.archive.org/web/20090218125344/http://mediachannel.org/ownership/chart.shtml)


The Nation (http://web.archive.org/web/20090324203116/http://www.thenation.com/special/2006_entertainment.pdf)


Free Press (http://www.freepress.net/ownership/chart/main)
And check out this list (http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2870) of interlocking directorates of big media companies from Fairness and Accuracy in Media, and this resource (http://www.cjr.org/resources/) from the Columbia Journalism Review to research a particular company.
This image gives a sense of the decline in diversity in media ownership over the last couple of decades:
http://www.corporations.org/media/media-ownership.gif (http://www.corporations.org/media/media-ownership.gif)
Big Media Promotes Those Who Sound Empathic … But Will Serve the Status Quo

These handful of giant corporations wield enormous power. Just think Rupert Murdoch.
The last thing they want is a candidate who will shake things up.
The people’s wishes? They are wholly irrelevant to these media behemoths. Indeed, these big companies have a vested interest in picking candidates who are good at acting like they care about the little guy, but who actually couldn’t care less about the average American, and have no problem picking his pocket at the first opportunity (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/06/politicians-and-serial-killers.html).


http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2011/08/corporate-media-we-censor-candidates-who-challenge-status-quo/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheBigPicture+%28The+Big+Pict ure%29

[keehah]

Max Mosley: 'News International has blackmailed MPs and others. Leveson must hear the truth' (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/max-mosley-news-international-has-blackmailed-mps-and-others-leveson-must-hear-the-truth-7685315.html)

April 28, 2012 independent.co.uk

He fought Murdoch – and won – over the false 'Nazi sex party' story. Now he tells Martin Hickman he's bankrolling another battle

Max Mosley, the motor racing multi-millionaire, is bankrolling a plan to expose potential blackmail and intimidation against politicians by Rupert Murdoch's newspaper group. Mr Mosley said in an interview with The Independent that he was funding legal assistance for MPs to reveal their experiences of the country's largest newspaper group – in an attempt to demonstrate its secret power in British politics.

In explosive evidence this week, the Leveson Inquiry revealed the existence of secret contacts between the office of the Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, and a lobbyist at News International's parent company, News Corp, aimed at furthering its controversial takeover of the broadcaster BSkyB.

After the release of the 161 pages of emails, Mr Hunt's special adviser, Adam Smith resigned, but Mr Hunt is still clinging to his post.

Mr Mosley – who won £60,000 damages from the News of the World in 2008 over false allegations he had taken part in a "Nazi" orgy – believes at least 10 MPs may have important evidence about the behaviour of News International towards politicians.

He said: "Organisations like Hacked Off (http://hackinginquiry.org/) are trying to make sure that everything that should be put in front of Leveson will be – and that's particularly important where there have been a large number of cases where News International have set out to intimidate, even blackmail, members of Parliament and other people in positions of authority.

"So as far as it's possible to do so, those facts have to be brought to Leveson and I'm trying to help in a modest way. I am making legal advice available."

MPs fearful of disclosing embarrassing evidence could give their evidence anonymously, the 72-year-old said, adding that intermediaries were contacting current and ex-MPs on his behalf to assess whether they wished to come forward.

For years, News International has been suspected of exerting a powerful influence behind the scenes in politics by exploiting the power and electoral endorsements of its newspapers: The Sun, The Times, The Sunday Times and the now-closed News of the World.

Very few MPs have so far publicly claimed that they have been targeted, though it is known that the News of the World hacked the phones of several Cabinet ministers, including John Prescott (while he was Deputy Prime Minister), David Blunkett and Mr Hunt's forerunner, Tessa Jowell.

The Labour MP Tom Watson – who was tailed by a NOTW private detective in 2009 while he was investigating rampant law-breaking at NI's headquarters in Wapping – has said attempts were made by the company to call him off. Chris Bryant, a Labour front-bencher who is also a columnist for The Independent, revealed in a Commons debate last year that an associate of Rupert Murdoch had warned him that campaigning on hacking would "not be forgotten." Mr Mosley said that he knew of two other cases where News International had brought undue influence to bear on MPs.

News International, which has 40 per cent of the national newspaper circulation in the UK, has always denied it meddles in politics. At the Leveson Inquiry this week, Rupert Murdoch, News Corp's chairman and the chief executive, surprised many observers when he said: "I have never asked a prime minister for anything."

The octagenarian billionaire also rejected evidence from former editors that he interfered in the content of The Times and The Sunday Times (though he said he set the political stance of The Sun) – or that his newspapers peddled his commercial interests.

In 2010, two years after winning his record privacy payout, Mr Mosley began to investigate phone hacking with the help of a secret source, Mr X, who had information about the files kept by the NOTW 's private detective, Glenn Mulcaire – who was jailed in 2007 for hacking the voicemails of royal aides.

In late 2010, Mr Mosley began bankrolling civil cases being brought by phone-hacking victims against News International, and he also funded a judicial review against Scotland Yard's handling of the case.

