In the midst of our Unit: Political Parties, Campaigning, Elections, the Media and Linkage organizations; we have a signficant statement in the way of a $70 million lawsuit filed by Dan Rather against his former employer, CBS and its parent company media conglomerate, Viacom, Inc.We will teach that the media has three traditional roles: Gatekeeper, Scorekeeper and Watchdog. We have also said that the media in the U.S. has played the role an adversarial press since Watergate and the Vietnam War.
If the media plays those roles, then they "are supposed to be a pain in the ass,'' as the late David Halberstam said. But Rather's suit says, well, these days the media is linked rather close to the government.
He claims he was used as a "scapegoat" (not the racehorse, or watchdog animals journalists are used to playing) and CBS intentionally botched the aftermath of a discredited story about President Bush's military service to curry favor with the White House. He was removed from his "CBS Evening News" post in March 2005.
"Somebody, sometime has got to take a stand and say democracy cannot survive, much less thrive with the level of big corporate and big government interference and intimidation in news," he said on CNN's "Larry King Live."
"They sacrificed support for independent journalism for corporate financial gain, and in so doing, I think they undermined a lot at CBS News," he told King.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hUVO6cyEPAt-CaWVsvqXELJ0_DCw
An article in your packet suggests similar linkages. Read the packet article on the corporate connections to media outlets in this country. Then link your thoughts on whether or not we still have a free press in the U.S. Or is it rather to closely linked with corporate interests and the government itself.
1 comment:
We no longer have a free mass press in America. By that I mean that the mass produced newspapers and telecasts from mainstream news like NBC, ABC, CNN, Fox, newspapers, and magazines are all run by large corporations with the overriding goal of collecting a profit by providing juicy stories of infotainment. At the same time, the growth of Internet blogging has given everyday Americans the power to express their political views unhindered to share with those around them. Likewise, satirical programs like The Daily Show and The Colbert Report provide comical critiques on politics, "calling out" political bloopers that politicians will make like Obama referring to the leader of Canada as the President, rather than the Prime Minister. These forms also do a great job of linking the youth of America (and the world) to have interest in politics. Other shows like Family Guy and Simpsons have occasional political references that will question the validity of politicians' actions. One instance is when Peter from Family Guy convinced Congress to go to war with Iraq by saying that everyone that didn't want to go to war in Iraq is gay. This resulted in several of the Congressmen to add in rushed comments saying "I want to go to war in Iraq" and then one of the men to stand up and say quite loudly "I was the first to want to go to war in Iraq. Political incorrectness aside, this illustrates the show's writer's feelings that America entering the war was unjustified and childish.
-dell
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