Only a few corporations control 90 percent of the mass media in America
Abby Martin goes over the 6 corporations (Since this episode was aired in
2013) that control nearly everything in the mainstream media, and discusses a few of the most famous cases of media censorship with
BTS producer,
Manuel Rapalo.
''
Heavy distortions and suppressions of information regarding current
Ukrainian events are appearing in
US media. You might wonder how so many different news sources could all completely avoid mentioning that the
US government is consciously supporting two radical far-right parties, Svoboda and
Right Sector, which are in control of key positions in the coup-installed new 'government' of the
Ukraine. You might also wonder why almost all the US mass media news sources could conceal -- with vague phrases like "the sequence of events is not clear' and similar techniques -- the role of these extremist organization in murdering dozens of unarmed civilians in the past few days in southeastern Ukraine. The explanation is surprisingly simple: There aren't numerous US mass media news sources at all; there are just five. Five giant corporations control 90 percent of US mass media. And direct links connect all five of these media conglomerates to the political establishment and the economic and political power-elites of the
United States.
These five conglomerates are
Time Warner,
Disney, Murdochs'
News Corporation,
Bertelsmann of
Germany, and Viacom (formerly
CBS). Their control spans most of the newspapers, magazines, books, radio and
TV stations, movie studios, and much of the web news content of the United States. These conglomerates are in large measure responsible for inculcating the social, political, economic, and moral values of both adults and children in the United States.
It was not always like this. Immediately after
World War II three out of four
US newspapers were independently owned. But the media-control numbers have been shrinking ever since then due to mergers, acquisitions, and other processes. By
1983, 50 corporations controlled 90 percent of US media. But today just five giant conglomerates control 90 percent of what most
Americans read, watch, and listen to.
It is notable and should be emphasized that all the five major media conglomerates are corporate members of the
Council on
Foreign relations. This organization is a US think-tank whose members have been instrumental in formulating US government policies resulting in sanctions, destabilization efforts, and outright military attacks on nations which have never attacked the US.
The Council's members' activities helped to promote the
Iraq war, the bombings of
Serbia and
Libya, and the recent overthrow of the elected government of the Ukraine. The promotion of these policies by the media conglomerates which belong to the Council has been key to preparing the
American public to accept these policies.
The media conglomerates' fellow members of the Council on Foreign relations include a large number of large corporations, powerful
CEO's, and present and former government officials. One prominent member is former
US National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, whose doctrine calling for US control of the
Eurasian landmass, which includes
Russia and
China, is one of the guiding elements in
US foreign policy.
It should also be noted that the conglomerates themselves are giant corporations. They are among the largest companies in the world. They contribute to both of
America's big parties, the
Republicans and
Democrats, while supporting their policies. US media companies have also received from the
Reagan,
Clinton, and
Bush administrations progressively greater media deregulation, which permitted ever greater media ownership concentration, culminating for the first time in allowing all the media in a community or city to be owned by one company.''
-
Eric Sommer for RT (May
14th 2014)
http://consciouslifenews.com/five-american-companies-control/1173428/
''
Big Media must be distinguished from the media in general, insofar as the former is utterly corrupted and the latter is sequestered into spheres of limited influence and significance.
Mass retail media:
# the nightly news
#
CNN
#
The NY Times
#
The Washington Post
# Newsweek
#
Time
and the like,
...are less free on anything of real significance than the media of many third world countries - or even communist China.''
-
Dr. Steven Greer (29
April 2004)
How five
American companies control what you think
http://rt.com/op-edge/158920-us-ukraine-media-control/