The trained barrister and motor racing executive partly blames NI for the death of his son, Alexander, in 2009 from cocaine intoxication. Speaking of his exposure by the NOTW for taking part in a sado-masochistic session a year earlier, Mr Mosley said: "Was it the last straw? It could well have been.

"He was brilliantly clever – much cleverer than me. He had a Phd in maths and went into economics. But he suffered from depression and a large number of doctors could not sort it out – but illegal drugs worked.

"I think in the end he had got on top of it [drug addiction] but he found the whole business unbearable – and I can understand that. Sons may not get on with their fathers, but they tend to respect them and if a father appears in some significantly undignified position that can be devastating."

Mr Mosley, who is a former president of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, said: "They [the Murdochs] simply don't care as long as they can sell a few newspapers."

He believes the Murdochs and their newspapers have suborned Parliament. "If I'd been a senior politician, they would never have published that story," he said. "They would have come to me with some of the pictures and said: 'You know, we've been given this story, but, you know, don't worry Max, we're not going to publish it' – but leaving, of course, hanging in the air what would happen if you did anything to annoy them."

He believes this is what happened to several politicians. "That's exactly what I think has gone on and I believe they have done this to a number of people, some of them on the record. Tom [Watson] is on the record and there is a suggestion that they've done it to senior members of the police force. If it's true, it needs to brought out into the open with as many examples as possible so that one can see this has gone on," he said.

"I really believe that they ran their business rather like the East German government, or the Stasi, except that it wasn't the government it was the Murdoch organisation," he added.

"That sinister way of the Stasi (secret police) – that they would let you know things about you that you rather were not made public – I think it's exactly the same technique. I think that if we knew everything we might be quite surprised how – and for what reason – people were being kept under control."

[Hatha Sunahara]

These are some very good arguments to never believe the news media and to never trust a politician they want you to trust. The MSM is the status quo. Whatever or whoever they ignore or villify is good for you. Everything they have ever told you about the world that you cannot see for yourself is a lie. The same goes for their employer--the government. Ditto for Hollywood movies. You can get half way to freedom by just turning off the TV.


Hatha

[keehah]

Perhaps not just new catapult spending but 'legitimization' of the 'intelligence' agency's 'journalist' degeneracy and harassment assets within the modern western Stasi system.

This will also help bring confidence in local reporting down to Congressional levels.


freebeacon.com: House Dems Propose $1 Billion in Subsidies for Local Newspapers (https://freebeacon.com/media/house-dems-propose-1-billion-in-subsidies-for-local-newspapers/)

September 14, 2021
House Democrats are offering more than $1 billion in subsidies to local newspapers as part of a massive spending proposal released this week, even as polls show record levels of distrust in the media.

The $3.5 trillion spending plan includes up to $25,000 in payroll tax credits for each journalist on a local newspaper's payroll. The carve-out will cost $1.3 billion over the next decade, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation. To offset this and other tax credits included in the bill, Democrats are proposing $2.9 trillion in tax hikes through higher corporate, capital gains, and personal income tax rates.

Democrats hope the proposal will rescue local newspapers, which saw employment fall by 57 percent from 2008 to 2020. More than 1,800 newspapers have shut down since 2004 amid a shift away from print advertising and the rise of online media. Confidence in the media has also waned. Just 21 percent of Americans said they had "great confidence" in newspapers, according to a recent Gallup survey. Only television news, big business, and Congress had lower confidence ratings.

The Democrats' plan is vague on which news outlets would qualify for the tax credits. It defines a local news outlet as one that publishes original content that "primarily serves the needs of a regional or local community." The subsidies apply to news outlets that employ fewer than 750 people.

Americans for Tax Reform listed the tax credit as one of 10 "giveaways" that Democrats are offering to liberal interest groups in the spending plan. The group, which supports low taxes, noted that journalists tend to be liberal...

The proposal is nearly identical to the Local Journalism Sustainability Act, a bill introduced earlier this year by Sens. Maria Cantwell (D., Wash.), Ron Wyden (D., Ore.), and Mark Kelly (D., Ariz.). In addition to payroll tax credits, the senators proposed a $250 tax deduction for subscriptions to local newspapers.

[keehah]

Corporate journalist subsidies were approved. The Devil is Fake News journalism now funded by taxpayers.

washingtontimes.com: Biden’s $50,000-per-year journalist tax credit estimated to cost taxpayers $1.6B (https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/nov/4/bidens-50000-year-journalist-tax-credit-estimated-/)

November 4, 2021
The lucrative $50,000-per-year journalist tax break that Democrats have tucked within President Biden’s multitrillion-dollar social welfare bill is estimated to cost taxpayers more than $1.6 billion over the next decade.

