Christmas Comes Early for Rupert Murdoch
By bluegal Monday Dec 17, 2007 8:01pm...as the FCC puts a big bow on consolidated media ownership. In spite of widespread public opposition. In opposition to basic human decency and common sense.
Free Press: FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is ignoring the public will and defying the U.S. Senate. His decision to gut longstanding ownership rules shows once again how the largest media companies — with their campaign contributions and high-powered lobbyists — are corrupting the policymaking process at the expense of local news coverage and independent voices.
“Martin’s FCC relied on slanted research and a rigged process to reach today’s preordained outcome — local media wrapped in a bow for Tribune, News Corp., Gannett and all the rest. Read more...
One has to wonder how much outrage Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, and Neil Cavuto will be allowed to express over this obvious capitulation to their boss big media ownership. After all, we all know what happens when any "little guy" stands up to the suits upstairs...
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first
If the media is so liberal, as conservatives would have us believe, why do they do everything and anything to make it more powerful?
Just asking.
Doh! Delay!
i guess i just quit reading a lot of papers thank goodness for blogs
Murd is probably going to buy up a huge slew of stations and papers asap, and claim that its a done deal. Man, this sucks.
Uh,about America's "market place of ideas"? It was a "quaint" notion.
Diz-gusting.
Can we impeach the FCC?
This Martin guy is so bought and paid for it is sad, disgusting and sickening. This guy had no interest in listening to anyone. Hopefully this guy suffers for the rest of his soulless life.
Journalism, for the most part has been dead for a long time. They can consolidate crap but all they come up with is crap consolidated. I gave up my local paper years ago when they began to run Cal Thomas editorials. I never never watch local news. I don't care about a fire in East Bunglefuck or a police chase in Armpit Acres.
I read The Nation, Harper's, The Atlantic, The Progressive and other not so well known publications. I tune in to C&L, Kos and other megablogs (thanks for all the hard work) and I read the foreign press and generally keep up with what's happnin".
I buy lots of books from small, locally owned bookshops.
One question. Will this consolidation put any of my news sources in jeopardy?
Do Something!
http://action.freepress.net/campaign/sbmopenletter
Take Action.
The federal government is completely corrupted and broken. Time for state and local governments to take over and pass laws to protect the citizens of their states and communities.
My first job as the new President would be to ask Congress to hire a Special Prosecutor to investigate this pansy-ass weasel. I would then repeal this. Afterwards, upon conviction, he would be in Leavenworth, making new friends. I was at the Seattle hearings. I left before mid-night, but they continued with impassioned public testimony until after 1AM. The whole time, this little creep just glared at everyone. As it turns out, He had made up his mind before any of the public testimony began (not just Seattle). Bill Moyers actually ran a story on this last Friday. Bill has been an outspoken critic of how the fourth-estate has served the public over the past decade. In case some of you missed the story, I am attaching a link for you. Like most of Moyers work, this is very well done.
Sooner or later, what was given to Murdoch can and will be taken away when we get a government of representatives that truly represent the people, and not these GD corporations.
Can I assume that Kevin Martin is another idiot son of a wealthy asshole?
MacDaKnife @ 12:
I had not watched the video to this story prior to my post. Much of the Moyers story is in the video. Sorry about that.
MacDaKnife @ 12:
You guys did good in Seattle, I heard some very intelligent voices sound their opposition to this theft of the public interest.
Republicans are the greatest threat to a free Democracy this country has ever faced.
Corporations rule this nation.
Cat Atomic @ 14:
Somewhere tonight in many places in the world in a hospital is a good and honest person who had the bad luck to become ill with a terminal illness that will take their life...and then there is the corrupt and soulless Mr. Martin who still gets to walk the earth another day.
There is no god.
Now you know why the Corporate Media favors the Republican Party. They do their bidding without question. We've had it backwards, it's not the Republicans who control the media, its the media that controls the Republicans.
