If The Media Was Actually Still The Fourth Estate
Submitted by capforfun on Sun, 07/10/2016 - 7:05am
We would see someone do a news special special, maybe 60 minutes that would be a round table of 3-4 eminent non partisan legal scholars to discuss the Clinton emails and the FBI's reasoning to not refer charges. I think America would like to see a discussion curly on the legal facts and no political spin.
Of course you will never see this from the corporate media because that panel would likely conclude that she should be charged but further that there is a major cover up going on.
Comments
I think journalism is the Fourth Estate
But I completely agree with your point.
My husband and I watched a lot of the old William J. Buckley Firing Line episodes on Netflix, just out of historical interest. What fascinated us was how people with differing political perspectives were able to have knowlege based disagreements/discussions without rancor except perhaps for scoring debating points off of your opponant. The level of the discussion was so far beyond what the public is exposed to today where talking heads simply repeat some superficial talking point until the audience lapses into a coma or changes the channel, you will rarely if ever come away knowing more than you did at the start.
When news merged with entertainment and the public good and fair time imperatives were tossed down the drain, so began the Age of Idiocracy.
At the same time, I know good commentary is out there, but you have to look for it and give up any illusion that you will find it in mainstream or cable news programs. Amy Goodman and Democracy Now is worthwhile IMO. I'm going to have to follow my own advice and start watching you tube more.
What shows do people here recommend?
" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "
youtube news
Yes it is the 4th estate.
I think Amy and Democracy Now is the best, but I also like:
the real news
https://www.youtube.com/user/TheRealNews
telesur english
https://www.youtube.com/user/telesurenglish
RT
https://www.youtube.com/user/RussiaToday
Aljezera
https://www.youtube.com/user/AlJazeeraEnglish
The young turks also have some good commentaries
https://www.youtube.com/user/TheYoungTurks
Lee Camp has the best coverage of the election fraud
https://www.youtube.com/user/redactedtonight
Chris Hedges is insightful too
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Chris+hedges+on+contact
I also enjoy Jimmy Dore's humorous analysis
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Jimmy+Dore
There are some others as well, but these are my main go to video sites. MSM sure doesn't try to tell you what is happening!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
The media hasn't talked about real issues for ages
At least since the Fairness doctrine was removed in the 1980's.
Today the 4th estate is considered the press. Though apparently it wasn't always so:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Estate
FDR 9-23-33, "If we cannot do this one way, we will do it another way. But do it we will.
I like Frontline on PBS.
I think they could do an objective piece.
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
Since the Koch Bro's.
fund PBS, they should love doing that.
"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage
Well, then,
let's just give them that love.
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
Oops, yep 4th Estate :-)
Time to reinstitute the laws when govern how much of the media in any market can be controlled by one group.
When the media was bought up by large corporations, it
ceased being a check on governmental and other power. Same with the government, of course, no longer a check on corporate power because they need their campaign donations. I agree, support independent media.
I am having a fundraiser at TOP today. If those who still go there could hop over and drop a rec and a tip, it would be greatly appreciated! TYVM.
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/7/10/1546880/-Pets-Vets-and-the-Peo...
Please check out Pet Vet Help, consider joining us to help pets, and follow me @ElenaCarlena on Twitter! Thank you.
I would like to add, if I may
I would like to add, if I may, to your unfortunately painfully accurate commentary that when government was bought up by large corporations, Presidents such as Bill Clinton allowed the large corporations to buy up the media and now everything can be run from one handy pragmatic position.
For you, elenacarlena, I will don my HazMat suit and travel into the bowels of the sewer to rec your stuff. Unless we get banned for being disrespectful on other sites about Her Royal Coronation, of course.
Edited to add that I'm among those chronically broke, this time by the beginning of the month, lol, so can't donate to the purrball fund, but do send best wishes for improved health.
I'm lucky enough to live where I have 3 purrballs and a puppy as proxy pets, even though I've been petless myself since losing my last beloved dog and have always had pets, back when I could afford and properly care for them - there is nothing worse than an expensive ailment affecting a loved one and the concern that a lack of money might prevent him/her from having anything s/he needed. Do hope that everything starts looking up in your household!
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
Thank you, EN! Whenever mentioning OT, I will always provide
a direct link, so that anyone who wants to venture doesn't have to wade through the Clinton cheering section to get where they want to go.
My new router arrived yesterday and is now working, so yay for that! And someone is sending me flea treatments that they had extra. So now it's just down to paying off the vet, for which the fundraiser made a significant dent. We didn't raise everything we were asking, but we did make the Rec List for a while - shock, shock! - and raised a good portion. So yes, things are looking up! Thank you for the rec. Every one helps bring more eyes to the cause.
I will continue looking for a better paying job. I will also continue to support Bernie and people like him in hopes that wage raises will be in our futures. Proxy pets are good, but pets should be affordable for everyone!
As for the media, I didn't recall that Clinton authorized the corporatocracy. It figures. For a guy who couldn't get anything done for the people "because of distraction caused by the impeachment proceedings," he sure did manage to get plenty done for the plutocrats.
Please check out Pet Vet Help, consider joining us to help pets, and follow me @ElenaCarlena on Twitter! Thank you.
Well, with the Fourth Estate abandoning their responsibilities
that come with the privileges one gets as a journalist I guess it is time that they got supplanted by The Fifth Estate .
We already see it happening, so expect more attacks on Net Neutrality in the future.
TPTB will not be happy when they not only are no longer the only source of information that people have to base their decisions on and it's only gonna get worse as more and more of their viewership eschew traditional corporate controlled sources for a more open and honest source.
"I used to vote Republican & Democrat, I also used to shit my pants. Eventually I got smart enough to stop doing both things." -Me
Real journalism is dead.
The problem is that they've monetized, personalized, and polarized the delivery of the news to the point where it's more of a reality show than a public service. The profit motive has killed the ability for actual journalists to do good work. It's even affected them personally as they save big stories for books and publishing deals instead of putting out regular articles for the public good. The personalization of the news means that everyone gets to choose what they want to see, and while this is good in theory, it allows for individuals to only get their "brand" of the news, meaning that if they feel that certain facts are biased, they can ignore them entirely and live in their political bubble undisturbed. Additionally, the news media is extremely polarized, not only driven by internal competition to be "first," but also in their own editorial bias that slips past the op-eds. That results in people discrediting and attacking entire outlets simply because they do not echo their accepted narrative.
Further, the 24-hour news cycle allows important stories to quickly fade from public attention, because something new is always happening, and it paradoxically creates a vacuum within coverage, wherein human interest stories and editorials are highlighted simply because there is not enough "hard" news to fill 24 hours worth of news every day of the week. Broadcast journalism makes it even worse because very few viewers have the attention span to listen to extensive analysis, which is why segments are always full of talking points designed for those with ADD and networks insist on physical beauty and attractiveness as a necessary qualification for an anchor/analyst. It's all about sensationalism now. If it bleeds, it ledes.
The mainstream media is largely an echo chamber, transmitting the grand narrative approved by their corporate owners, who have their own agendas and are often in league with the very corrupt politicians that the news is supposed to be a "check" on. Even formerly decent investigative journalists like Bob Woodward have been assimilated by the Washington machine and turned into a pale imitation of his former self. In many respects, all of these factors have played into the lack of serious, critical coverage about Hillary's email scandal. Even for those that have come out, Democratic partisans will simply dismiss them as coming from biased news sources, untrustworthy outlets, or journalists with a grudge.
Hear! Hear!