A new analysis of the legislation by the Joint Committee on Taxation, a special congressional panel made up of 10 senior lawmakers from both chambers of Congress, found that taxpayers would be on the hook for more than $1.6 billion if the tax credit becomes law.
The credit would allow “local news” outlets to receive a quarterly tax credit, “equal to 50%” of a journalist’s wages up to a cap of $12,500-per-quarter.

Overall, eligible outlets could receive as much as $50,000 annually per journalist in tax breaks through the program in its first year. In subsequent years, the credit would drop to 30% of a journalist’s wages per quarter. Democrats propose to let the tax credit expire after five years unless Congress votes to renew.

[keehah]

People aware that corporate conglomerate mainstream news is generally degenerate to its consumers and nation often make the abusive excuse of 'gets the clicks' just being good for business. Blaming the victim this way is apparently also incorrect.

The following PEW report shows mainstream corporate newspaper circulation declining, website use declining and advertising revenue way down.

U.S. daily newspaper circulation was over 60 million from 1970 to 1990.

pewresearch.org: Newspapers Fact Sheet (https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/newspapers/)

NOVEMBER 10, 2023
In 2022, estimated total U.S. daily newspaper circulation (print and digital combined) was 20.9 million for both weekday and Sunday, down 8% and 10% respectively from 2021.

Digital circulation is more difficult to gauge. Using only the AAM data, digital circulation in 2022 is projected to have remained relatively stable. But three of the highest-circulation daily papers in the U.S. – The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post – have in recent years not fully reported their digital circulation to AAM... If these independently produced figures were included with the AAM data in both 2021 and 2022, weekday digital circulation would have risen sharply, by 22%...

From 2020 onward, however, including the Times’ and the Journal’s digital subscribers reverses the trend. In 2022, total weekday circulation would rise by 12% – not fall by 8%, as is the case when looking strictly at the AAM data...

Thus, the figures offered above reflect the top 50 U.S. daily newspapers based on circulation. In the fourth quarter of 2022, there were an average 8.8 million monthly unique visitors (across all devices) for these top 50 newspapers. This is down 20% from 2021, which itself was a 20% decrease from 2020...

Average minutes per visit for the top 50 U.S. daily newspapers, based on circulation, was just under 1 minute and 30 seconds in Q4 2022. This represents a 43% decline from when we first began tracking this in Q4 2014, when the average minutes per visit was just over 2 minutes and 30 seconds...

The total estimated advertising revenue for the newspaper industry in 2022 was $9.8 billion, based on the Center’s analysis of financial statements for publicly traded newspaper companies. This is down 5% from 2021, a slight drop. Total estimated circulation revenue was $11.6 billion, compared with $11.5 billion in 2020.
Graphs included with the report indicate total advertising revenue peaked at ~48 billion in 2006. Circulation revenue has been flat at around 11 billion since 2000.

Internationalist corporatism, aka communist socialism.
All this government funding of corporate conglomerate news supports that assertion.

digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu: Journalism Partnerships - pluralism (2024) (https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/funding/journalism-partnerships-pluralism-2024)

25 October 2023
The EU calls for organisations/intermediaries to set up dedicated funding schemes in news media areas of especial relevance to democracy (such as local/regional media, independent and investigative journalism, and public interest news)...

The call relies on intermediary organisations active in the media domain. Financial support will be awarded to these organisations so that they can set up financing schemes for news media sectors in need. The call is thus open to entities such as media associations, NGOs, non-profit organisations, civil society organisations, public authorities, international organisations, universities, research centres, journalistic funds and training organisations focusing on media professionals, profitmaking entities, foundations, etc. Proposals may be submitted either by single applicants or by a consortium...

Interested applicants are invited to set up and implement funding schemes for news media sectors of special relevance to democracy and civic participation, i.e. characterised for playing a role in enhancing democracy, shaping the public debate and bringing benefits to their audiences and communities, instead of focusing just on profit.

Government-funded news at 35%:

michaelgeist.ca: Bill C-18 Bailout: Government Announces Plans to Pay For 35% of Journalist Costs for News Outlets as It More Than Doubles Tax Credit Per Employee (https://www.michaelgeist.ca/2023/11/bill-c-18-bailout-government-announces-plans-to-pay-for-35-of-journalist-costs-for-news-outlets-with-116-increase-in-tax-credit-per-employee/#:~:text=Under%20the%20new%20system%2C%20which%20i s%20retroactive%20to,%2429%2C750%20per%20employee% 20or%20an%20increase%20of%20116%25.)

November 21, 2023
While the current system covers 25% of the journalist costs up to $55,000 per employee (or $13,750), the government’s fall economic statement increases both the percentage covered and cap per employee. Under the new system, which is retroactive to the start of this year, Qualified Canadian Journalism Organizations (which covers print and digital but not broadcasters) can now claim 35% of the costs of journalist expenditures up to $85,000 per employee.

Government-funded news at 70%:

"For journalists today the battlefield is everywhere."
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGFTLTzYw6w (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGFTLTzYw6w)
1:05