Re: MD Quality and Bias in Commercial Media

From: Mark Steven Heyman (markheyman@infoproconsulting.com)
Date: Sat Jan 29 2005 - 03:10:59 GMT

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    Hi Platt,

    I've switched this over to the Bias in Media thread. Seems more
    appropriate.

    msh asks seven very specific questions:
    How many of these channels broadcast full-spectrum discussion of
    whether or not profit-driven dissemination of information is the
    highest quality way of helping the public stay informed?

    How many of these channels broadcast full-spectrum discussion of
    whether or not profit-driven health care is the highest quality way
    of making basic health services available to everybody?

    Which of these channels show the real situation on the ground in
    Iraq, showing the utter destruction of Falluja, for example, and
    reporting the fact that the so-called insurgency is stronger than
    ever, that the hostility toward the American occupation is at an
    all- time high? Fox News and CNN are part of every cable and
    satellite package offered in the US. Why isn't al-Jazeera? As far
    as I know, the only way to get al-Jazeera is through one sat tv
    company, EchoStar. Why the discrepancy?

    Which of your 200 channels show the flag-draped coffins of Americans
    killed in Iraq, or even broadcast their burial services. Which
    channels are reporting on what happens to American's injured in
    Iraq, after they return? Why do you suppose such information is
    considered non-newsworthy?

    and this is platt's response:
    According to MSH, America would have been better served if during
    World War II U.S. radio had broadcast what the Germans were
    listening to from Goebbels, or the Japanese from Tojo, and after the
    war, what the Russians were learning from Pravda. Why do I doubt such
    information would have made the world better than it is today? Could
    it be because the Nazis and the Japs and the Communists might still
    be in power, or have it least stayed in power longer to slaughter
    millions more?

    msh said:
    I ask seven precise questions, and I'm told that during WWII I would
    have been a Fascist sympathizer. How's that for an argument?

    platt:
    You made a specific proposal which I answered. The rest was simply a
    leftist propaganda couched in question form, like "If pigs could
    fly...? .

    msh says:
    I'm afraid I don't understand the connection. My questions were
    designed to reveal an important point: having available a large
    number of channels is not the same as having available a wide
    spectrum of opinion. Do you agree with this?

    msh continued:
    But that aside, the implication seems to be that the people who have
    power over information services know best about what should and
    should not be heard. That's a scary thought, whether it comes from
    Goebbels or Murdoch.

    platt:
    And your proposal to correct this supposed crime is? (Note the ad
    hominem association of Murdoch with Nazi.)

    msh says:
    You're right. I should have said, "That's a scary thought, whether
    it comes from Goebbels, or Pravda, or Murdoch, or NBC (General
    Electric: donated 1.1 million to GW Bush for his 2000 election
    campaign), or CBS (Westinghouse), or ABC (Disney: donated 640
    thousand to GW's 2000 campaign), or Time-Warner (CNN: donated 1.6
    million to GW's 2000 campaign).

    Mark Steven Heyman (msh)
    --
    InfoPro Consulting - The Professional Information Processors
    Custom Software Solutions for Windows, PDAs, and the Web Since 1983
    Web Site: http://www.infoproconsulting.com

    "The shadows that a swinging lamp will throw,
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