Wonder why in "the world's oldest democracy", Americans receive such awful "news" coverage?
Could it be due to the fact that corporate media in this country represents the vast majority of what Americans consume via TV, radio, publishing and newspapers -- and that corporate media are owned by a half dozen conglomerates?
And because of this corporate strangle-hold on public airwaves, the electorate and society-at-large are woefully uninformed and misinformed.
Democracy does not meaning the freedom to choose which TV channel to watch -- particularly if most of them are owned by the same corporations. Democracy is not solely about "freedom to . . .", nor is it about freedom of consumption. Democracy must also incorporate certain "freedoms from". Freedom from media hegemony, for instance, directly relates to the quality and practicality of our First Amendment rights. The former prevents the latter.
How can Americans truly have freedom of expression in this all-consuming media age when there is less and less local ownership of our TV and radio stations and newspapers and the population of the owners of these outlets in no way resembles demography of the United States?
Simply put, there can be no true democracy without media justice.
So, as we build a media justice movement that can impact Congress and the administration of whoever wins office on November 4, click here to check out the good work of our friends at Brave New Films (since we're not going to see good, consistent reporting on this by the mainstream news media any time soon).
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