Caitlin nails it again... I would add, hopefully I didn't miss it, big advertisers also don't want the envelope pushed. I turned off MSM 6 years ago ... I'm happy and I haven't missed anything of substance.
MSM totally boycotted from 07.30 Friday 13th 2019 when I heard Corbyn had lost. Prior to that my TV was essentially dumped during the Miners Strike here in the UK. Couldn't stand the anti-miner propaganda especially from that tory pseudo comic, Kenny Everett. Much more valuable time has been thereby released for music making, etc.
It's getting so I won't read articles that quote from MSM even to criticize it. It's like second hand tobacco smoke. (How come I get this purple badge and you don't?)
Every time I come across 'Purple Hearts', my mind goes to the early 60s & a Bohemian Jazz Club & Arts Centre that opened a door for me for a glimpse into another world that was not about science. Never took the amphetamine-based purple heart [slimming] pills btw but the icon here sure looks like a pack of four!!
mind u...Murican propaganda cycles run in approx 2 decade lengths. The last one began 9/11, and died down from overuse (mind u...they play BOTH sides to keep the chords strumming!), we have now, another ~12 years more to go in the present neo fascist revival: white v black, big city v empty rural areas, build the wall but don't actually build it; prick and prod and poke your conscience, ALL FOR NOTHING: every conceivable noise to distract for a WW3 scenario being cooked up. In those 12 years, they HAVE TO work Iran in on the bombing list, and get a new "deal" with China..(pronounced "Gyne" as in gynecological).
I don't think it's advertisers as much any more. They NYTs is largely subscription based. It's audience capture, which unfortunately substack is subject to too.
If Caitlin came out with a few pieces on how the establishment actually isn't that bad, or how actually she's going to vote conservative now, how many subscribers would she lose?
If I've learned anything in my 66 years, it is that the elite schools turn out some of the most useless yet arrogant people in all humanity. "Prestige!" Pathetic is the better term. The worst part is how dangerous they truly are to all that is.
There's only one thing missing here, in all of this Chomsky-ist structural analysis of Consent Manufacturing - OPERATION MOCKINGBIRD.
A certain percentage of those 'working class reporters' were on the CIA's payroll, all along.
Professor Chomsky probably was, too - IMHO. He certainly stood up to defend and support John Deutsch at MIT. He certainly attacked Oliver Stone and the 9/11 Truth Movement for saying some pretty obvious things (at least 50% of which, Matt Taibbi made a name and a career for himself by emulating).
This essay is also available here - with a bunch of additional materials - but the format and font are harder on the eyes. I recommend this second version because of the additional materials.
It's like they say in the world of Improv: "Yes, AND...". These things are complimentary, and not mutually exclusive. Reuters and "NewsGuard" are as closely connected to social media 'fact checking' - as they are to the Board of Pfizer.
Agreed. The 'paper of record' press of 50, 70, 100 years ago may have had more working class reporters, but they were also total rags that printed lies and nonsense in the interest of the powerful. Another part of the story is that there used to exist thousands of small newspapers (often along political and ethnic neighborhood lines), many of which were quite radical, and collectively had a large circulation comparable to the major rags. There were some famous muckraker journalists, but they certainly weren't given space in the NYT. Muckraker Upton Sinclair, for instance, wrote for a socialist newspaper 'Appeal to Reason'. All these newspapers no longer exist. The 'alternative media' today has to make do with podcasts, YouTube channels, substack posts, or boutique magazines like Jacobin. Which are better than nothing, but as an organizational tool aren't quite the same as a newspaper with hundreds of thousands of subscribers.
Corporatism has a starring role here as both the media and politics have been privatized as part of the neoliberal agenda. As a result we have "paycheck" journalism and politics, where everybody drinks champagne, rather than beer.
Paul Craig Roberts refers to them as "prestitutes" which is very appropriate!
The very big problem for the West is that the elites are all bought and paid for. All wars are corporate wars for corporate profit.
