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Preface: Liberals shouldn’t ignore the media’s censoring of Ron Paul’s popularity in straw polls because he’s “on the right”. Many progressive candidates have been shut out of political races by the big corporate media.
Corporate Media Admit They Censor Ron Paul CNN and Politico admit that the mainstream media is in the business of picking candidates: The big media simply delete Ron Paul from their polls, even though Paul scored very highly in the Ames Iowa straw poll – and virtually every poll taken recently. Indeed, CNN noted in May that Paul had the best chance of any Republican of beating Obama. “Not Electable” Is Code for “Challenges the Powers-That-Be” The pundits claim they are only censoring candidates who are “not electable”. But just as “not politically feasible” is code for “the powers-that-be don’t want it”, “not electable” simply means that the candidate would champion the interests of the little guy, and challenge the powers-that-be: the large defense contractors, the giant banks, big pharma or the mega-energy producers. As Kara Miller notes, the media won’t cover Ron Paul: because he doesn’t fit the media narrative. He’s anti-war and pro-small government …. Heavily influenced by each other, media outlets have sidelined Paul and embraced Bachmann ….Corporate Media Always Serves the Rich and Powerful, And Acts As A Booster for War In fact, the corporate media have long been presstitutes for the rich and powerful, and knee-jerk in supporters of all wars. They have always shut out candidates from either the left or right who challenge America’s imperial wars, America’s imbalanced policy towards Israel, the perpetual bailouts of the giant banks, Federal Reserve policy, or the inherent right of big corporations to do get all of the benefits of corporate personhood, without any of the responsibilities of being a person. The corporate media is owned by a handful of giant defense contractors. As I’ve previously noted: The government has allowed tremendous consolidation in ownership of the airwaves during the past decade. Dan Rather has slammed media consolidation: Likening media consolidation to that of the banking industry, Rather claimed that “roughly 80 percent” of the media is controlled by no more than six, and possibly as few as four, corporations.This is documented by the following must-see charts prepared by: And check out this list of interlocking directorates of big media companies from Fairness and Accuracy in Media, and this resource from the Columbia Journalism Review to research a particular company. This image gives a sense of the decline in diversity in media ownership over the last couple of decades: ![]() These handful of giant corporations wield enormous power. Just think Rupert Murdoch. The last thing they want is a candidate who will shake things up. The people’s wishes? They are wholly irrelevant to these media behemoths. Indeed, these big companies have a vested interest in picking candidates who are good at acting like they care about the little guy, but who actually couldn’t care less about the average American, and have no problem picking his pocket at the first opportunity. http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2011/08...Big+Picture%29 |
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Max Mosley: 'News International has blackmailed MPs and others. Leveson must hear the truth'
April 28, 2012 independent.co.uk He fought Murdoch – and won – over the false 'Nazi sex party' story. Now he tells Martin Hickman he's bankrolling another battle Max Mosley, the motor racing multi-millionaire, is bankrolling a plan to expose potential blackmail and intimidation against politicians by Rupert Murdoch's newspaper group. Mr Mosley said in an interview with The Independent that he was funding legal assistance for MPs to reveal their experiences of the country's largest newspaper group – in an attempt to demonstrate its secret power in British politics. In explosive evidence this week, the Leveson Inquiry revealed the existence of secret contacts between the office of the Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, and a lobbyist at News International's parent company, News Corp, aimed at furthering its controversial takeover of the broadcaster BSkyB. After the release of the 161 pages of emails, Mr Hunt's special adviser, Adam Smith resigned, but Mr Hunt is still clinging to his post. Mr Mosley – who won £60,000 damages from the News of the World in 2008 over false allegations he had taken part in a "Nazi" orgy – believes at least 10 MPs may have important evidence about the behaviour of News International towards politicians. He said: "Organisations like Hacked Off are trying to make sure that everything that should be put in front of Leveson will be – and that's particularly important where there have been a large number of cases where News International have set out to intimidate, even blackmail, members of Parliament and other people in positions of authority. "So as far as it's possible to do so, those facts have to be brought to Leveson and I'm trying to help in a modest way. I am making legal advice available." MPs fearful of disclosing embarrassing evidence