Speaking of Journalism, lots of reform needs to be done to rebuild trust in the institution

Young Turks co-founder Cenk Uygur’s Mea Culpa interview reminded me of some inconvenient truths everyone knows about what I often refer to on this blog as Corporate Media. The biggest one being the only people whose opinions they really care about are their corporate sponsors, political benefactors  and shareholders. Everything else is an afterthought.

Have you ever wondered why you see so many ads for medications direct from drug companies on CNN, MSNBC, Fox “News” and others? That’s because drug companies are pouring billions into the networks’ coffers. As it happens, some of the networks’ shareholders represent some of these same drug companies which is an obvious conflict of interest.

It’s the same with Politicians. CNN in particular has recently been bending over backwards to appease Republican voters and politicians while openly attacking Progressive Dems. The reason is because they are trying to attract Republicans to appear on their show for interviews and commentary.

CNN has also notably abandoned their “Keeping Them Honest” segments for some time now which makes sense since The Young Turks and other Independent Media outlets routinely tore those apart. While CNN’s journalists don’t outright lie to their audiences on the air in regards to political stories they cover–that’s a big difference that they have from Fox “News”–they do leave out certain details because they don’t want to piss off their sponsors who are bribing the politician(s) they’re talking about.

This is Conflict of Interest in action. Don’t even get me started on the journalists who intentionally withhold information when it’s revelvant just so they can write a book later. It’s a very controversial practice most journalists rightfully don’t like because of how it looks. Most don’t do it but it’s those that do who make everyone look bad.

 

I’ve said this a few times earlier this year but it is a fact the local newspaper is dead in America. It really is a shame. This is what almost 20 years of the big media companies as well as the ultra rich buying up the overwhelming majority of local newspapers has done to America. Even worse is it’s been mostly unchecked. This kind of thing doesn’t happen in any other modern country either.

You literally have a handful of people–about 5 or 6–who control what over 70% of Americans and over 65% of the world reads, listens to or watches. All but two of them are based in New York City. Renowed business mogul and investor Warren Buffet–imfamous in recent years for charging people $1,000 just to learn from him over a meal–said a few years ago “Free Newspapers are no longer sustainable” to basically justify local newspapers disappearing from across the country.

Initially, many investors who bought a local Newspaper legit planned to rehabiliate it but quickly discovered it would be too costly. What they now do is just buy local newspapers for distribution rights, fire everyone and dismantle the paper. Things are now at the point there are no more local newspapers–free and otherwise–due to startup costs alone.

That and newspapers were already being pressured to go digital 15 years ago due to the pollution footprint they leave behind. Those of us who live in cities remember seeing streets, sidewalks and public places littered with discarded newspapers. Not anymore.

 

When I was a kid, the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald each cost $.50. Today, they both average $2.50. The Sunday edition goes for $5.00. Yes, really. About 20 years ago, most newspapers were confident there would always be a market for their medium.

What happened? The Smartphone.

No longer did people have to buy a daily newspaper to find out what was going on in the world. They could simply pull it up on their phone anytime anywhere. There’s just no way newspapers could even hope to compete with that for very long. It certainly didn’t help it was around that time that the buying frenzy of Newspapers began.

Between them, the Sinclair Group and the Murdoch Group owns over 60% of just the world’s news media. Yes, really. It’s insane, I know. It wasn’t like this in the 1980s and 90s. Laws need to be passed globally to prevent one person or a handful of people from having majority control of the world’s news organizations to say the least. You only need to see how it’s being exploited in recent years to know why.

Now is the time and need for independent news media especially in the U.S. in particular. The Boston Herald’s website actually did move to WordPress a few years ago. They use Premium features I also have access to if I was able to pay for them. Everyone starts somewhere though.

Speaking of. Online platforms like WordPress allow anyone to make a complex professional-looking blog–or 12 in my case–for free. WordPress has also been making upgrades to make it easier for people with next to no experience in coding or writing to make their own blog. If you don’t have the money to set up your own professional-looking website, WordPress would be a good option. This is coming from someone who used to pay to have their own website on and off for 8 years.

The Young Turks proved it is more than possible to build a successful and respected independent news media outlet from the ground up. They are able to do what CNN, New York Post and all the rest can’t do because they are not owned by companies and are not beholden to special interest groups. I know some who used to work for corporate media outlets and they will tell you the machine is too strong for one or two people to force change.

Naturally, that means people need to step up and create the news content they want to see. Everyone starts somewhere. When I am able to find a platform to host audio podcasts on for free, you’ll start seeing me add audio commentary to my articles. In the meantime, I’ll have them hosted on YouTube wth my video podcasts for now.

 

 

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