Who Really Determines What You See On TV Or Read In The Newspaper?
CGI's LucyInTheSky: Who Owns The Media? Industry Giants, Saudi Princes and Australian Robber Barons 22-Jul-2011
News Corp, Rupert Murdoch's media behemoth, donated more money to Barack Obama than to any other American politician, giving him $368,000 in his bid for the presidency. While that might come as a bit of a shock from the media group behind such vehemently anti-Obama news outlets such as the New York Post and Fox News, Murdoch's company has actually donated slightly more to Democratic politicians than to Republicans since 1989
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Who Really Determines What You See On TV Or Read In The Newspaper?
In the early years of our democracy the "free press" was all that stood between greedy corporate interests, government corruption and you and I. While many newspapers were controlled by wealthy individuals such as William Randolph Hearst, who influenced the content of the news in his papers, a kind of journalistic "Hippocratic oath" seemed to prevail across the country as reporters and publishers at small papers usually chose to pursue the truth in reporting.
What Liberal or Right Wing Media? It's Just Corporate Media.
Who really controls the media? Is the so called "liberal media" that the right complains about controlled by Hollywood and liberal special interests? Is Fox News controlled by the Republican Party? If you believe any of these generalizations you are dead wrong and the truth will shock you.
Major multinational corporations, Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds and Saudi Princes, all hell bent on protecting their own interests, choose what you will see on the nightly news and trick you into believing it is unbiased reporting. As we see below all the major news outlets, regardless of what they make you believe, contributed heavily to George W. Bush in both 2000 and 2004 so any argument that they are controlled by liberals evaporates. In this case they all supported the candidate that promised to allow consolidation of multiple media companies.
Here are the top twenty media corporations in the U.S. according to mediaowners.com All but two of the following, #18 and #19 are not members of the Council On Foreign Relations.
1. Time Warner Inc.
2. Walt Disney Company
3. Viacom Inc.
4. News Corporation
5. CBS Corporation
6. Cox Enterprises
7. NBC Universal
8. Gannett Company, Inc.
9. Clear Channel Communications Inc.
10. Advance Publications, Inc.
11. Tribune Company
12. McGraw-Hill Companies
13. Hearst Corporation
14. Washington Post Company
15. The New York Times Company
16. E.W. Scripps Co.
17. McClatchy Company
18. Thomson Corporation
19. Freedom Communications, Inc.
20. A&E Television Networks
Who Owns The Media? Industry Giants, Saudi Princes and Australian Robber Barons.
Here is a breakdown of the "Liberal" media ownership By Corporations. Next Read Who Owns the "Conservative Media".
"GE, Not Just Light Bulbs Anymore"
GENERAL ELECTRIC - NBC
TV Holdings:
* NBC: Owns outright 13 stations and many affiliates, Market penetration: 28% of US households.
* NBC Network News: Owns The Today Show, Nightly News with Tom Brokaw, Meet the Press, Dateline.
* CNBC business network, MSNBC 24-hour cable and Internet news service (co-owned by both NBC and Microsoft); Court TV (co-owned with Time Warner), Bravo (50%), A&E (25%), History Channel (25%).
The MS in MSNBC stands for Microsoft, Bill Gate's Microsoft donated 2.4 million in 2000 to get George W Bush elected.
Other Holdings:
* GE Consumer Electronics and Household Products and components used in military electronics..
* GE Power Systems, which makes turbines for nuclear reactors, wind turbines, "clean" coal technology.
* GE Plastics: produces military hardware for fighter jets, ships and nuclear power equipment.
* GE Transportation Systems: manufactures engines and diesel and electric locomotives.
WESTINGHOUSE / CBS INC. "Not Just Fridges Anymore".
Westinghouse Electric Company, part of of the large Nuclear Utilities Business Group of British Nuclear Fuels. Which is Headed By Frank Carlucci of the Carlyle Group. A group with very strong ties to the Bush Administration.
TV Holdings:
* CBS: Owns outright 14 stations and over 200 affiliates in the US.
* CBS Network News: 60 minutes, 48 hours, CBS Evening News, CBS Morning News.
* Country Music Television, The Nashville Network.
* Group W Satellite Communications.
Other Holdings:
* Westinghouse Electric Company: provides services to the nuclear power industry including owning 4 nuclear plants, waste disposal and transport.
The Late Disney Founder, Walt Disney. "Oh how far we have come Walt!"
DISNEY - ABC
(Donated $640,000 to George W Bush's 2000 political campaign)
TV Holdings:
* ABC: includes 10 stations outright, many affiliates, Penetration in the market: 24% of US households.
* ABC Network News: Prime Time Live, Nightline, 20/20, Good Morning America.
* ESPN, Lifetime Television (50%), as well as smaller holdings in A&E, History Channel and E!
* Disney Channel/Disney Television, Touchtone Television.
Other Major Media Holdings.
* Miramax, Touchtone Pictures.
* Major Magazines: Jane, Los Angeles Magazine, Discover.
