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Mainstream U.S. Media Controlled by Conservatives

Michael Webster Investigative Reporter April 30, 2008 12:30 PM PDT

From a national survey by “Fair” which showed that the idea that the mainstream media have a "liberal bias" has long been conventional wisdom. At various times, public figures and media personalities from Richard Nixon, Newt Gingrich, Bill O'Reilly, Neil Cavuto, Sean Hannity and Rupert Murdoch of Fox Networks (Rupert Murdoch now major stock holder of “The Wall Street Journal) they and others have all taken refuge in the claim that the "liberal" media were out to get them. A legion of conservative talk show hosts, pundits and media-watch groups pound away at the idea that the media exhibit an inherently "liberal" tilt. But the assertion is based on remarkably little evidence and is repeatedly made in the face of contradictory facts.

In particular, the conservative critique of the news media rests on two general propositions: (1) journalists' views are to the left of the public, and (2) journalists frame news content in a way that accentuates these left perspectives. Researchers and analysts have discovered persuasive evidence against the latter claim. Content analyses of the news media have, at a minimum, shown the absence of any such systematic liberal/left tilt; some studies have found a remarkably predictable press usually reflecting the narrow range of views of those in positions of power, as well as a spectrum of expert opinion that tilts toward the right.

The report goes on to say that the powerful corporate interests which own and sponsor the news media ensure that news content never strays too far, for too long, from protecting the status quo. You don't understand the corporate ideology of General Motors by studying the personal beliefs of the assembly-line workers, the argument goes. Ideological orientation is introduced and enforced by those high in the organizational hierarchy who have the power to hire and fire, to reward and punish. Working journalists, despite their sometimes high visibility, usually do not call the shots in the nation's media corporations. (The documentary "Fear and Favor in the Newsroom" provides vivid illustrations of this situation.) Consequently, the private views of individual journalists often matter little.

The mainstream media too have seen similar transformations. Pressures to make profit require more and more avoidance of controversial and sensitive issues that may either criticize aspects of corporate America or reduce the buying moods of readers. In doing so, much of the agendas are driven by governments and business interests

Ben Bagdikian says America's newspapers, magazines, TV and radio stations, books, records, movies, videos, wire services and photo agencies. He predicted then that eventually this number would fall to about half a dozen companies. This was greeted with skepticism at the time. When the 6th edition of The Media Monopoly was published in 2000, the number had fallen to six. Since then, there have been more mergers and the scope has expanded to include new media like the Internet market. More than 1 in 4 Internet users in the U.S. now log in with AOL Time-Warner, the world's largest media corporation. In 2004, Bagdikian's revised and expanded book, The New Media Monopoly, shows that only 5 huge corporations -- Time Warner, Disney, Murdoch's News Corporation, Bertelsmann of Germany, and Viacom (formerly CBS) -- now control most of the media industry in the U.S. General Electric's NBC is a close sixth.

The latest available stats show that most mainstream media is owned and/or controlled by the conservative right. Large corporations and the wealthy are able to weld major political clout because of their media holdings. In turn they are collectively able to shape government policy by controlling the slant of the mainstream news.

Later data is being collected and is expected to show even more dominance of the mainstream media by rich and powerful conservatives.

GENERAL ELECTRIC --(donated 1.1 million to GW Bush for his 2000 election campaign)

Television Holdings:
* NBC: includes 13 stations, 28% of US households.
* NBC Network News: The Today Show, Nightly News with then Tom Brokaw, Meet the Press, Dateline NBC, NBC News at Sunrise.
* CNBC business television; MSNBC 24-hour cable and Internet news service (co-owned by NBC and Bill Gates Microsoft); Court TV (co-owned with Time Warner), Bravo (50%), A&E (25%), History Channel (25%).
The "MS" in MSNBC
means Microsoft
The same Microsoft that donated 2.4 million to get GW bush elected and more cash for re-election.

Other Holdings:
* GE Consumer Electronics.
* GE Power Systems: produces turbines for nuclear reactors and power plants.
* GE Plastics: produces military hardware and nuclear power equipment.
* GE Transportation Systems: runs diesel and electric trains.
================================

WESTINGHOUSE / CBS INC.
Westinghouse Electric Company, part of the Nuclear Utilities Business Group of British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL)
whose #1 on the Board of Directors? None other than:
Frank Carlucci (of the Carlyle Group)