TruthTeller @ 18:
I think Mr. Martin lost his battle to cancer several years ago. The idiot is a walking tumor.
mullah cimoc say aemriki not having him free press. for save ameriki nation usa people must to make new federal communication law:
1. each tv station and each the radio station must be own 100% by person live within physical area serve by tv station. this call the local ownership.
2. no single person to owning more than 1% of any one tv station stock certificate. this make the diverse ownership.
3. abolish him networks, abccbsnbcfox. then to letting local own station form own networks with power from bottom up (flow from shareholder to board of director to ceo), not him top down like now in usa.
4. this keep the free press and stop the rupert murdoch type man keep all ameriki so stupid if buy him corporation which to own so many station and newspaper and radio and keep ameriki the stupid people.
after follow mullah cimoc method benjamin frankling to be the proud.
for true info: stop1984now@yahoo.com
There's an archetypal charachter that reoccurs in dystopian literature that I've noticed over the years. The description of the physical apperance of the charachter isn't as obvious as what the charachter does and says but is still very important.
(I've always believed that you sell the book by the cover despite the old cliche, and thusly how you present yourself is how you sell yourself and what you claim to be about)
The charachter is either the aging old man, the short-man or the fledgeling. It's in Kafka, 1984, Fahrenheit 451, Brave New World... Hell, It's in Brazil, truman Show, Running Man and V for Vendetta.
He's the guy that sells you out. He's the guy who is friendly and non-chalant, looks harmless but guts you.
I'm bringing this up because the major common theme among these men is the imagery of the little roundish glasses... Kinda like the ones that Kevin is wearing here...
Honestly, what were we expecting?
If you take the NYSE/NASD Market Capitalizations of the parent companies of CBS/NBC-MSNBC-CNBC/ABC/CNN/Fox, to include Microsoft, GE, Walt Disney, Viacom, and a few other stragglers, it comes out to just over....
$1 Trillion Dollars
Or just under 10% of the annual GDP of The United States.
With that kind of wherewithal, of course they're going to be able throw their considerable weight around, and pretty much get whatever it is that they want.
The only effective strategy I can see in dealing with it is to not take it very seriously.
I mean, how can we, when on the one hand there are all these stories about the Sub-Prime Mortgage crisis, and immediately after that when they cut to commercial we get hit with a blanket of ads from the very same companies that helped create this mess in the first place, Ditech, and more notably, this one from Countrywide that's been running non-stop ever since the mortgage melt-down began.
I mean WTF??!?!
Surreal doesn't even begin to cover it.
And how is it that I'm the only one that's seeing this?
If Goebbels, Hitler, and Stalin were alive today, and had access to this kind of propaganda machinery, they wouldn't just blush, they'd wet their pants with unbridled glee.
That being said, I'm looking forward to the Murdoch trainwrecking the Wall Street Journal, time the Op-Ed crazies over there got a dose of their own medicine
~Nyc
Germany gave us Hitler, we gave the world Bush, and Australia gave the world Murdoch. We will trade you all three Bush's if you just take Murdoch back. And if you buy now, we will also throw in Dick Cheney, normally a $.25 option, free. But wait, that's not all. Buy now, and you can also have your pick of any 15 Bush appointees and cabinet members.
But Sirius cannot buy XM. Hmmmm. I wonder who owns most of terrestrial radio.
ruperts hopeing to recieve a diamond studded douchbag for hanuka!
MacDaKnife @ 24:
I'm sure they are saying the same thing about John Howard.
Oh wait, no, I dont think they would trade him for Bush, they just got smart and elected their version of Al Gore whilst we suffer with the Chimpster....
MacDaKnife @ 12:
Who pays this Martin's salary?! The people of the U.S. of A.?? If so, fire this fucktard!! NOW!
Lollimom @ 13:
and murdoch, the old bastard, is gonna die pretty soon... it's just a matter of time. He can't live forever, nor can he cram it up his arse and take it with him. Personally, I'd like to see that though... the ultimate reality show. Isn't C. Montgomery Burns a take-off of Murdoch?! I thought so!!
