The Western Media
Introduction
Living in the West we are told that the news media (television, newspapers, radio) are free. It is certainly true that there are few government conspiracies to censor. Unlike in totalitarian countries, the media is not generally state run or controlled. However this is not the full story. Because the media is part of the global economy, there are certain properties that deny readers, viewers and listeners a balanced view of world events.
The are five reasons why a balanced view of world events is not generally received in the Western media:
1 Media Ownership
Most newspapers, television and radio stations are owned by large and powerful multi-national companies.
In the USA, NBC and CBS (two television companies) are owned by corporations involved in arms manufacture and nuclear power (General Electric and Westinghouse). Several oil companies (Exxon, Texaco and Mobil) have seats on the boards of these news organisations. Time-Warner and CNN merged in the late 1990s to form one of the largest news and media monopolies in the world. Rupert Murdoch is the largest owner of television stations in the USA. Originally an Australian citizen, his American citizenship was "fast-tracked" by the Reagan administration to allow him to own television stations in the country.
Stories that highlight problems with nuclear power or waste, stories about oil companies involved with governments that violate human rights and stories about conflicts armed by Western companies are unlikely to be given much coverage. Stories that help the interests of the media owners are given prominence.
One man, John Malone, owns 23% of the world's cable stations. His Discovery Channel commissions programs after "market approval" and avoids "controversial subjects". The phrase "dumbing down" has entered the language as television concentrates on gossip and celebrity stories rather than serious issues.
In Australia Rupert Murdoch (him again) owns 7 out of the 12 national daily newspapers and 7 out of 10 Sunday newspapers. In one city, Adelaide, Murdoch owns all the newspapers. This cannot be good for pluralism.
In 1975, one of Murdoch's newspapers, The Australian, ran a campaign that helped remove the country's democratically elected government by the UK appointed Governor-General.
In the UK, News International (a company mostly owned by Rupert Murdoch) owns several newspapers (including The Times and The Sun), Sky Television (a major European satellite operator), Star Television (covering Asia) and publishers like Harper Collins.
In 1998, Rupert Murdoch owned 34% of the daily newspapers and 37% of the Sunday newspapers in the UK. He often uses the large resources of his multinational companies to lower the price of his newspapers in an attempt to put rival newspapers out of business. Successive UK governments have allowed his empire to grow in return for his media's support.
53% of UK newspaper and magazine distribution is controlled by just two companies, WH Smith and John Menzies. Smaller magazines (like the political and satirical Private Eye) can have (and have had) their distribution curtailed at the whim of these companies.
Europe often has more pluralistic laws than the English speaking world. In France, there are laws prohibiting any single organisation from controlling newspapers with more than 30% of the combined national and regional readership. In addition, all publications have a legal right of distribution. In Germany, minority shareholders can veto editorial decisions. In Sweden small independent newspapers are supported and financed by law. European aversion to monopolies is one reason why Murdoch's media are consistently anti-Europe.
Rupert Murdoch has used his media ownership to influence what information is made available to the public in order to protect his business interests (especially in Malaysia and China):
Articles had been written in The Times exposing the British (UK) government offering aid to Malaysia in return for them buying arms from the UK. The Times' editor was sacked after being told by Murdoch "the public are bored with Malaysia".
Murdoch removed the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) World Service Television from the Star Television package of television channels broadcast in China. The Chinese government had complained about the BBC's coverage of human rights in China. Shortly afterwards Murdoch signed a deal with the government's mouthpiece newspaper, the Peoples' Daily. He produced a documentary on his Star TV eulogising the Chinese ruler, Deng Xiaoping who had been in charge when Chinese troops killed thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing's Tienanmen Square.
The last UK governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patten, was due to have a book published by the Murdoch owned Harper Collins. This book was critical of the Chinese government. Publication was stopped. Instead a biography of Deng Xiaoping (written by his daughter) was published.
The Sun and The Times newspapers are frequently publishing articles critical of the BBC (the UK's major television channels) and praising Sky Television (which he also owns). These newspapers are also very anti-Europe. Closer ties between the UK and Europe could affect the small amount of taxes that Murdoch's companies pay.
In 2004, the USA documentary film maker, Michael Moore, had problems with having his film distributed in the USA. The distributer was Miramax, owned by Disney. The latter did not want a controversial film criticising the USA president in an election year.
Cross-media ownership and the fact that a small number of people own so many of our means of obtaining information is a threat to a pluralistic society.
2 Advertising and Ratings
When the media depends on advertising, the advertisers can exert pressure. A large media conglomerate may be able to absorb the loss of advertisers but a smaller, alternative newspaper or radio station may be pushed out of business. Advertisers frequently use their influence to stop stories detrimental to their interests.
In a 1992 survey in the UK, 150 newspaper editors stated that 90% of their advertisers had interfered with stories; 70% of the advertisers had tried to stop stories. 40% of the editors had succumbed to pressure from advertisers and made the changes requested.
In the UK in 1990, new laws meant that TV news had to make a profit. This has led to a decline in serious news items and more emphasis on "human interest" stories and celebrity "news". Advertisers want viewers; ratings become more important than giving information; the news companies abandon investigative journalism to "give the public what it wants".
Deregulation has meant that requirements to produce in-depth public affairs programming were removed. On most Western TV channels, only 4% of prime time programming is about the majority of the world's population. Programs that cover "controversial" subjects are screened at late hours. For example, in September 2002, the UK commercial television channel, ITV, broadcast a program by journalist John Pilger about the effects of the occupation of Palestine on the population. It was shown at 11:05pm.
Most people fail to be exposed to programs covering subjects like Western companies using local slave labour in poorer countries, trade practices that keep developing countries poor, wars armed by Western companies, action by the West's secret services, and studies of Western backed dictatorships.
In the UK, one of the better current affairs programs on the BBC, Panorama, which for many years on Mondays at 9:00pm (after the news), was moved to Sunday at 10:30pm. Programs and news reports that have recently been dropped include sweatshops in China producing toys for the UK Christmas market, the Chinese occupation of Tibet, and many programs about the problems in Northern Ireland.
As the number of commerical radio stations increases, the output becomes more bland and more predictable.
I'm sick of being lied to
Originally Posted by Eugene Debs
Reply With Quote
. Hell, the "Liberal Biased" news doesn't even report on 