Television Holdings:
* CBS: includes 14 stations and over 200 affiliates in the US.
* CBS Network News: 60 minutes, 48 hours, CBS Evening News with Dan Rather, CBS Morning News, Up to the Minute.
* Country Music Television, The Nashville Network, 2 regional sports networks.
* Group W Satellite Communications.
Other Holdings:
* Westinghouse Electric Company: provides services to the nuclear power industry.
* Westinghouse Government Environmental Services Company: disposes of nuclear and hazardous wastes. Also operates 4 government-owned nuclear power plants in the US.
* Energy Systems: provides nuclear power plant design and maintenance. ================================
VIACOM INTERNATIONAL INC.
Television Holdings:
* Paramount Television, Spelling Television, MTV, VH-1, Showtime, The Movie Channel, UPN (joint owner), Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, Sundance Channel (joint owner), Flix.
* 20 major market US stations.
Media Holdings:
* Paramount Pictures, Paramount Home Video, Blockbuster Video, Famous Players Theatres, Paramount Parks.
* Simon & Schuster Publishing.
================================
DISNEY / ABC / CAP (donated 640 thousand to GW's 2000 campaign)
Television Holdings:
* ABC: includes 10 stations, 24% of US households.
* ABC Network News: Prime Time Live, Nightline, 20/20, Good Morning America.
* ESPN, Lifetime Television (50%), as well as minority holdings in A&E, History Channel and E!
* Disney Channel/Disney Television, Touchtone Television.
Media Holdings:
* Miramax, Touchtone Pictures.
* Magazines: Jane, Los Angeles Magazine, W, Discover.
* 3 music labels, 11 major local newspapers.
* Hyperion book publishers.
* Infoseek Internet search engine (43%).
Other Holdings:
* Sid R. Bass (major shares) crude oil and gas.
* All Disney Theme Parks, Walt Disney Cruise Lines. ==========================

TIME-WARNER TBS - AOL (donated 1.6 million to GW's 2000 campaign)
America Online (AOL) acquired Time Warner–the largest merger in corporate history.
Television Holdings:
* CNN, HBO, Cinemax, TBS Superstation, Turner Network Television, Turner Classic Movies, Warner Brothers Television, Cartoon Network, Sega Channel, TNT, Comedy Central (50%), E! (49%), Court TV (50%).
* Largest owner of cable systems in the US with an estimated 13 million subscribers.
Media Holdings:
* HBO Independent Productions, Warner Home Video, New Line Cinema, Castle Rock, Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera.
* Music: Atlantic, Elektra, Rhino, Sire, Warner Bros. Records, EMI, WEA, Sub Pop (distribution) = the world’s largest music company.
* 33 magazines including Time, Sports Illustrated, People, In Style, Fortune, Book of the Month Club, Entertainment Weekly, Life, DC Comics (50%), and MAD Magazine.
Other Holdings:
* Sports: The Atlanta Braves, The Atlanta Hawks, World Championship Wrestling.
============================
NEWS CORPORATION LTD. / FOX NETWORKS (Rupert Murdoch) (donations see bottom note)
Television Holdings:
* Fox Television: includes 22 stations, 50% of US households.
* Fox International: extensive worldwide cable and satellite networks include British Sky Broadcasting (40%); VOX, Germany (49.9%); Canal Fox, Latin America; FOXTEL, Australia (50%); STAR TV, Asia; IskyB, India; Bahasa Programming Ltd., Indonesia (50%); and News Broadcasting, Japan (80%).
* The Golf Channel (33%).
MEDIA HOLDINGS:
* Twentieth Century Fox, Fox Searchlight.
* 132 newspapers (113 in Australia alone) including the New York Post, the London Times and The Australian.
* 25 magazines including TV Guide and The Weekly Standard.
* HarperCollins books.
OTHER HOLDINGS:
* Sports: LA Dodgers, LA Kings, LA Lakers, National Rugby League.
* Ansett Australia airlines, Ansett New Zealand airlines.
* Rupert Murdoch: Board of Directors, Philip Morris (USA).

*(Phillip Morris donated 2.9 million to George W Bush in 2000)*

Sources and related information:

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2447

go to the "columbia journalism review and click on the
"who owns what" link on the right side of the page

http://www.cjr.org/

The presidential donations for GW can be found at
http://www.boycottbush.net/bgrnd_info.htm#donors

 

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

FRONTLINE: home | PBS

• Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR) (the #1 media watchdog group)
• Media Channel (check out their Issue Guides)
• Media Access Project
• Media Alliance
• OpenAirWaves.org (from the Center for Public Integrity)
• Center for Creative Voices in Media
• Take Back the Media (consumer pressure group fighting corporate-friendly mass media coverage)
• Reclaim the Media (working on federal media policy and local media reform in Seattle area)
• Media Tank (working on federal media policy and local media reform in Philadelphia area)
• Free Press
• Media Matters (exposes conservative misinformation in media)
• Action Coalition for Media Education (ACME)
• Media Watch (challenges racism, sexism & violence in media)
• Media Transparency: The Money Behind the Media
• Rocky Mountain Media Watch (takes on the TV "news" media)
• Media Geek
• Media Transparency (exposes the right-wing foundations and institutes that influence much of when ends up in the mass media)
• Media Tenor (media content analysis of media around the world)

