Monday, September 19, 2005

Why there's no truth on TV

Here's a couple of paragraphs from a column about how and why big media echoes the Bush administration party line. The article details how the media shifted from blaming Bush for the Katrina mess to blaming local officials (except for Republican Governor Haley Barbour)as the White House spin machine regained control.

You know most of this already, but having it spelled out clearly will disgust you.

...If big media look like they’re propping up W’s presidency, they are. Because doing so is good for corporate coffers — in the form of government contracts, billion-dollar tax breaks, regulatory relaxations and security favors. At least that wily old codger Sumner Redstone, head of Viacom, parent company of CBS, has admitted what everyone already knows is true: that, while he personally may be a Democrat, “It happens that I vote for Viacom. Viacom is my life, and I do believe that a Republican administration is better for media companies than a Democratic one.”

When it comes to NBC’s parent company, GE’s No. 1 and No. 2, Jeffrey Immelt and Bob Wright, are avowed Republicans, as are Time Warner’s Dick Parsons (CNN) and News Corp.’s Rupert Murdoch (Fox News Channel). (Forget that Murdoch’s No. 2, Peter Chernin, and Redstone’s co–No. 2, Les Moonves, are avowed Democrats — it’s meaningless because Murdoch and Redstone are the owners.)...
Link

via Kos

No comments: