I’ll Repeat Something One More Time

In “If You Repeat Something Enough Times…“, I posted a video montage by Conan O’Brien to highlight how a single piece of information is parroted across 18 news programs around the country with little to no editing.  The intent of the previous post – the dangerous repetition and almost verbatim conformity of message found across the media – may have been lost to those who were derailed by the subject matter (same-sex marriage).  Newscasters introducing the topic with “Conan O’Brien may be about to push the envelope” already give an opinion of what’s about to come after that loaded statement.  Without knowing what Conan is about to do, the viewer knows that Conan is about to do something that goes beyond what the media perceives (and thus should you) as acceptable. By leading into the facts in this manner, many viewers will passively accept this same stance.  That is just one hot button topic that Conan happened to have been monitoring. 

However, this same tactic applies in so many other instances.  One area – the urgent need for deficit reduction by way of government spending cuts – had received immense reinforcement of the message to the exclusion of alternative scenarios.  Before Occupy Wall Street, how many successful discussions centered on raising taxes (corporate ones especially)?  As a matter of fact, last year, there were articles touting GE’s zero tax liability and how it had an entire department devoted to minimizing its liability.  I’ve successfully managed to NOT take an accounting course, however, I do know that any budget has two components – income and expenses.  Yet, in the media, the one cure for the deficit was spending cuts.  No credible discussions were had on revenue generation i.e. taxes especially from the sector of society that actually has cash.

Coming back to the topic, how is it that we’ve gotten to the point where our “news” is nothing more than an “echo chamber” echoing the same predominant viewpoints?  Media consolidation goes a long way towards being the answer for that question.  The Nation published a chart in 2006 entitled The National Entertainment State that shows the top six media owners in the United States.  The information that you receive comes from very limited sources, primarily six to be exact.  If each of the corporations were in agreement that an idea was a good one (or, as in my original example, a bad one), how would you know otherwise?  Alternative media doesn’t have the reach nor coffers of mainstream media, however, I increasingly find myself perusing those outlets for their alternative viewpoints.  Yes, I continue to read the major news outlets online (while ignoring TV news altogether – they’re just soundbites).  But I now consider alternative media to be the companion that, for me, provides an alternative voice that mainstream media silences.