* Three recording labels, twelve major local newspapers.
* Hyperion books.
* Infoseek search engine.
Major shareholders include Sid R. Bass, oil and gas baron.
Disney's environmental and social record: Source wikipedia.org
* The company has been accused of human rights violations regarding the working conditions in factories that produce their merchandise. Numerous environmental groups in Florida and California have criticized development procedures used in building theme parks including damage to wetlands.
* An environmental management plan for a zone of Great Guana Cay, in the Abaco Islands, criticized Disney for poor management of a 90-acre (36.4 ha) tract of the island. Disney partially developed but then abandoned the place, which was to have been a cruise ship resort called Treasure Island. The report, by the University of Miami and the College of the Bahamas, blames Disney for leaving hazardous materials, electrical transformers, and fuel tanks, and for introducing invasive alien plants and insects that threaten the natural flora and fauna of the island.
"Time, Not Just On The Coffee Table Anymore".
TIME-WARNER TBS - AOL (In 2000 they donated 1.6 million to George Bush's political campaign)
America Online (AOL) acquired Time Warner which was the largest merger in corporate history.
TV Holdings:
* CNN, HBO, Cinemax, TBS Superstation, Turner Network Television, Turner Classic Movies, Warner Brothers Television, Cartoon Network, Sega Channel, TNT, Comedy Central.
* Largest cable system owner with an estimated 13 million households.
Media Holdings:
* HBO Productions, Warner Home Video, New Line Cinema, Castle Rock, Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera.
* Music: Atlantic, Elektra, Rhino, Sire, Warner Bros. Records, EMI.
* Thirty three major magazines including Time, Sports Illustrated, People Magazine, In Style, Fortune, The Book of the Month Club, Entertainment Weekly, Life Magazne, DC Comics, MAD Magazine.
Other major corporation Holdings:
* Sports Teams and Wrestling: The Atlanta Braves, The Atlanta Hawks, World Championship Wrestling.
Now For The "Conservative News Media" "The real Darth Vader?"
Why did Australian Rupert Murdoch forsake his native country and become a U.S. citizen? Reportedly it was because he could save on taxes and start over in virgin territory after leaving behind so much scorched earth in the Australian economy as he laid waste to his business opponents and bought up media outlets. Or perhaps it was just so he could get around foreign media ownership laws. (Which no longer exist.) Does a Saudi billionaire actually have the power to control the news on the Fox network, of which he is a part owner?
NEWS CORPORATION LTD. / FOX NETWORKS (Rupert Murdoch, numerous donations.
Major Television Holdings:
* Fox Television: includes 22 major and many affiliate stations, Penetration into more than 60% 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%), major owner of DirecTV.
* The Golf Channel (33%).
Other Major Media Hodings:
* Twentieth Century Fox, Fox Searchlight.
* 132 major newspapers (113 in Australia alone) including the New York Post, the London Times and The Australian.
* Owns 25 magazines including TV Guide and The Weekly Standard.
* Owns HarperCollins books.
Othe Major Corporation Holdings around the word:
* Sports: LA Dodgers, LA Kings, LA Lakers, National Rugby League.
* Ansett Australia airline, Ansett New Zealand airlines.
* Rupert Murdoch is on the Board of Directors of Philip Morris, a major Bush donor.
who else owns Fox News? Prince al-Walid bin Talal owns 5.5% of Fox News.
Prince al- Walid bin Talal stated recently that he used his influence to change Fox's headlines. During the recent riots in Muslim neighborhoods in France Fox was using the term "Muslim Riots" to describe rioting by Muslim youths and Prince bin Talal claims that called Fox News had them change the title of the story to "Youth Riots". Source. worldnetdaily.com
In another instance, where supposedly conservative Fox News should have been up in arms, was the deal by a United Arab Emirates holding company to buy U.S. ports. Suddenly Fox went from being against the deal to very supportive of a deal that would have put US container ports in foreign hands. A U.A.E. sovereign wealth fund also owns major shares of Fox.
The "good ole boys" that hang on every word that Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly utters might not be so happy when they hear who is whispering in their idol's ears.
The Council On Foreign Relations and What It Has To Do With Corporate Control Of The News CFR Seal
What do Dan Rather, Barbara Walters, Jim Lehrer, Rupert Murdoch, Tom Brokaw and the late William F. Buckley have in common? They are all members of the CFR, The Council On Foreign Relations. The stated goal of the CFR is to manipulate the News to bring about a new world order or corporate control of everything. This is not some weird conspiracy theory, it is stated in their original charter. Who else belongs to the CFR, Disney's Michael Eisner and ABC's Thomas Murphy, Tom Johnson, CEO of CNN, Time Warner's Gerald Levine, and many, many more media CEO's who have merged their empires under the CFR's guidance.
Here is a good video that traces the history of news media manipulation by large corporations in the U.S by buying up newspapers and using institutions such as the Council On Foreign Relations to shape U.S. policy and public opinion.