What if we’re the bad guys here? Does the Pope relieve himself in the woods?
Better late than never, but how does an Ivy-league education translate into decades long denial and fantasy? And the death toll while the Ivy-leaguers were denying their little hearts out and clipping Grumman/Northrop share coupons ? In the millions. But don’t worry, opiate deaths courtesy of the uberevil Sacklers is catching up.
Only have to napalm a few thousand villages, do a few dozen coups where we give out kill lists that result in a couple million body count, support pretty much every right-wing dictator in the world, wage continuous war and proxy war, have a leader say on TV 'the deaths of 500,000 children was 'worth it''. And David Brooks starts to get it through his fuzzy dumb head that yeah, maybe we *are* the bad guys. But I get a sense from Caitlin's description of the article that Brooks is not thinking of these things...
Nope . If he had a conscience he would have spoken up long before now. He’s a weasel who senses the tide is turning. For the world that’s not a bad thing but don’t give credit here. It’s like beating your head against the wall and demanding kudos for stopping.
That's what I meant when I said he didn't have the stomach for redemption. I give him credit for having a conscience, but not for acting upon it. I think you missed that and misinterpreted my comment.
How Biden handled the Ukraine and subsequent support and agency of the media was a wake up call for me. I canceled Guardian, NYT, WAPO, Wall Street internet subscriptions. Exited BBC, NPR, and other anti-Constitutional propaganda. But on the whole I am depressingly pessimistic about the future of the American ppl. Stuff about checks and balances was all bullshit and foolery.
Also check out the data in that study - It reveals that journalists and editors have virtually no subject matter knowledge or expertise, based on field of study in college or graduate school. That means that they lack an ability to exercise real critical scrutiny or critical thinking and are very easily spun by sources - even if they were seeking "truth", which they are not. See:
They may have a top degree and live in a posh, elegant, gated community, but they're certainly not your average, living, breathing, thinking, functioning, respectful, considerate, dignified, balanced, thoughtful, objective human being.
I think the the interview that Caitlin is referring to was conducted g. The conversation went something like this:-
(Me) "Good morning, Mr Marr. I enjoyed your program this morning"
(A/M) Why thank you. (Me) I see your new book has been published. And that you had a book launch at 10 Downing Street. (A/M) Yes, that's true. (Me) I read that David Cameron (then UK prime minister) conducted the event and that he calls you 'Andy'? (A/M) Yes, that's correct, but Ed Milliband (then leader of Labour Opposition) calls me Andy as well. (Me) You do realise that some of us have concerns about the cosiness between journalists like yourself and those who wield power. (A/M) Well, we might socialise but that doesn't mean we agree with everything they say. (Me) Hmm. .
Yes, cloistered, ghettoized, bubble-dwelling. And after spewing bullshit unlimited for years, some finally think, well, perhaps our side/position is not completely above criticism. And you're supposed to think, very decent and balanced. But a million Iraqis are still dead, Libya is an open slave market, thousands of Yemenis are dead or disabled/mutilated, and the system responsible is breaking apart. And no one can predict what further evil will be decided upon as a cure-all with bobbing media heads in complete agreement. Or very close.
And just the other day I was watching a video clip of some one-percenter millionaire on CNN declaring just how great the economy is right now. Yet, we have stories in the US (been going on for over a decade) of hospital patient dumping. What kind of society has the US become?
Sabby Sabs just did a video segment on this same news report today. She's about as outraged as I was when I first viewed the story a few days ago. Stuff like this needs a higher profile - it's what Mainstream Media avoids like the plague - the underbelly of the morally bankrupt health care system in the US: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_y13WlQC7Q
And the democratic party (along with the Republican party) have done fuck about it.
I went to Harvard and at that time trust funders are a minority, maybe 20%. Very diverse student body. Future journalists were very much a minority. I never met one. There are no journalism classes.