could give their evidence anonymously, the 72-year-old said, adding that intermediaries were contacting current and ex-MPs on his behalf to assess whether they wished to come forward. For years, News International has been suspected of exerting a powerful influence behind the scenes in politics by exploiting the power and electoral endorsements of its newspapers: The Sun, The Times, The Sunday Times and the now-closed News of the World. Very few MPs have so far publicly claimed that they have been targeted, though it is known that the News of the World hacked the phones of several Cabinet ministers, including John Prescott (while he was Deputy Prime Minister), David Blunkett and Mr Hunt's forerunner, Tessa Jowell. The Labour MP Tom Watson – who was tailed by a NOTW private detective in 2009 while he was investigating rampant law-breaking at NI's headquarters in Wapping – has said attempts were made by the company to call him off. Chris Bryant, a Labour front-bencher who is also a columnist for The Independent, revealed in a Commons debate last year that an associate of Rupert Murdoch had warned him that campaigning on hacking would "not be forgotten." Mr Mosley said that he knew of two other cases where News International had brought undue influence to bear on MPs. News International, which has 40 per cent of the national newspaper circulation in the UK, has always denied it meddles in politics. At the Leveson Inquiry this week, Rupert Murdoch, News Corp's chairman and the chief executive, surprised many observers when he said: "I have never asked a prime minister for anything." The octagenarian billionaire also rejected evidence from former editors that he interfered in the content of The Times and The Sunday Times (though he said he set the political stance of The Sun) – or that his newspapers peddled his commercial interests. In 2010, two years after winning his record privacy payout, Mr Mosley began to investigate phone hacking with the help of a secret source, Mr X, who had information about the files kept by the NOTW 's private detective, Glenn Mulcaire – who was jailed in 2007 for hacking the voicemails of royal aides. In late 2010, Mr Mosley began bankrolling civil cases being brought by phone-hacking victims against News International, and he also funded a judicial review against Scotland Yard's handling of the case. The trained barrister and motor racing executive partly blames NI for the death of his son, Alexander, in 2009 from cocaine intoxication. Speaking of his exposure by the NOTW for taking part in a sado-masochistic session a year earlier, Mr Mosley said: "Was it the last straw? It could well have been. "He was brilliantly clever – much cleverer than me. He had a Phd in maths and went into economics. But he suffered from depression and a large number of doctors could not sort it out – but illegal drugs worked. "I think in the end he had got on top of it [drug addiction] but he found the whole business unbearable – and I can understand that. Sons may not get on with their fathers, but they tend to respect them and if a father appears in some significantly undignified position that can be devastating." Mr Mosley, who is a former president of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, said: "They [the Murdochs] simply don't care as long as they can sell a few newspapers." He believes the Murdochs and their newspapers have suborned Parliament. "If I'd been a senior politician, they would never have published that story," he said. "They would have come to me with some of the pictures and said: 'You know, we've been given this story, but, you know, don't worry Max, we're not going to publish it' – but leaving, of course, hanging in the air what would happen if you did anything to annoy them." He believes this is what happened to several politicians. "That's exactly what I think has gone on and I believe they have done this to a number of people, some of them on the record. Tom [Watson] is on the record and there is a suggestion that they've done it to senior members of the police force. If it's true, it needs to brought out into the open with as many examples as possible so that one can see this has gone on," he said. "I really believe that they ran their business rather like the East German government, or the Stasi, except that it wasn't the government it was the Murdoch organisation," he added. "That sinister way of the Stasi (secret police) – that they would let you know things about you that you rather were not made public – I think it's exactly the same technique. I think that if we knew everything we might be quite surprised how – and for what reason – people were being kept under control." |
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These are some very good arguments to never believe the news media and to never trust a politician they want you to trust. The MSM is the status quo. Whatever or whoever they ignore or villify is good for you. Everything they have ever told you about the world that you cannot see for yourself is a lie. The same goes for their employer--the government. Ditto for Hollywood movies. You can get half way to freedom by just turning off the TV.
Hatha |
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