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BUCK'S BLOG
The
Great Media Land-Grab
J.M.
Buck
An
alarming trend has grown in the past two decades – the proliferation
of corporate interests that are creating an ever-tightening stranglehold
on American media.
Newspapers and television used to be trusted sources of information.
Though sensationalism and the suppression of truth in media is
nothing new, the Clinton/Lewinsky fiasco marked a turning point
in American media, with lurid headlines splashed across front
pages throughout the country. Publishing companies, small and
large, raked in the cash as the public gobbled up sensationalistic
“news” tidbits like vultures fighting over a rotting
carcass.
For the first time in journalistic history, the words “blow”
and “job” were obscene.
On that note, what really WAS obscene was the media’s glamorization
of Princess Diana’s death for well over a year after the
story was said and done.
Since then, corporate-controlled media has deteriorated into the
equivalent of multi-section, broadsheet gossip columns. Sensationalism
and fluff replaced hard news. In television, it seemed the new
motto was, “Get the minutes, get the money.” Executive
bean-counters who have no clue what it takes to get the story,
verify facts, write the story in a compelling, bright and succinct
fashion, and do it under deadline at that, are running the media
show.
Just get the money.
The hell with the readers and viewers– they won’t
remember it anyway.
Most journalists I know are disgusted with the lack of integrity
in American media today. As the voracious corporate machine swallows
independent newspapers, radio and television stations, reporters
who are devoured along with their companies have no choice but
to conform, submit, or face termination.
Nowadays, the average American reporter on the front lines amounts
to not much more than, in the words of former New York Times editor-in-chief
John Swinton, an intellectual prostitute. Sadly underpaid ones
at that.
There is a sense of shame amongst some reporters I know. Some
of them don’t even want to look at their own publications.
To see a lengthy, loosely written article about inflatable jumping
castles supercede a story about legislative changes affecting
our children’s education, when the rescue of Mrs. Chang’s
kitty takes precedence over an investigative story exposing pathogens
in the public water supply, these are signs that we are in deep
trouble.
So what. Just get the money. All hail the bottom line!
More and more media consumers have turned to the Internet as their
news source. With over 6,000 news sites to choose from, the barrage
of information is almost overwhelming. Conflicting stories in
varying online news publications leave the reader wondering who
to trust for their news.
What many don’t know is that corporate interests also largely
control Internet news. Corporate mega mergers, such as America
Online/ Time Warner, Viacom and CBS, Disney and ABC and General
Electric and NBC dominate the virtual news landscape.
Once again, journalists are no longer in charge.
There are a few online news publications that are run by ex-reporters
with ink in their veins, such as News.com, Wired.com and Salon.com.
And of course, The Maui Examiner.
Though some corporations have done a wonderful job of allowing
autonomy within their news reporting organizations, they are few
and far between. The vast majority of corporations are not looking
to spend money on better reporting and expensive investigative
series; they are out to make more money at the expense of ethics,
integrity, and the American public’s intelligence. The sole
focus of these corporations is to make money for their stockholders.
This corporate tunnel-vision mentality leaves little room for
solid, hard news reporting and investigative journalism. All too
often when a controversial piece comes across the editor’s
desk of a major corporate-owned newspaper or television news magazine,
the story is either quashed, or in cases like that of television
reporter Jane Akre, who was investigating the use of Monsanto’s
Bovine Growth Hormone, the reporter is ordered to insert outright
lies or face termination. If a highly controversial piece does
make it into print or on the air, the faceless entity who issues
the paycheck withdraw its support of the journalist, leaving them
hanging out to dry. A perfect example of this is San Jose Mercury
News reporter Gary Webb’s explosive series about the CIA’s
role in the crack epidemic. Though all of Webb’s information
was completely succinct and substantiated, The New York Times,
The Washington Post and the LA Times launched attacks against
Webb that were so scathing it led to the Mercury News to print
a retraction of the story, and effectively blotted out Webb’s
career. It’s interesting that the powers-that-be at the
Mercury News didn’t mention any specific facts in their
retraction.
I can relate to Webb. Some of you may remember a series I did
last year about the junk car problem here on Maui that graced
the front page of The Maui Weekly for several issues. If you were
following the series, you may have also noted that the last piece
I wrote for the Weekly was in praise of the tow operators that
I had exposed as being the main culprits in the littering of our
island (that’s still going on, by the way). That last story
was ordered by new Maui Weekly owner Ogden Newspapers, Inc. (ONI),
who had bought the paper right after the exposé ran. I
won’t go into all the grisly details, but it sickened me,
literally, to write such bullshit. I told them so. And they fired
me.
Don’t make waves. Just get the money.
The need for independent media is greater now than every before.
Haleakala Times calls itself “Maui’s Free Press, but
it too is owned by ONI, though they are thankfully given some
level of autonomy. There is no truly independent media on Maui
with the exceptions of Maui Time Weekly, Mana‘o Radio, The
Maui Examiner and AKAKU-Maui Community Television, the latter
of which is now in danger of extinction, unless enough voices
speak out in support of our little public T.V. station.
On Feb. 15 there will be a public hearing that may possibly determine
the fate of AKAKU. I strongly urge you to make your voice heard.
It will take place Feb. 15 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Maui Community
College Ka‘aike Building, Room 105.
It’s our T.V. station. Let’s keep it that way.
Consolidation and corporate takeovers are not good for news. Consumer
confidence in news reporting is at an all-time low. The only hope
of turning the public’s confidence around is through independent
media and journalistic integrity.
The heck with the money. That’s not what real news is about.The
more independent voices, the better. This is about the truth.
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2005
County Data Book Available
The
2005 Maui County Data Book is now available.
Compiled and maintained by the Hawai`i Business Research Library
(HBRL), the 247-page data book is the definitive statistical reference
work for the County of Maui.
Collected from a wide range of print and electronic resources, the
work is designed to help businesses with informed decision-making.
Eleven separate sections provide general statistics and data on
education, geography, land use, government, agriculture and aquaculture,
communication and transportation, energy, science, construction,
housing, finance, labor, the visitor industry, recreation, domestic
trade, maps and much more.
The 2005 edition contains additional data on rainfall, ag-tourism,
ag theft, private aircraft, marriages, cruise ships, and non-employers.
The 2005 Maui County Data Book is available for $20 when picked
up in person ($25 by first class mail) at HBRL, Suite 136, Maui
Research and Technology Center in Kihei. Phone 808-875-2400 or you
may request by email at: hbrl@hbrl-sbdc.org.
The books are also available for sale at the Maui County Business
Resource Center located across from IHOP in the Maui Mall. The book
may also be downloaded from the Maui County website at www.mauicounty.gov.
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