News Limited Inconvenient to Truth?

I just found this article by chance. It evoked the idea that all media should be nationalised as it is in the national interest to have unbiased media reporting that serves society rather than special interests. Moreover, media with particular agendas are able to influence politicians by writing stories favourable to their candidates and critical of the candidates not favoured, this can have real impacts on social opinion if the media organisation has multiple media sources (press, tv, radio) of influence. This has implications for democracy as opinions are influential.

**I am adding to this as my inner feeling is that government has its interests. In truth it is freedom of speech that includes government, business and the community equally. Because at the end of the day you can’t shut down anyone if you believe in freedom. On balance the community always has common sense, I know this as a former market analyst. So yes you would have those perceived as extreme right and left having a say and all are free to do that. You will know the spectrum, the key is to not favour any voice but let the public decide. In a true democracy this would just naturally rise to the top if there is no interference or money pumped into any particular view. So maybe as I think this through the nationalisation could just mean that money for media is allocated fairly to all voices so that we can get a good idea of the prevailing viewpoints without fear or favour.  Of course this is never easy.  Market research was a good way when there were landlines, now people have i-phones it is much harder to ascertain the real voice.  I sit and shake my head sometimes, but I guess we all see differently and diversity is the way of it.  Things will change as they change.

The media influence was raised in Al Gore’s movie An Inconvenient Truth. Al Gore reported that there were 928 peer reviewed articles from the scientific community, they examined these reviews to find there was a consensus regarding the climate crisis. No scientists were in disagreement with global warming. When they peer reviewed 636 articles in the media, 53% raised doubts about global warming. Therefore, it showed a media bias in respect of raising doubts. The media are owned by industry and provide advertising revenue.

However, we are seeing real change as there is a shift in society away from mainstream media. Moreover, as this crisis deepens, there will be outrage directed at media that are clearly biased. The days of influence are indeed over. Change is on the way.

The core to democracy is to provide both sides in order for the public to make up their own mind. I recall my mother ringing up a journalist in Australia and telling him off for reporting a biased story about the election here. My mother is a grandmother but she is firey. The journalist spoke to her and was impressed by her, the reporting changed, he showed both sides. So if you feel the media is biased, write in and tell them and post on the internet. Democracy happens when each individual speaks up. You can create the news or be created by it.

In the future we will come to understand that those who oppose or are critical are the greatest teachers, they often show you the side of yourself you don’t want to look at. Many who are in high positions are surrounded by those who agree with them, I know I’ve worked with some of them. They like this as they can do as they please. However, those around them do them a disservice as they never know the truth about themselves and their relationships are often not authentic as people want something. However, perhaps the inconvenient truth here is that humans will always have their own opinions and the key is to not control people but to respect freedom of speech, it creates a richer and more interesting world and we grow through the friction, it makes us think deeper and expand our visions. For those who want the world to think as they do brings up images of A Brave New World or George Orwell’s 1984. As we can see by the changes taking place in the Middle East, that scenario is unlikely to happen.

Below is an article on Al Gore. Apparently Al Gore had a TV service on air in Italy which was taken off by News Corporation. It raises clear questions of media ownership and intentional bias in the media to influence public opinion.

The news story below is courtesy of the Guardian in the UK.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/may/19/al-gore-rupert-mudoch-news-corp

Al Gore hits out at Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp

Former US vice-president says media giant is forcing his liberal Current TV service off air in Italy for hiring Keith Olbermann

* guardian.co.uk, Thursday 19 May 2011 15.04 BST
Former US vice-president Al Gore has hit out at Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, accusing it of “an abuse of power” by forcing his liberal TV station off air in Italy because it did not fit in with the media giant’s “ideological agenda”.

In an interview with the Guardian, Gore said the Current TV news and documentary channel was told unexpectedly three weeks ago that it could no longer be carried by Sky Italia because of its decision to hire a US left-leaning commentator often critical of Murdoch’s company.

He added that the decision reflected how News Corporation operated worldwide. “News Corporation is an international conglomerate with an ideological agenda. It seeks political power in every nation they operate. They wield that power to shut down voices that disagree with the agenda of Rupert Murdoch,” Gore said.

The decision, he added, was “a complete shock” but Current TV executives were told “off the record that the decision was taken on News Corp instructions from New York”. The primary reason, he said, was “because Current is launching Keith Olbermann next month”.

Olbermann – who styles himself as a leftwing alternative to the rightwing shock jock journalism of Fox News – worked at rival cable news network MSNBC until he left abruptly in January. This came after he was briefly suspended by MSNBC in November for making donations to three Democratic candidates in the midterm elections without seeking prior approval, in breach of company rules. “Olbermann has often been critical of News Corporation,” Gore added.

Current TV broadcasts around the world, including the UK, but the channel has been more successful in Italy, where it claims that “one in three” Sky Italia viewers watch at some point during the week. However, Gore said that decision to not renew the channel’s existing distribution deal also had implications in the UK – where News Corp’s takeover of BSkyB is under review on the grounds of “media plurality”.

“I know that News Corp is close to reaching an agreement to buy BSkyB. Now I may not be a party to that debate, but if anybody believes that [News Corp] will remain hands off if there are diverse opinions that do not agree with its ideological agenda then they are fools. This is proof positive of their abuse of power,” Gore said.

However, Current TV’s existing agreement with BSkyB does not expire until next year, so there is no immediate threat to its UK position on the satellite service in this country.

Gore also said he understood there has been “a rapprochement” in the struggle between News Corp and Silvio Berlusconi’s media empire in Italy. Current TV has run several documentaries critical of the Italian premier and his government. “Sky Italia is in the midst of negotiations to enter the digital terrestrial television market and the need Berlusconi’s support,” he said.

Gore added that he had a “pleasant personal relationship” with Murdoch dating back to the former vice-president’s time in the White House, and said that he wasn’t sure exactly on whose authority the decision was made to order Current TV off the air in Italy. He said that he didn’t want “to make this ad hominem” but added it was clear that Murdoch and News Corp had too much power.

Programming aired by Current TV in Italy has included Citizen Berlusconi, a documentary first produced by the US PBS network, and about the consequences of handing a media mogul formal political power.

“Anglo-American political theory highlights the problem. Too much power in the hands of one person is dangerous, no matter the ideology,” Gore said. “The conversation of democracy, which used to happen in newspapers or in other public places now happens on the television screen. But this is a public space in which gatekeepers charge rents.”

He cited the example of the 2003 Iraq war, in which News Corp had acted as “an aggressive cheerleader” for the US-led invasion, to the point where “three quarters of the American public got the impression that Saddam Hussein was responsible for the attacks of 2001”. This journalism, Gore said, “has consequences” and he argued that “our democracy is much better when there are diverse viewpoints” to inform decision-making.

News Corp insiders said that Gore’s criticisms were misplaced and that Current TV had been dropped after the two sides couldn’t reach a commercial agreement.

A News Corp spokesman said: “The non-renewal of Current TV’s carriage agreement with Sky Italia is purely commercial. Current TV asked Sky Italia for double the carriage fee when prime-time viewing had fallen by 40% in the past year. Sky Italia’s offer was in line with the market and reflected the performance of the channel. It had nothing to do with politics.”

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