3 of 4

Write now Article Tools

There isn't much difference between government and corporate controlled media; government controls media to sell us their agenda and corporations control media to sell us their stuff; together they work against the best interests of the majority to secure the power and wealth of the minority.

On the FCC website, under FCC & The Freedom of Speech it says, "According to an FCC opinion on the subject, "the public interest is best served by permitting free expression of views." This principle ensures that the most diverse and opposing opinions will be expressed, even though some may be highly offensive."

Nowhere has the lack of "free expression of views" in the service of the public interest been more apparent than during the 2008 presidential campaign. In the corporate controlled democratic and republican debates candidates like Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul were frozen out of the national conversation all together (unless you have access to the internet). These candidates barely garnered a mention in the mainstream press. They received honorable mention sound bites, whenever they stood up for themselves; or someone did a review of their internet content; or when more independent news sources, like the Pacifica News Network, gave them equal time as they did on January 16 with Dennis Kucinich. Even though Pacifica's Democracy Now! attempted to "break the sound barrier" giving Kucinich an opportunity to answer the Las Vegas Democratic Debate questions, he announced on January 25 that he was dropping out of the race, citing his overall lack of access to public air time as a major contributing factor.

The narrowing of the debate didn't happen just with who was included (even money wasn't enough as we saw with Ron Paul), but also with what they discussed. The tightly controlled network of moderators, sponsors and handlers are like a pack of Australian Shepards, leading the candidates and the audience (that would be us, fellow patriots) around like a herd of sheep. When the media is captured by single-minded, exclusive individuals, groups, organizations or governments, it tips the balance in their favor. We need to reassert our ownership and control of these public commons and their governing bodies. As much as we live in a high-tech world, not everyone has access to the internet. With news programming on television, radio and in the print media being further deregulated, we'll actually be set to see more restriction in public content and access in these areas, leaving those without internet access far behind in their ability to make intelligent, informed choices and decisions; widening and deepening the divide between the haves and have nots.

We all need to be reminded that the health and well being of all of our public commons; government, media, justice, the environment, is our collective responsibility. If we give sole responsibility to government or corporations to choose programming content and access, in any of these spheres, we give up the diversity of expression integral to preserving democracy, justice and freedom.

Learn more about this author, Jeannine Anderson.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about The difference between government-controlled media and corporate-controlled media?
We want to hear your view. Write now!