I'm tired of this neo-gilded age. The robber barons are running wild on their Chicago School economics speed
When did Eddie Haskell get to be FCC Chariman? What is he ... seventeen?
I am astounded about the inexperience, ineptitude and corruption that seems to be everywhere in the Bush White House.
and what will the shitheads in congress and the senate do?!!!
MacDaKnife @ 24:
FIRE SALE!!!
i remember when anti-trust laws were sort of enforced.
old media takes one step further into the grave. Its just too bad it's taking us with it.
the mainstream media has had americans on the mushroom diet for over 25 years, so this isn't going to change anything except limit the number of media players.
Well, it's not like the MSM hasn't been bought and paid for a long time ago. This is just the last nail in the coffin, so to speak. A few years from now, we'll have Rupert Murdoch doing the state of the union address, what with the no bid contracts coming to a government near you. Or, Bush will just cut out the middle man and rename Fox to State Sponsored Bullshit Network, aka SSBN.
I am surprise with all the dirty tricks and illegal war that this doesn't get bigger coverage. We are talking about the fourth estate of the branch of govt. We lose this! we lose the govt!
I have seen the Oregonian lies outright and no retraction on important issues. National the voice of the people and the protest for peace has been squash and silence. I would consider this an assault on the class war of America. Are we not living in some type of "Demolition Man" movie fantasy? I used to think "Judge Dredd" as a comical story, but it's looking more like reality by the hour. BTW both movie star Stallone.
I heard that one of the European country do not have commercial on TV broadcast. I can almost understand a backlash of it happening in this country. We have gone so far overboard in capitalism, that I thought I never resent capitalism as I do now. Only that it is really not a free market if all your doing is trying to keep other country from advancing while taking your own Country down the hole with you. I have a bad feeling after Christmas that we are in for a very rough ride.
chlorocardium @ 5:
Can you say divestiture?
Who gave Kevin Martin such power? Not to sound like Larry Craig, but he looks a very bad, naughty school boy.
CoIntelPro @ 32:
um... about what...???
Another Bush administration abomination to be overturned by a future government.
You see this is the kind of shit, these people play us for fools on. How the hell is it possible for these ass holes to think we are in tune with them, when they allow this little, jack leg, Jr flip, installed in the office of FCC, and worse yet provided the chairmanship, to pull this kind of shit on the American people who are now supposed to be forced by this fat greedy,seedy ass hole, Rupert Murdock, George Bush and the rest of this gang of freaks, control our media.
Can you just imagine what the 2008 election is going to be about?. We are going to get one of these ass hole republicans and we will get one with no questions asked. All of our media will be filled with even more shit then we are already getting.
What the hell is wrong with Democrats, they can't block this shit.
Senator Kerry did not blast this bastard enough.
That was hilarious...
Republicans are disgusting fat greedy totalitarian scumbags! I am sure that Adolf Hitler would love to see his influence there. I really hope that Ron Paul
will get the GOP nomination. He remembers and understands what America was about before the Reagan revolution started to glorify greed and corruption. Since Reagan, the republicans have absolutely destroyed their own party, the US government, and everything else in sight. We need Ron Paul or John Edwards to reverse this egregious trend.
We shall see if Congress has the balls to do anything about this travesty.
I hate to say it, but I'm not holding my breath.
It's time for a national petition to Congress demanding that this be overturned and the FCC investigated for its prostitution to big media and its corruption. If I were Rupert Murdoch, I wouldn't celbrate or spend any money yet, because the tide is going to be turned presently. Not only is this going to be overturned, but there is going to bhave to be anti-trust actions resulting in divestiture. A monopoly/cartel now exists that is working against the interests of the American people, to such ends that legitimate journalism is all but dead in broadcast and print media. things are going to have to be rolled back to the times of the fairness doctrine andadditional anti-propaganda laws that withstand constoitutional scrutiny are going to have to be enacted. Central control of the media is an essential ingedient of totalitarian rule.
