by sandy82 » October 6th, 2005, 10:06 pm
Jerm, it's an excellent topic--but you knew I'd say that. :)
I like the way that you have divided the subject between the news media and the advertising. Each news media outlet used to have more power to manipulate because there were fewer of them. For a long time it was ABC, NBC, and CBS. There were three news magazines. Newspapers in small and medium-sized cities cut and pasted the wire services (still do). Only the large metropolitan newspapers had their own reporters in foreign capitals. The media output was limited. From what I've read, the media all said about the same thing. On the plus side, however, was the fact that each network had an independent news division. ABC and CBS were independent corporations. NBC was owned by RCA.
Now, news divisions are folded in with entertainment. ABC is owned by Walt Disney. CBS is owned by Viacom. NBC still has its original arrangement; RCA was bought out by GE. (I don't even mention the newer broadcast networks: Rupe's SkyImeanFox, UPN, WB, PAX.)
Do you think these corporate owners care about news? They care about profits. And with the cable news outlets there's a lot more competition than there was. We've got at least one propaganda network: Fox "News". A big honcho at Fox told his newsreaders that their stuff was too negative on Iraq and instructed them to emphasize troops' repairing schools and painting hospitals. So, while battles raged and IEDs exploded, Fox News showed eager enlistees doing repair work while happy Iraqis looked on.
On Iraq/Katrina, the news professionals in the various outlets are captives of the ratings and of corporate headquarters personnel who care about profits and golden parachutes. News? What's that? They switched from Iraq to Katrina because of ratings. Unfortunately, the ratings game means that they aim at the broadest common denominator--which may also be the lowest common denominator. Joe Blow understands hurricanes. He understands Scott Peterson and murders. He understands Fox News's favorite recent story: the co-ed who was killed in Aruba. None of those stories have implications for the future of the country, the prospects for the economy, the likelihood that the educational system is preparing anyone for foreseeable jobs. Joe Blow doesn't understand all that; and the ratings are everything. To my knowledge, no American media outlet has said why many of the urban poor will never live in New Orleans again: depreciation and building codes.
I bet somebody out there could tell us whether The Today Show and Good Morning America ever carried serious news. Or have they always been the fluff of Matt Lauer, the compulsory blonde, a screaming weather man, and National Enquirer-style interviews?
Thank God for PBS (the non-commercial Public Broadcasting System). Where I am, I'm lucky to get four PBS feeds..which include the BBC News, Deutsche Welle News in English, Japanese news in English, even Beijing news in English. (Beijing's propaganda is now almost believable--very skillfully done.)
The American news media are mediocre and sinking. The news on BBC World covers many American stories better than American networks do.
The advertising in American media is in an entirely different category. It's genuinely pernicious. Convincing people to buy things they don't need and can't afford. The average savings rate for the typical American household is down to -0.6 percent per year. Yep, the American savings rate is now a minus number. (You want to see the savings rate climb? The remedy is easy. Require that every actor in a commercial have dirty, greasy hair, acne, and crooked yellow teeth. A snotty nose, a drool, and an itch would be helpful. It's hard to sell unneeded stuff without sex.)
Did I mention that the Bushies are in the hip pocket of the big advertisers? Drug companies anyone? Jerm, I bet you remember when it was illegal to advertise prescription drugs on television. Doctors hate the advertising because patients come in and demand medicines they don't need. How about Lamasil? For toenail fungus. While the happy actor is wiggling his photogenic toes, the voice-over is rapidly saying--in a forgettable monotone--that Lamasil can cause liver damage, stroke, heart arhythmia and (for all I know) gangrene, beriberi, cancer of the tailbone, headaches, insomnia, baldness, dandruff, and rotten teeth. But that actor can really smile and wiggle those toes.
Jerm, you got me started! :wink:
But now we have a new story. Harriet Miers. The perfect pin-up girl for braille calendars. The personality that can't quit (because it never started). Her biggest qualification is that the Shubbery knows her well. Yikes! But I like them bangs--real purty. Above the waist, bubba! Harriet is a God-fearing born-again single lady lawyer. She don't do nooooooo bangs below the waist. And she's really Shirley Maclaine reincarnated as Mamie Eisenhower. We're gonna miss Hurricane Katrina. 8O