We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Jeff Bezos and the Imperial Paper

Click here to access article by Keane Bhatt from Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR)

Following the purchase of the Washington Post by Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon Corp, Bhatt focuses on the role of the Washington Post to support the most secretive and imperial departments of the US government such as the CIA (with which Amazon has a contract for services), NSA, the Pentagon and all the imperial policies pursued by the government. But, hasn't the Washington Post along with other major media long worked in close collaboration with the CIA? (See this and this.)

He makes clear that the newspaper often goes against the views of its readers in support of imperial policies. This is hardly news to most politically aware people. It is old news. Way back in 1919 Upton Sinclair (Brass Check) exposed the role of newspapers and their rich owners in support of imperial and anti-union policies pursued by the government, their government.  

And, why only focus on the Washington Post? The latter along with the NY Times are the leading shapers of public opinion in support of ruling class interests. They lead in this endeavor and other mainstream media are expected to follow, and do follow to a lessor or greater extent. The myopic view as expressed in this article is typical of liberal outlets like FAIR in their critiques of ruling class policies and pursuits. 

Rich people like Bezos and corporations do not buy media to get rich--they are rich already. They want power, the power to influence people to serve their interests as a class which is probably the greatest power after a gun-to-the-head to get people to do your bidding. This ruling class has largely concentrated media in six corporations, and this will soon change to five with Comcast's intention of buying the Time-Warner media empire. This, of course, is true throughout the Empire.
This is precise why it is so urgent that we, the people, have our own media which can tell our stories for our benefit.