Such a thing is intolerable to a free society.
As someone who teaches media studies at a midwestern college, I care about this stuff and is always surprised how much students don't know about these processes and its effect on their media habits and access to information.
I don't want Murdoch, Gannett, et al, destroying 'local media,' but seriously as some others have pointed out: what is so good about local media already (I am in Wyoming now for a break and notice how the Jackson Hole News syndicates the op-eds of Falafel Bill and Flat Earth Friedman along with endless AP and Reuters copy.)
Two questions:
1. The mundane: How old is Martin?
2. More serious: What's his next job? I have a suspicion when this is over, he'll join Newscorp...
It might be time to introduce Kevin Martin to the greatest sport in the world: hunting. Only difference? He's the prey.
Is it wishful thinking for the Ghost of Christmas Future to vivisect Murdoch with its bare hands?
(and I mean 'vivisect' in the cutting way...)
These senate committees and public hearings were missing two questions:
1. A full disclosure of the source of ALL Martin's income, and
2. If he has been offered any jobs following his government "service" and where?
The root of all evil, my friends...
Nobody listens to the main stream media anyway. None of it is believable. Most intelligent people get their news on the net. The Republicans are a dead party (like the Whigs) and so is the BS they are putting out. Their days are long gone and Murdoch is a joke.
Wow, Rupert Murdoch had more hair and was a lot funnier (and nicer -- he didn't kill Bobcat with his bare hands and devour his liver) back in the day... I loved his work in Lost in Translation... ;)
Pardon my ignorance, but does anyone know the bio on little mr. martin? This stinky little twinkie doen't look old enough to shave, let alone sit there in front of the Senate like he's the boss. Where the hell did he come from and who bought him? I'm in agreement with paranoia - it's getting darker by the day.
Kevin Martin is a shill bastard!
Well, you can google: kevin martin fcc
A few interesting results but there is (of course) a wikipedia page on him already though it is basically the same as his bio on the FCC site.
Basically it goes like this:
Harvard,
internship,
lobbying law firm,
a "legal advisor" to FCC chair,
political hack for Bush during the 2000
electionvoter disenfranchisement in Florida,rewarded with sweet Bush cronie government job, FCC commissioner.
I'm sure he's very proud. If Uncle Sam (and lil' Kevin) had let those angry black people in Florida vote, gosh, who knows how things would have turned out?
Whoops forgot to mention, his wife has been a personal aide to Dick Cheney for quite a while, and works in the White House.
Like I said, I'm sure they are both very proud of what they are helping to do to the country.
THEY DON'T NEED THE CARROT, THEY NEED THE STICK
THEY HAVE THE BRIBES IN THEIR POCKET COMPELLING THEM, WHAT THEY NEED ARE THE DIRE CONSEQUENCES OF DISMISSING THE PUBLIC WILL. MAKE IT HAPPEN AND LET KEVIN MARTIN AND THE GOP KNOW.
[Don't post in all bold and ALL CAPS-Sitemonitor]
chlorocardium @ 5:
the people can beat him at his own game don't watch or read anything he's associated with. more truth comes from the blogs anyway and the non mainstream media.
the public "doesn't matter." we the people, "don't matter." Nothing matters. It's all sold.
Privatization is about transferring our democracy. It's about transferring what was public to the private sector. It is about the end of democracy. Murdoch owns a big chunk of all of us.
I think some of you miss the big picture here; this isn't so much about newspapers and TV stations, as they are very much already propaganda machines for the state.
What I think this is REALLY about is setting up the consolidation of our real sources of news - independent publications and the internet. There is a huge battle already about net-neutrality, and it's going to get bigger. The day will come when all internet access (in the US at least) is controlled. ISP's will not allow access to some addresses, domains, etc.
This is what the right-wing really wants.
more at my blog...
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