"There is no such a thing in America as an independent press, unless it is out in country towns. You are all slaves. You know it, and I know it. There is not one of you who dares to express an honest opinion. If you expressed it, you would know beforehand that it would never appear in print. I am paid $150 for keeping honest opinions out of the paper I am connected with. Others of you are paid similar salaries for doing similar things. If I should allow honest opinions to be printed in one issue of my paper, I would be like Othello before twenty-four hours: my occupation would be gone. The man who would be so foolish as to write honest opinions would be out on the street hunting for another job. The business of a New York journalist is to distort the truth, to lie outright, to pervert, to villify, to fawn at the feet of Mammon, and to sell his country and his race for his daily bread, or for what is about the same — his salary. You know this, and I know it; and what foolery to be toasting an "Independent Press"! We are the tools and vassals of rich men behind the scenes. We are jumping-jacks. They pull the string and we dance. Our time, our talents, our lives, our possibilities, are all the property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes."
Came to say this. It isnt now. It has been as such for at least the entirety of the industrial revolution, if not always. Any look at CIA and FBI operations alone will show most of media has been bought and controlled by them for decades. Atrocity propaganda from WWI and WWII were used to 'convince' people to go to war for their masters. Dead babies on bayonets, etc. Theres too many lies upon lies for decades to say its only happening 'now'.
It is supposed to be a waste of time at worst, and outrageous to you at worst. The outcome is your emotional exhaustion, your attention, or your demoralization. No part of media is intended to inform you, to think that it is, is almost quaint. These are demoralization campaigns, we have mid 20th century Soviet media. See is that way, read books about history, and live your life accordingly.
Democracy is rule by those who can most influence the masses. This includes the media, news, entertainment, education, and similar positions. Once those roles have been centralized, the politicians get better returns by satisfying those owners instead of the public.
The rotating circus of politicians also means that you cannot hold elected officials directly accountable. By the time the public learns somebody made a massive mistake, they can be out of politics for many years. This leads to massive unaccountability to the general population and only accountability to the centralized money holders.
It always has been....
"There is no such a thing in America as an independent press, unless it is out in country towns. You are all slaves. You know it, and I know it. There is not one of you who dares to express an honest opinion. If you expressed it, you would know beforehand that it would never appear in print. I am paid $150 for keeping honest opinions out of the paper I am connected with. Others of you are paid similar salaries for doing similar things. If I should allow honest opinions to be printed in one issue of my paper, I would be like Othello before twenty-four hours: my occupation would be gone. The man who would be so foolish as to write honest opinions would be out on the street hunting for another job. The business of a New York journalist is to distort the truth, to lie outright, to pervert, to villify, to fawn at the feet of Mammon, and to sell his country and his race for his daily bread, or for what is about the same — his salary. You know this, and I know it; and what foolery to be toasting an "Independent Press"! We are the tools and vassals of rich men behind the scenes. We are jumping-jacks. They pull the string and we dance. Our time, our talents, our lives, our possibilities, are all the property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes."
-John Swinton at a 1883 press dinner
Came to say this. It isnt now. It has been as such for at least the entirety of the industrial revolution, if not always. Any look at CIA and FBI operations alone will show most of media has been bought and controlled by them for decades. Atrocity propaganda from WWI and WWII were used to 'convince' people to go to war for their masters. Dead babies on bayonets, etc. Theres too many lies upon lies for decades to say its only happening 'now'.
It is supposed to be a waste of time at worst, and outrageous to you at worst. The outcome is your emotional exhaustion, your attention, or your demoralization. No part of media is intended to inform you, to think that it is, is almost quaint. These are demoralization campaigns, we have mid 20th century Soviet media. See is that way, read books about history, and live your life accordingly.
Democracy is rule by those who can most influence the masses. This includes the media, news, entertainment, education, and similar positions. Once those roles have been centralized, the politicians get better returns by satisfying those owners instead of the public.
The rotating circus of politicians also means that you cannot hold elected officials directly accountable. By the time the public learns somebody made a massive mistake, they can be out of politics for many years. This leads to massive unaccountability to the general population and only accountability to the centralized money holders.
Always was
Now?
It has been for a long time now.