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To: Mark Marcellus who wrote (7597)	3/26/2001 10:58:14 AM
From: Ron	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 17683

A few thoughts on Media Incest: The plunge of media into full-blown incest is a disturbing trend. Media incest is the absorption and recycling of inexpensive, readily available material from other outlets, even when they are competitors. The full-bore Survivor orgy by print, broadcast and Internet media is a recent example but there are many others. Survivor is an entertainment program, but from the column inches and airtime devoted to it by news people, you would think it was an event that actually affected large numbers of people. But they were served ersatz news. It is much cheaper for a news organization to pick up gratuitous video and PR from TV and cinema, than it is to send a reporter out to cover and decipher complex events, meetings or public documents that may affect the lives, pocketbooks, health, and future of readers and viewers. This insidious practice, which crowds out legitimate local and world news was rare only 20 years ago. Once, most newspapers and reputable broadcast news organizations went out of their way not to publish content from competitors, such as television, magazines and entertainment companies. The continued consolidation of news and publishing companies into conglomerates simply multiples the cross promotion and media incest. Example: Would Time Magazine have featured the ladies from HBO's "Sex and the City" on it's front cover, if Time Warner did not own HBO? Would Time have even covered the subject? A problem in recognizing ersatz news is in realizing what legitimate news was not covered. Compounding the problem is the unabashed marketing and promotion now common in most media, in which citizens are endlessly told "We will give you the news and information you need and want. " When in fact, if they were dieticians, they would be serving up large quantities of chocolate bars, disguised as filet mignon and salad greens. The end result: Serious vitamin and nutritional deficiencies, disease and health problems. Most consumers who think they are getting a balanced diet from their commercial media source are more likely to be getting bait and switch. It's easier for most consumers to discern ersatz food than ersatz news, however.