CrossTalk: Media failures
Traditionally, the role of media has been to inform society and keep an eye on the powers that be. Today media follows a very different model – for the most part the mainstream merely echoes the opinions of the elite.
Is it any wonder audiences are looking for alternative media sources?
CrossTalking with Patrick Henningsen, Brian Becker and David Swanson.
Excerpts from the discussion:
Patrick Henningsen: We have a huge problem with ownership of the Media in the United States. Seven major corporations are in control of all US mainstream media. On the boards of those corporations you have people who share board positions with CBS, Westinghouse, New York Times, Carlyle Group, Boeing, etc. You have people sitting on the board of major Industrial Military companies and also the Media companies… CNN’s Wolf Blitzer is one of the great war promoters in history in my opinion.
Patrick Henningsen: Looking at the recent controversy about the SONY Hack, one thing  you have to quickly underline here is, Michael Lynton Chief Executive Officer of SONY,  sits on the Board of the Rand Corporation. The narrative of the SONY HACK was agreed between Washington and SONY and they just went with that narrative.
Patrick Henningsen: ( At the State department  daily Press briefings, Matt Lee  (Matthew Lee) from AP disagrees but it never gets reported by AP?– Peter Lavelle) No, it will be great if AP  did print some of the more challenging points that Matt Lee throws at Jen Psaki and Marie Harf , but the reality is… besides Matt Lee everybody else is half asleep.  It’s a bit of stage play there.
Brian Becker: The reporters are fully aware, they are engaged in daily self-censorship because, they know their careers would end immediately if they asked tough questions, their media  outlets  would be denied access to  important Government figures who they rely on to get their anonymous news source quotes.  The American Media is a propaganda machine for US government policy.  The reporters know it, they know they are part of a system of propaganda.
David Swanson: Hypocrisy is never acknowledged, but is just about always the norm. We have selected international outrage… The hypocrisy is not acknowledged because we are not talking about reporting as  jotting down what those in power want said, so there is not thought process and there is not investigation and there is not follow through in mainstream corporate articles in the US. It is letting us know what the propaganda is and what we are suppose to think and who we are suppose to hate.
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