How corporate control of the media creates a conservative bias in our media

It seems rather obvious that there would be a corporate bias from a corporate controlled media, but the liberal media bias lie has been repeated so often that some have started to believe it. Some think the media is objective or at least strives to be objective, but this is simply not the case. There’s a corporate bias.

First of all, it is important to understand that corporations have political agendas. For instance GE-which owns NBC and MSNBC-has a position on tax policies because they don’t like to pay taxes. They have a position on pollution because they are a major polluter.

They have a position on trade because they like to be able to build things overseas. And they have a position on the wars and America’s foreign policy because they make huge profits selling weapons and jets used by our military and militaries that we aid. GE is so political that they even have their employees write and call Congress in support of funding the engines they make for our military.

GE doesn’t just have a lot of influence because it has its employees contacting members of Congress, it has PACs and it donates to candidates etc. GE has the power to shape the news because it owns NBC and MSNBC. These aren’t the most profitable parts of their business, but the propaganda machine is crucial to their profits.

Now you might be saying to yourself, ‘Wait a minute, this has to be nonsense because Keith Olberman, Rachel Maddow, and Ed Shultz are on MSNBC and they are definitely on the liberal side of the aisle. And that is true to a point, but you should consider this.

As Glenn Greenwald points out in this excellent article,

Last May, CNN's Jessica Yellin said that when she was at MSNBC, "the press corps was under enormous pressure from corporate executives, frankly, to make sure that this [the Iraq War] was a war that was presented in a way that was consistent with the patriotic fever in the nation"; "the higher the president's approval ratings, the more pressure I had from news executives ... to put on positive stories about the president"; and "they would turn down stories that were more critical and try to put on pieces that were more positive." Katie Couric said that when she was at NBC, "there was a lot of undercurrent of pressure not to rock the boat for a variety of reasons, where it was corporate reasons or other considerations" not to be too critical of the Bush administration.

“MSNBC's rising star, Ashleigh Banfield, was demoted and then fired after she criticized news media organizations generally, and Fox News specifically, for distorting their war coverage to appear more pro-government.”

And, of course, when MSNBC canceled Phil Donahue's show in the run-up to the Iraq war despite its being that network's highest-rated program, a corporate memo surfaced indicating that the company had fears of being associated with an anti-war and anti-government message.”

In Bill Moyers excellent documentary Buying the War he documents how all of the major “news” outlets in the corporate media beat the drums for war. This is an example of how “liberal” MSNBC is.

BILL MOYERS: You had Scott Ritter, former weapons inspector. Who was saying that if we invade, it will be a historic blunder.

PHIL DONOHUE: You didn't have him alone. He had to be there with someone else who supported the war. In other words, you couldn't have Scott Ritter alone. You could have Richard Perle alone.

BILL MOYERS: You could have the conservative.

PHIL DONOHUE: You could have the supporters of the President alone. And they would say why this war is important. You couldn't have a dissenter alone. Our producers were instructed to feature two conservatives for every liberal.

BILL MOYERS: You're kidding.

PHIL DONOHUE: No this is absolutely true.

BILL MOYERS: Instructed from above?

PHIL DONOHUE: Yes. I was counted as two liberals.

Greenwald points out that,

A leaked memo from NBC executives at the time of his firing made clear that Donahue was fired for ideological reasons, not due to ratings:

The study went on to claim that Donahue presented a "difficult public face for NBC in a time of war . . . . He seems to delight in presenting guests who are anti-war, anti-Bush and skeptical of the administration's motives." The report went on to outline a possible nightmare scenario where the show becomes "a home for the liberal antiwar agenda at the same time that our competitors are waving the flag at every opportunity."

NBC executives then proceeded to hire Dick Armey as an MSNBC commentator and give a show to Michael Savage. Michael Savage.

Not only have they fired reporters for being critical of the justifications given for war. MSNBC has hired Michael Savage, Dick Armey, Tucker Carlson and Joe Scarborough.

It is widely believed that GE's CEO Jack Welch insisted that they call the election for the Bush even though the exit polling showed Gore-Lieberman won. This helped set the stage for the stolen election in 2000.

The Center for Public Integrity reports that,

Throughout 2001, California Congressman Henry Waxman accused Welch of intervening in NBC's 2000 election night coverage and pressuring the network to prematurely declare Bush the winner. Welch admitted he attended an election night party at NBC's headquarters and that he cheered for Bush but denied interfering with coverage decisions. When the major network and cable news division heads were called before Congress in January 2001 to account for the election night debacle, the president of NBC News offered Waxman access to internal videotapes made of Welch on election night, only to withdraw the offer just days later.

Greenwald also exposed how NBC censored and silenced Keith Olberman and their use of Richard Wolffe is sleazy. Olberman no longer criticizes Bill O’Reilly or Fox because Fox had begun attacking GE and they decided to come to an agreement with Fox. Olberman no longer counts down the days since the former commander in chief had declared mission accomplished. They were happy to cover Obama’s 'combat mission accomplished' propaganda campaign uncritically.

Greenwald also describes how the Associated Press has refused to use the White House’s propaganda terms for the war in Iraq, but that NBC and MSNBC have agreed to use them. NBC and MSNBC were given exclusive coverage of the Obama’s administrations campaign to fool their liberal viewers into thinking that US combat troops have left Iraq.

The AP knows that thousands of US troops are still engaged in combat missions, but Rachel Maddow, Keith Olberman and the “journalists”/stenographers at NBC are pushing government lies. Though they are more honest than many TV commentators but they are paid to push lies in support of the corporate-government agenda too.

While I used the example of NBC and MSNBC the same can be said for all of the corporate owned media outlets. I once interviewed Phil Donohue and he encouraged people to watch cable news-including Fox-because it is important to know what people are being told by these media outlets. He also encourages people to look to independent media outlets like Democracy Now! that aren’t corporate controlled.

It is important to look at many different news sources and to use critical thinking skills to evaluate them. As I.F. Stone once said, “All governments lie”. It is important to question those in power and to pay attention to what is going on in our community and around the world. As George Seldes once said, “Nothing can stop the march of an informed people”.