John Oliver of Jon Stewart’s “Daily Show” explains that CNN eliminated its entire investigative documentary unit and that the only place investigative reporters any longer have a job is as consultants for dramas about newscasts.
For more on this sad reality, see the American Journalism Review.
It is interesting how the free press has been hijacked not by a totalitarian government but by corporate interests and public indifference. Americans with their economic and military power have for years enjoyed the privilege of not having to worry about the rest of the world. This is not true of most of the rest of the world. I remember traveling in rural Yemen in the 70s and early 80s and being struck by how aware barely educated peasants were about US policy and international affairs. I thought perhaps 9/ll might cause Americans to move away from their insoucient indifference. but all that has happened is a lot of self indulgent whining about how we were victimized.
I regret to admit that I was one of CNN’s primary viewers during the election coverage and fell for “Stay with us folks, our experts and pundits say its a REAL CLOSE one and look at all the fancy graphics and our explanations of how a candidate’s eyebrows can decide the elections…”. I knew better not to fall for useless infotainment but still did. Shame on me.
> Kronoberger : It is interesting how the free press has been hijacked not by a totalitarian government but by corporate interests
we need to broaden our definition of “government”. Government is that which has power to constrain our freedom of action or thought.
In total, corporate power is a more significant form of government than “elected” government. They govern directly by various forms of direct punishments and constraints, or indirectly by perverted influence upon “elected” government. Corporations are essentially mafia forms of government.