The trust funders typically went into the family business. Everyone else mostly wanted to be a doctor. A few future lawyers. One guy was going to Wall Street. I hear that now that's much more common. The student body goes where the money is. Newspapers are downsizing. Why would a young person choose that?
At any rate corporate media has devolved into an orgy of propaganda. It's quite different from the newspapers of my youth. Chris Hedges writes that it's due to the death of classified ads. Newspapers get their money from advertisers these days, so they are in control. Propaganda and controversy sell, so to survive that's what media does. Ultimately it comes down to money. If dignity and investigation paid off, that's what they would do.
It's fascinating to watch the big machine destroy itself in search of profit. A ship so large that the wreck spans decades.
Caitlin nails it again... I would add, hopefully I didn't miss it, big advertisers also don't want the envelope pushed. I turned off MSM 6 years ago ... I'm happy and I haven't missed anything of substance.
I got rid of my television in 2011. Haven't missed it at all.
Ha, same here. Boycotted MSM since November 2017.
MSM totally boycotted from 07.30 Friday 13th 2019 when I heard Corbyn had lost. Prior to that my TV was essentially dumped during the Miners Strike here in the UK. Couldn't stand the anti-miner propaganda especially from that tory pseudo comic, Kenny Everett. Much more valuable time has been thereby released for music making, etc.
It's getting so I won't read articles that quote from MSM even to criticize it. It's like second hand tobacco smoke. (How come I get this purple badge and you don't?)
Purple badge? Paid subscriber! When I get more disposable income I'll buy a purple badge too! Caitlin's worth it.
The Purple Heart that shows that I care. See the four ventricles?
Every time I come across 'Purple Hearts', my mind goes to the early 60s & a Bohemian Jazz Club & Arts Centre that opened a door for me for a glimpse into another world that was not about science. Never took the amphetamine-based purple heart [slimming] pills btw but the icon here sure looks like a pack of four!!
I stopped paying attention to MSM for good around 2014. 2016 proved that decision to be a correct one.
mind u...Murican propaganda cycles run in approx 2 decade lengths. The last one began 9/11, and died down from overuse (mind u...they play BOTH sides to keep the chords strumming!), we have now, another ~12 years more to go in the present neo fascist revival: white v black, big city v empty rural areas, build the wall but don't actually build it; prick and prod and poke your conscience, ALL FOR NOTHING: every conceivable noise to distract for a WW3 scenario being cooked up. In those 12 years, they HAVE TO work Iran in on the bombing list, and get a new "deal" with China..(pronounced "Gyne" as in gynecological).
I think good Author was nesting on final clause or two for well > 1 wk, fkn Lyrical 😍
I don't think it's advertisers as much any more. They NYTs is largely subscription based. It's audience capture, which unfortunately substack is subject to too.
If Caitlin came out with a few pieces on how the establishment actually isn't that bad, or how actually she's going to vote conservative now, how many subscribers would she lose?
If I've learned anything in my 66 years, it is that the elite schools turn out some of the most useless yet arrogant people in all humanity. "Prestige!" Pathetic is the better term. The worst part is how dangerous they truly are to all that is.
And so self righteous!
Maybe you are right,and the question we must ask then,why are this people in power?
Jeffrey Epstein's logs are FULL of ivy league lizards....CHOCK FULL. So craven. Such poor quality people.
"Trustafarians"
so well explained, even the most brain washed , brain damaged or brain dead could digest it
The Geico caveman knew it all along.
I figured it out - so yeah.
😂
There's only one thing missing here, in all of this Chomsky-ist structural analysis of Consent Manufacturing - OPERATION MOCKINGBIRD.
A certain percentage of those 'working class reporters' were on the CIA's payroll, all along.
