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The media doesn't have such a pro-corporate message in the UK. The Economist, widely considered a conservative paper, is wholly in support of government-run soc

The media doesn't have such a pro-corporate message in the UK. The Economist, widely considered a conservative paper, is wholly in support of government-run socialized health care. The BBC is also a great source of news that's not as tainted as most US agencies by corporate sponsorship dollars. We have NPR, but they can't really espouse liberal views, because the Republicans are always at their throats for grant money (I think most elected Democrats are corporate whores too - they're just more subtle about it). Other than that, there's probably a dozen decent newspapers in America, all of which are slowly dying, and as such can't afford to upset their advertisers. Financial newspapers are an exception to this, but you'll never see the Financial Times or the Wall Street Journal suggesting that people like Lloyd Bankfein or Joe Cassano should tighten their belt buckles. In the US, the hand that feeds the media is biting everybody, but the media is afraid to bite back.

berntb 15y ago
Sorry for answering late. The independence of BBC is probably not perfect, but impressive. I might still trust NY Times and Washington Post more, as long as they don't write about big advertisers. There just seems to be less of organized political pressure on US media than when you have European parties. For the European media I know enough of to have an opinion (Sweden), they are a sad joke. Let me give two examples. 1. Big advertisers never get bad stories. 2. After 1968, the left tried to take over the journalist occupation and seems to own it today. You can check this, by following one of the subjects where the left really care and compare with international press; Israel is good. (Pallywood has never been mentioned in Swedish mainstream media, neither torture between Hamas/PLO. There is a long, long, long list of examples like this.) I've read bad things about e.g. Spanish press, but don't really know. There are, like USA, some incredibly good media in Europe -- and like in USA, most are garbage.

berntb 15y ago

Sorry for answering late. The independence of BBC is probably not perfect, but impressive. I might still trust NY Times and Washington Post more, as long as they don't write about big advertisers. There just seems to be less of organized political pressure on US media than when you have European parties. For the European media I know enough of to have an opinion (Sweden), they are a sad joke. Let me give two examples. 1. Big advertisers never get bad stories. 2. After 1968, the left tried to take over the journalist occupation and seems to own it today. You can check this, by following one of the subjects where the left really care and compare with international press; Israel is good. (Pallywood has never been mentioned in Swedish mainstream media, neither torture between Hamas/PLO. There is a long, long, long list of examples like this.) I've read bad things about e.g. Spanish press, but don't really know. There are, like USA, some incredibly good media in Europe -- and like in USA, most are garbage.