"In the deregulated market, profits are privatized and losses are socialized." -Greg Palast

Case Study: Propaganda efforts by the "right" during the 2000 Election was incredible! Journalism enhanced the Republicans because Bush's team continued to release reports to the press saying that they "had" this election and that they were sure of victory.

Greg Palast from Great Britain reported that Jeb Bush published a list of ex-fellons before the election in order to prevent this certain group of people from voting. This story was published during the recount time but it was never really brought to the mainstream media. It wasn't until after the recount that this story was confirmed. 90% of the people on the list were innocent and roughly 54% of them were Black. Palast broke this story and CBS called him up but ended up not covering this story. Why? CBS had called Jeb Bush's office and said that it didn't check out and decided to not go with the story. Again, we see the press picking and choosing the stories they report to specifically stick to a narrow frame of thinking.

The most powerful special interest group in D.C. is the media! Lobbyists are out everyday getting themselves noticed and heard with the millions they throw down. It is the same with the media. They are the ones who channel how a public should hear and react to certain news stories. The public interest is gone and it has been replaced by the will of others.

Inventing Stories

"For better or for worse, our company (The News Corporation Ltd.) is a reflection of my thinking, my character, my values." -Rupert Murdoch

The networks cover the basics -- the White House and the Capitol. That is the extent of federal government coverage. It is pretty shocking and pathetic. Watching network news is like watching a really poorly produced reality television show.

How did journalism get this way? To remove controversy, there is reliance on traditional sources. People who have political and business powers become the people who give out assignments to the journalists. Journalists are more controlled these days. It is much harder for them to report groundbreaking stories that forces change in the American landscape. Instead, journalists are now channeled topics to write or report on so that the elite will receive a certain type of coverage for their own alterior motives. As Americans, we are usually only told on the news what government or big corporations want us to know. It is a controlled environment!