Thread: A serious conflict of interest.

Originally Posted by TexasBob

And I am not one of them. It is BECAUSE of the influence the media has that it should not be a function of government.

I fully agree with this. I also fear that it may be too late.
Clear Channel has over 1000 radio stations throughout the US. That doesn't include print media or television.

If the conglomerate has any kind of special interest... such as, the CEO or someone on the board owns or has interest in something like... lets just say Eastern Airlines... are we to believe that these 1000 outlets are going to give unbiased reports on issues regarding Eastern?

Unwritten rules apply, but lead editors are not going to bite the hands that feed them... they would not run a story about shearing bolts or other faulty equipment that might hurt an interest of one of their top superiors. Thats just self-preservation.
And we know that publicly elected officials have private interests.

Here is an article about how Michael Powell (Gen. Colin Powell's son and appointed head of the FCC till 2005) worked out an unwritten deal with Clear Channel that benefitted both parties at the expense of the American public's access to independent, unbiased sources of news.

As long as that sort of corruption continues to happen, Americans will continue to sink further and further into a quagmire of ignorance and misinformation, the likes of which has 99% of American men shaving with overpriced plastic garbage razors. I realize that razors have little to do with government, but its a good example of why media is not to be trusted. Do you think any major news source would ever do an article on how great it is to shave with a DE or a straight razor?
Not as long as the threat of losing Gillette's advertising revenue looms over that prospect. But I digress.

The last line of defense for an informed nation is independent research.

In other words, we're screwed.

Uhm, why don't they just fold? If people aren't willing to pay money for the product they deliver I don't see why after the government owns them they'll all of a sudden have a huge influence. If their influence changes it will be because people like the new way the government runs them.

As far as whether the government should be giving them your and my money, well that's what the governments seem to have been doing for quite some time. And the vote for president doesn't do anything. The people who give away the money are the ones in the legislature. They tend to keep their jobs for way more than 4 or 8 years, so that tells me americans who vote actually like the way things are being done. Or like them enough not to bother looking for something else.