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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Thomas A Watson who wrote (410616)	6/1/2003 5:09:47 AM
From: Cogito	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

>>It does not matter who owns how many. There has never been the link you suggest in current mega information companies. And the internet and just plain stubborn Americans would not let it happen. No one owns Matt Drudge, or Rush or Hannity or several other reporter, pundits etc. And if what they talk about draws millions to their voices, they will be given the venue that makes advertising dollars. I don't care who owns what. Because their are always millions who are only concerned with making a buck. If you look at the variety of trash published and broadcast no sane rational person can come to any other conclusion.<< Thomas - A lot of sane people, both conservatives and liberals, have looked at the situation and come to a different conclusion, at least with respect to the news. The amount of trash on TV isn't the issue at all. One thing that indicates just how little "just plain stubborn Americans" will have a say is the fact that up until a few weeks ago, there was almost no coverage of this story in the national media. I would wager that many of the readers of this thread didn't know that on June 2nd, longstanding regulations designed to ensure that Americans have access to a wide variety of information sources will essentially be trashed. I'm not sure what it is you believe Americans would not let happen. None of us will ave anything to say about it when the massive consolidation occurs, which it most certainly will in the wake of this that leaves most American media outlets in the hands of just a few mega corporations. Fox obviously figured out a long time ago that the way to make a buck is not to give people balanced, thoughtful news programming. No, the people want Joe Millionaire. You certainly will not be able to rely on them to tell you about anything that might make you want to question the free reign they will soon have. They won't tell you anything that will stand in the way of their making a buck. You won't be able to stop Viacom or Disney or GE from buying any television station, radio station or newspaper they want to buy. And once they own those news outlets, you won't be able to stop them from deciding exactly what they do and do not want you to know. I don't mean to over-dramatize this. It's not as if we're going to be living in a police state by next year. But the fact is, we are getting a lot less choice every day, and this deal is going to accelerate that trend remarkably. In a free society, free access to information is essential. There have to be people willing to blow a whistle, and to hold government and big business accountable for their actions. This is not just a liberal viewpoint, it should be clear to everyone. How would you have felt about a situation in which no credible news organization was willing to question Clinton's testimony about Monica Lewinsky? Lastly, I have to ask again what problem this proposal is designed to solve. Is Rupert Murdoch's empire too small? Does Disney not have a large enough piece of the media pie? Are there too many locally owned and operated newspapers, radio and TV stations in this country? - Allen PS: Do you think it's perfectly OK for people who are trusted by the people to regulate an industry accept lavish all-expenses-paid vacations from the people they're supposed to be keeping an eye on? We're talking about a 2.8 million dollar travel and entertainment tab over the past 8 years. Would it be OK with you if the umpires who were about to officiate in the World Series took a trip to Paris with the owner of one of the teams beforehand?