On the subect of the mainstream media.

[TheWraith]

Honestly, I have to laugh sometimes at the people who act like the media is a big conspiracy to control what we do. It's not. It's a business.

The problem with most media isn't bias. The problem with the mainstream media is a short attention span, and a fondness for short "catchy" stories and soundbites rather than important journalism. They prefer to repeat both sides and call them equal, rather than dig out the facts, and take the heat for saying one side is wrong.

Yes, there's times when the media gets utterly played by the right, including for about 4 years after 9/11. But part of that is catering to what they think gets them ratings. After 9/11 it was terror, terror, terror, and tune in after the commercial break if you're still alive to learn about the latest threats. When the war was popular, they didn't want to say too much bad about it, lest they lose viewers. Even now they're reluctant to cover it too heavily, because they still fear losing viewers, either due to right-wing boycotts or because the reality on the ground disturbs too many people.

But no, with the exception of a handful of Murdoch-owned outlets like Fox News, it's not a conspiracy. It's much simpler: laziness, and greed. These things aren't universal or equally distributed, of course. Some media outlets are still pretty good, others are in it just for a buck. But to assert that there's some kind of wide-ranging universally-controlled media conspiracy to control our behavior, select our candidate, etcetera, is simply mistaken.

[Jackpine Radical]

1. I believe you are wrong.

The media entities are not only businesses, they are subsidiaries of larger corprations which have vested interests in certain political outcomes.

Ask yourself why every major media outlet in America passed up the Sibel Edmonds story when it was offered to the on a platter. It would have required no expensive investigation, and it would have been a shocker driving people to their doorstep--you know, the old-fashioned scoop, the kind of thing honest journalists lived and breathed for, and it would have gotten a Pulitzer. Instead, the only place that story was printed was in the London Times. How can you square that with an image of the media as not agenda-driven, but merely lazy and greedy?

[Rageneau]

2. Sometimes, you're right. But other times...

I agree that a big problem with the MSM is just laziness and the herd mentality. But there are OTHER times when the failure of the MSM to cover an issue can't be laid to laziness and greed and must be acknowledged as an attempt to control the public by controlling what they know.

A couple of quick examples are the Florida recount and the Hitz Report.

The true state of affairs vis-a-vis the ballot count in Florida was known to all the major media, yet they continued to go out of their way to print untrue and misleading stories indicating Bush won, when any entity that wanted the FACTS could see he did not.

And it wasn't laziness or greed that made the MSM turn its back on -- nay, destroy the reputation of -- Gary Webb, who told the truth about CIA-Cocaine.

And to this very day, because of intentional cover-up, most Americans are not even aware of what I mean when I talk about the Hizt Report.

Don't excuse the MSM by buying into their spin. It ain't always incompetence.

Sometimes, it's malice.

[Rageneau]

3. My Bad -- I mean the HITZ Report.

[AlertLurker]

4. Way worse than you think.

You have missed it. It's difficult for some to believe that the M$M is a tool of the Empire, but that's why they will continue to get away with it. They always have been, and always will continue to be a complicit propaganda machine.

The sheer number of news stories buried/suppressed/ignored SHOULD tell you something:

Have you ever heard, sen or heard described, on any of the major networks, April Glaspie's quote when speaking to Saddam about the impending Gulf War in 1991: "I think I understand this. I have lived here for years. I admire your extraordinary efforts to rebuild your country. I know you need funds. We understand that and our opinion is that you should have the opportunity to rebuild your country. But we have no opinion on the Arab-Arab conflicts, like your border disagreement with Kuwait.

I was in the American Embassy in Kuwait during the late 60's. The instruction we had during this period was that we should express no opinion on this issue and that the issue is not associated with America. James Baker has directed our official spokesmen to emphasize this instruction. We hope you can solve this problem using any suitable methods via Klibi or via President Mubarak. All that we hope is that these issues are solved quickly."

How many times you have heard that "Ahmedinajad has repeatedly called for the destruction of Israel" on FAUX/CNN/ABC/MSNBC/CBS?

Have you ever heard on ANY of these networks the reading that Dennis Kucinich gave on this issue in Congress, condemning MEMRI (owned half by David PNAC Wurmser's wife) for their mistranslation and agressive rhetoric?

Have you ever heard on any of these networks that the phrase was actually a) Ahmedinajad quoting a speech from Ayatolla Khomeini and b) mistranslated and taken wholly out of context by MEMRI?

How many of the Knight-Ridder stories in opposition to the war with Iraq did you see get coverage in the run up to war?

Did you see many reports on Saddam's deal that would have prevented the Iraq war? It would have costed merely $1 billion.

How many times did you hear that the arms control experts looking into WMD before the Iraq War were biased, incompetent or corrupt? How many times did you hear that the Iraqis were NOT adhering to their agreements?

How many times have you heard of the 911 commission fraud that's been perpetrated on the US?

How many reports have you watched about the two deals that the Taliban attempted with the USA to capture and extradite Osama bin Laden (yes, there IS footage)?

Have you ever heard the "carpet of gold/carpet of bombs" quoted from US Representatives on air ANYWHERE?

Have you ever heard of Operation Mockingbird? Have you any doubts that it exists?

How often have you heard of "the Downing Street Memos" on any of the major networks?

It's way worse than you think. You can go back to wondering where Natalee Holloway is buried, if you want - I'll never believe the M$M - NEVER.