Professor Chomsky probably was, too - IMHO. He certainly stood up to defend and support John Deutsch at MIT. He certainly attacked Oliver Stone and the 9/11 Truth Movement for saying some pretty obvious things (at least 50% of which, Matt Taibbi made a name and a career for himself by emulating).
https://constantinereport.com/media-liberals-for-fascism-how-corporatecia-subsidized-progressive-journalistic-surrogates-mau-mau-the-communard-flak-catchers-baby/
http://whale.to/b/depraved_spies.html
This essay is also available here - with a bunch of additional materials - but the format and font are harder on the eyes. I recommend this second version because of the additional materials.
https://whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/POLITICS/MOCK/mockingbird.php
So many ex CIA work for the MSM and Big Tech as to render Operation Mockingbird unnecessary.
It's like they say in the world of Improv: "Yes, AND...". These things are complimentary, and not mutually exclusive. Reuters and "NewsGuard" are as closely connected to social media 'fact checking' - as they are to the Board of Pfizer.
Agreed. The 'paper of record' press of 50, 70, 100 years ago may have had more working class reporters, but they were also total rags that printed lies and nonsense in the interest of the powerful. Another part of the story is that there used to exist thousands of small newspapers (often along political and ethnic neighborhood lines), many of which were quite radical, and collectively had a large circulation comparable to the major rags. There were some famous muckraker journalists, but they certainly weren't given space in the NYT. Muckraker Upton Sinclair, for instance, wrote for a socialist newspaper 'Appeal to Reason'. All these newspapers no longer exist. The 'alternative media' today has to make do with podcasts, YouTube channels, substack posts, or boutique magazines like Jacobin. Which are better than nothing, but as an organizational tool aren't quite the same as a newspaper with hundreds of thousands of subscribers.
https://thegrayzone.com/2019/07/06/dsa-jacobin-iso-socialism-conference-us-funded-regime-change/
Jacobin, too, sadly - is NOT to be trusted.
I like Covert Action: https://covertactionmagazine.com/2021/09/01/new-evidence-implicates-cia-lapd-fbi-and-mafia-as-plotters-in-elaborate-hit-plan-to-prevent-rfk-from-ever-reaching-white-house/
https://covertactionmagazine.com/2022/04/22/the-synthetic-left-joins-the-corporate-right-in-getting-the-ukraine-war-wrong/
Evan Reif has been putting in some amazing work over there, it should be mentioned: https://covertactionmagazine.com/author/evanrief/
Exactly the are all actors on the stage of global monopoly capitalism
Corporatism has a starring role here as both the media and politics have been privatized as part of the neoliberal agenda. As a result we have "paycheck" journalism and politics, where everybody drinks champagne, rather than beer.
Paul Craig Roberts refers to them as "prestitutes" which is very appropriate!
The very big problem for the West is that the elites are all bought and paid for. All wars are corporate wars for corporate profit.
What if we’re the bad guys here? Does the Pope relieve himself in the woods?
Better late than never, but how does an Ivy-league education translate into decades long denial and fantasy? And the death toll while the Ivy-leaguers were denying their little hearts out and clipping Grumman/Northrop share coupons ? In the millions. But don’t worry, opiate deaths courtesy of the uberevil Sacklers is catching up.
Only have to napalm a few thousand villages, do a few dozen coups where we give out kill lists that result in a couple million body count, support pretty much every right-wing dictator in the world, wage continuous war and proxy war, have a leader say on TV 'the deaths of 500,000 children was 'worth it''. And David Brooks starts to get it through his fuzzy dumb head that yeah, maybe we *are* the bad guys. But I get a sense from Caitlin's description of the article that Brooks is not thinking of these things...
Brooks is seeking absolution. His conscience bothers him. But he has no stomach necessary for redemption.
Nope . If he had a conscience he would have spoken up long before now. He’s a weasel who senses the tide is turning. For the world that’s not a bad thing but don’t give credit here. It’s like beating your head against the wall and demanding kudos for stopping.
That's what I meant when I said he didn't have the stomach for redemption. I give him credit for having a conscience, but not for acting upon it. I think you missed that and misinterpreted my comment.
Ok, Bill.
