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Originally
Published in the Venice Gondolier-Sun, Apr. 3, 2011 edition
Reclaim the Media by Kindra Muntz
What ever happened to facts in news?
Why is so much misinformation and hate on the public
airwaves?
How does this affect democracy?
Is there anything we can do?
What an amazing transformation has occurred in world
communications.
We now have the Internet, e-mail, Facebook, Twitter
and even WikiLeaks to share information never seen before by the average
person. Revolutions are starting worldwide via smartphone. People who have
lived in darkness are seeing a great light.
When dictators in Egypt,
Iran
and other countries want to suppress the people, they pull the plug on the
Internet and revert to broadcasting the same propaganda that has kept people in
line for years.
What about communications in our own country?
Increasingly, large, moneyed interests are controlling the messages we hear.
As Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a speech to the
Sierra Club Sept. 10, 2005, “Today, six giant multinational corporations now
control all 14,000 radio stations in our country, almost all 6,000 TV stations,
80 percent of our newspapers, all of our billboards and now most of the
Internet information services. So you have six guys who dictate what Americans
have as information and what we see as news. The news departments have become
corporate profit centers. They no longer have any obligation to benefit the
public interest; their only obligation is to their shareholders, and they
fulfill that obligation by increasing viewership.”
It’s like Pac-Man — the big fish gobbling up all the
little fish.
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 paved the way for
unlimited ownership of radio stations by large corporations. Clear Channel
Communications Inc. bought radio stations across the country and now operates
more than 850 radio stations nationwide and reaches more than 154 million
people, or 75 percent of the 18-and-older U.S. population.
The Katz Media Group, one of its subsidiaries,
is the largest media representation firm in the United States, representing more
than 2,600 radio stations and more than 400 television stations.
According to Sue Wilson, Emmy-award winning
director of the media-reform documentary “Broadcast Blues” and editor of
SueWilsonReports.com
, “The 1996 Telecommunications Act is the reason why Rush Limbaugh and
company dominate the public airwaves and the political discussion. It is the
reason why Bill Clinton was impeached, why John Kerry was swiftboated, why
George Bush was elected and why the Tea Parties have flourished. It is the
reason why we as a nation are so polarized, why we shout at each other rather
than debate with each other, and why we as a culture are growing accepting of
hate radio which incites violence.”
What ever happened to facts in news? The courts have decided
that news does not have to be true.
Why is so much misinformation and hate on our public
airwaves? Broadcasters think they can say whatever they want, to sway the
public.
How does this affect democracy? The corporate drumbeat
continues year after year, on radio, TV, Internet and even robo-calls right
into your home. The drumbeat increases just before elections, to sway voters to
elect leaders who will do their corporate bidding.
Corporations exist to increase their profits, whether that
includes outsourcing American jobs, squeezing out small businesses or
jeopardizing the safety and health of our people and our planet, as in the BP
oil disaster.
Is there anything we can do? You bet. We can demand more
voices on TV and radio, not fewer, so that broadcasters on our public airwaves
represent all the public, not just a few.
We can stand up for NPR and PBS, so their voices are not
shut out.
We can start holding our local radio stations accountable,
so they don’t abuse the licenses they hold.
We can start connecting the dots and watch the bottom of TV
ads to see who is paying for them. Is it Americans for Prosperity? That’s a PAC
funded by billionaire oil magnates Charles and David Koch, who oppose all
government regulation because they wouldn’t be able to get away with continuing
the 300 oil spills they have caused over the past 10 years if we had the
regulations we need to protect us.
Did you, too, get a robo-call from Americans for Prosperity
last week? I did. They are trying to reach people in every way possible.
Remember, they are working for the billionaires’ prosperity, not yours.
What else can we do? Come to a free screening of “Broadcast
Blues” Monday, April 4, at 7 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist
Church, 1971 Pinebrook Road, Venice, meet filmmaker Sue Wilson on her
statewide 2011 Florida Media Reform Tour and learn other action steps you can
take.
It’s time that we the people take the media back.
Kindra Muntz of Venice
is the tour coordinator for the 2011 Florida Media Reform Tour, March 25-April
5.