• Adbusters' Culture Jammer's Headquarters (attacks advertising, corporate commercialism and more)
• Center for Media & Democracy (exposes the public relations industry; publishes PR Watch magazine and the excellent books, Toxic Sludge is Good for You!, and Trust Us, We're Experts!)
• Institute for Public Accuracy (exposes corporate-backed think tanks)
• Integrity in Science (exposes scientists' and non-profits' ties to industry)
• Stay Free! (attacks advertising, corporate commercialism and more)
• Strategic Press Information Network (SPIN) Project / PR with Principles (media/PR advice for grassroots activist groups)
• SourceWatch (directory of PR firms, think tanks, industry-funded organizations and industry-friendly experts)

• The New Media Monopoly (new 2004 version of Ben Bagdikian's book, revised with 7 new chapters)
• The Big Ten (chart of the 10 largest media corporations and their holdings, The Nation, Jan 2002)
• Who Owns What (comprehensive list of media ownership by the Columbia Journalism Review)
• Global Concentration: The Media Ownership Chart
• Mega-Media's Interlocking Directorates (FAIR, June 2001)
• Consumers Union testimony before the U.S. Senate on Media Concentration (7/17/2001)
• Media Industry Efforts to Eliminate and Weaken the Ownership Rules: What it Means for the Public and the Future of the Internet
• PBS's Media Giants Site
• Mega-Mergers in the Telecommunications Industry (up to 1997)
• Democratic Media Legal Project to Challenge Media Monopoly

   

• Clear Channel Sucks (website takes on entertainment giant)
• OutFOXed (documentary on right-wing bias of Fox News)
• Pappas Telecasting (right-wing advocacy)
• Boycott Sinclair Broadcast Group / Sinclair Action (right-wing advocacy)
• Inkywatch (monitoring the Philadelphia Inquirer for bias and deception)

• Americans for Radio Diversity
• Center for Democratic Communications (CDC) of the National Lawyers Guild
• Free Radio Network
• National Federation of Community Broadcasters
• Micro Radio Implementation Project
• MicroRadio.Net
• Media Access Project's Project on Low Power Radio
• Prometheus Radio Project (primer on applying for a low-power FM license)
• Radio For All (the movement to reclaim the airwaves)

• Center for Screen-Time Awareness (Coordinators of TV-Turnoff Week; check out their TV Fact Sheets)
  • TV Facts
  • May 1999 Congressional Testimony of Henry Labalme, Executive Director of TV-Free America
• Alliance for Better Campaigns (seeking reduced cost air-time for political candidates)
• Alliance for Community Media (fighting for public, educational & governmental access cable TV channels)
• Citizens for Independent Public Broadcasting
• Mental Engineering (public broadcasting TV show on dissecting television commercials)
• Excerpts from the book: Four Arguments for The Elimination of Television
• Kill Your Television Home Page
• TV Alters Brain Waves! (from Test Card F)
• TV & Brainwashing (more on TV, brain waves and advertising)
• TV: Opiate of the Masses
• Smash Your TV Set
• Video Activist Network

• Center for Digital Democracy
• Center For Democracy & Technology
• Digital Divide Network
• Civil Rights Forum on Communications Policy
• NoFilters.org (the grassroots campaign to keep Internet filters out of our libraries)
• Media Access Project's Project on Broadband/Open Access to the Internet over Cable Infrastructure
• Alliance for Public Technology
• Future of Music Coalition

• Alternative Press Review
• Independent Press Association
• Independent Media Centers
• Independent Media Institute

• Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (check out their excellent First Amendment Handbook)
• "Afflict the Comfortable, Comfort the Afflicted: A Guide for Campus Alternative Journalists" (Campus Alternative Journalism Project)
• Center for Investigative Reporting
• Investigative Reporters and Editors
• Reporter.org
• International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
• Citizen Muckraking -- How To Investigate and Right Wrongs in Your Community (by the Center for Public Integrity)
• Guerilla Video Primer

• Alternet
• Common Dreams
• Corporate Watch
• Global Information Network
• Media Channel
• ZNet / Z Magazine
• NewStandard News
• Independent Media Centers
• The Nation
• Mother Jones
• In These Times
• InfoShop News Kiosk
• Cascadia Media Collective
• Media Education Foundation
• Free Speech TV: A progressive voice In the Media Revolution
• Pacifica Radio
• Progressive Populist
• Talk America Radio
• NarcoNews Bulletin / Fund for Authentic Journalism (Reporting on the Drug War and Democracy from Latin America)
• Counterpunch
• WebActive
• Whispered Media

Last modified: May 1, 2008