When LA goes up in flames, and Miami is under 20 ft of water - maybe they'll figure it out. But until then ... it's Trump!
A perfect time to recommend Barbara Ehrenreich's "Fear of Falling"!
How Biden handled the Ukraine and subsequent support and agency of the media was a wake up call for me. I canceled Guardian, NYT, WAPO, Wall Street internet subscriptions. Exited BBC, NPR, and other anti-Constitutional propaganda. But on the whole I am depressingly pessimistic about the future of the American ppl. Stuff about checks and balances was all bullshit and foolery.
Also check out the data in that study - It reveals that journalists and editors have virtually no subject matter knowledge or expertise, based on field of study in college or graduate school. That means that they lack an ability to exercise real critical scrutiny or critical thinking and are very easily spun by sources - even if they were seeking "truth", which they are not. See:
https://www.journalofexpertise.org/articles/volume1_issue1/JoE_2018_1_1_Wai_Perina.html
They may have a top degree and live in a posh, elegant, gated community, but they're certainly not your average, living, breathing, thinking, functioning, respectful, considerate, dignified, balanced, thoughtful, objective human being.
Matt Taibbi has some great pieces on this subject.
I think the the interview that Caitlin is referring to was conducted g. The conversation went something like this:-
(Me) "Good morning, Mr Marr. I enjoyed your program this morning"
(A/M) Why thank you. (Me) I see your new book has been published. And that you had a book launch at 10 Downing Street. (A/M) Yes, that's true. (Me) I read that David Cameron (then UK prime minister) conducted the event and that he calls you 'Andy'? (A/M) Yes, that's correct, but Ed Milliband (then leader of Labour Opposition) calls me Andy as well. (Me) You do realise that some of us have concerns about the cosiness between journalists like yourself and those who wield power. (A/M) Well, we might socialise but that doesn't mean we agree with everything they say. (Me) Hmm. .
Marr by name, marred by nature.
I guess there are still some people in this forum who need to be explained this.
Yes, cloistered, ghettoized, bubble-dwelling. And after spewing bullshit unlimited for years, some finally think, well, perhaps our side/position is not completely above criticism. And you're supposed to think, very decent and balanced. But a million Iraqis are still dead, Libya is an open slave market, thousands of Yemenis are dead or disabled/mutilated, and the system responsible is breaking apart. And no one can predict what further evil will be decided upon as a cure-all with bobbing media heads in complete agreement. Or very close.
What fills me with a great deal of anger is when I see reports like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFJsFdgMkYE
And just the other day I was watching a video clip of some one-percenter millionaire on CNN declaring just how great the economy is right now. Yet, we have stories in the US (been going on for over a decade) of hospital patient dumping. What kind of society has the US become?
It isn't a society, or rather, arrangement, for human beings.
Sabby Sabs just did a video segment on this same news report today. She's about as outraged as I was when I first viewed the story a few days ago. Stuff like this needs a higher profile - it's what Mainstream Media avoids like the plague - the underbelly of the morally bankrupt health care system in the US: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_y13WlQC7Q
And the democratic party (along with the Republican party) have done fuck about it.
I went to Harvard and at that time trust funders are a minority, maybe 20%. Very diverse student body. Future journalists were very much a minority. I never met one. There are no journalism classes.
The trust funders typically went into the family business. Everyone else mostly wanted to be a doctor. A few future lawyers. One guy was going to Wall Street. I hear that now that's much more common. The student body goes where the money is. Newspapers are downsizing. Why would a young person choose that?
At any rate corporate media has devolved into an orgy of propaganda. It's quite different from the newspapers of my youth. Chris Hedges writes that it's due to the death of classified ads. Newspapers get their money from advertisers these days, so they are in control. Propaganda and controversy sell, so to survive that's what media does. Ultimately it comes down to money. If dignity and investigation paid off, that's what they would do.
It's fascinating to watch the big machine destroy itself in search of profit. A ship so large that the wreck spans decades.