We recently had a lecture by Jeff Cohen, director of the Park Center for Independent Media. I found his talk interesting- especially how he discussed his own experience working as a political pundit for MSNBC.
He told us the story of how he was working with the Phil Donahue show- which at the time, was the most watched show on MSNBC. At this time, 2002-2003, Bush's ratings were skyrocketing. It was seen as a "middle of the road" show politically, but because of the fear of being labeled a part of the liberal media, Cohen discussed how if the Phil Donahue show brought on one left wing guest, they had to bring on two right wing guests.
Although the Phil Donahue show had the highest ratings at the time, it was terminated 3 weeks prior to teh invasion of Iraq.
Cohen discussed how mainstream media is controlled by conglomerates and top executives, like Fox's Rupert Murdoch, who are just businessmen with no regard for the ethics and value of investigative and provocative reporting.
He stressed the importance of independent media- which can provide an alternate voice free from the financial conflicts of interests that many major media networks find themselves in.
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