Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Exxon Pressures Arkansas TV Stations To Ban Critical Ad Following Mayflower Tar Sands Spill

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

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Exxon Pressures Arkansas TV Stations To Ban Critical Ad Following Mayflower Tar Sands Spill

Click here to access article by Molly Haigh from The Price of Oil.

This illustrates how the constitutional concept of "free press" functions in a plutocracy.

Amidst reports of media intimidation at the site of the Mayflower, Arkansas tar sands oil spill, ExxonMobil has now taken to bullying local Little Rock television stations into canceling the airing of a satirical but cutting advertisement critical of their business practices.

Another example comes from the "Anglo" part of the Anglo-American Empire. It seems that there is strong ruling class opposition to the broadcast of a number one hit song in Britain as this piece via ABC News reports.