Control of Mass Media in America Has Passed to an Oligarchy, a Kick in the Teeth to Both Freedom of Speech and Press.
Thomas Jefferson saw a free press as absolutely vital for democracy, famously stating that he would prefer “newspapers without a government“ to a government without newspapers. He believed “an informed populace, even with often-false news, was crucial for self-governance and keeping rulers accountable.” He viewed the press as essential “censors” protecting liberty from government overreach, but also acknowledged its flaws, recognizing it could spread untruths, yet still prioritized it over restricted speech for a truly free republic.
Well, that was then, and this is now. Ever hear of Sinclair?
(Wikipedia) Sinclair, Inc., doing business as Sinclair Broadcast Group, is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. The company is the second-largest television station operator in the United States by number of stations, owning or operating 193 stations across the country in over 100 markets, covering 40% of American households.
The company is widely regarded as politically conservative, and has been noted for featuring politically motivated programming decisions that promote conservative political positions. This has included news coverage and specials in the lead-up to elections that are in support of the Republican Party. More from Wikipedia here.
Nexstar Media Group is even larger.
Nexstar Media Group, Inc. is an American publicly traded media company with headquarters in Irving, Texas; Midtown Manhattan; and Chicago. The company is the largest television station owner in the United States, owning 197 television stations across the United States, most of which are affiliated with the four major American television networks and MyNetworkTV in markets as large as New York City and as small as San Angelo, Texas.
It also operates all of the stations owned by certain affiliates such as Mission Broadcasting and Vaughan Media, under local marketing agreements to satisfy existing regulations set in place by the Federal Communications Commission. Nexstar has been described as politically conservative, but not as much as Sinclair.
Nexstar covers 60-70% of U.S. television households so, presuming that it and Sinclair most likely stay out of each other’s way, pretty much the entire country is covered by ‘two bakeries selling the same bread.’
I’m not sure that’s what Jefferson had in mind.
Further, I have long argued that both Republicans and Democrats were co-conspirators in the five-decade sellout of the American Middle Class, a truly bi-partisan effort, and one of the last we would see in politics.
Combine the financial strangulation of a bought-and-paid for congress, with similar monetary control of media, and the chaos afforded us by an anonymous internet, and it’s easy to understand how the independence guaranteed by our Constitution has simmered to nothingness like a burned pot left too long on the heat.
The savory gravy of America’s freedoms to argue our differences into mutual agreement has been denied us, not by reasoned conversation among respected views, but the flames of prejudice.
We have become dependent upon those who care nothing for us.
Jefferson again, “Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition.”
One can make the case that it’s late innings in the game we call republican democracy and, as is the situation in professional sports, the cost of tickets in preferred seats is beyond the reach of the common fan.
When I wore a younger man’s clothes, as Billy Joel would sing it, I could take my kids to a Cubs game for twenty bucks, and now it’s a day’s wages, so fathers are prevented from that pleasure.
That’s a damn shame.
Millionaires once paid their taxes.
Now billionaires hand us the tab, and the dinner satisfies no one.