Friday, May 29, 2009

Politicians and the press

From True News from ChangeNYC.org:

Did you know that over the last couple of years a battle has raged between the PR people and the press to see who would control the news? You didn’t. Well, neither did most of the journalists. That’s why the PR people won.

How did this happen?

What our politicians grasped immediately...is that as long as the people gets their daily dose of sports, comics, and celebrities, they would be unfazed if the rest of the news shifted subtly over time from reportage to propaganda. That’s why, rather than killing their old nemesis, the politicians were happy to let the media chug on under their influence. Just ask Mayor Bloomberg how helpful the press can be. As long as the media doesn’t ask any unpleasant questions, they can repeat press releases word for word as if they were legitimate stories, lionize our leaders, and discredit dissenting voices.

PR people have always viewed the press as free advertising – better than free, really, because the people who subscribe to the press don’t even know they’re being sold a product. Once upon a time, reporters fought back against PR people to protect the integrity of their papers. Nowadays, reporters are grateful to publicists for relieving them of the time-consuming work of actual investigation.

But no one is more happy than our politicians. As long as they can keep spinning worthless yarn into PR gold, their lies and incompetence will never be unraveled.

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

Please don't piss off Mike Shenkler. He might do something drastic like eliminate the whore ads at the back of his paper. With Craig's List out of the picture, what's a poor guy to do?

PS Crappy, where did you get the photo of Bloomturd as a high school journalist? Precious!

Anonymous said...

does the same apply to ogni-has-been?

georgetheatheist said...

Isn't it time that journalists demand that Obama:

1. show us his birth certificate?

2. show us his medical records?

3. show us his transcript from Columbia University?

What is HE hiding?

Anonymous said...

Wow, did Rip Van Winkle just awake from a 40-year slumber?
How is this even remotely newsworthy material?

Oh yeah. And georgethefetishist, you're a freakin' genius sleuth. You keep on that mysterious "case of whether or not Obama is legitimate presidential material." While you're at it, why don't you solve the case of "how did George W. Bush bankrupt every concern he ever attempted to run"?

georgetheatheist said...

The truth hurts doesn't it? Obama can investigate into the folds of Sonia Sotomayor's underwear, but he hasn't come clean on the 3 items mentioned above.

Anonymous said...

The press are a bunch or whorse who repeat whatever Bloomberg wants. Reading the New York Times is like reading a campaign flyer for bloomberg

linda said...

Well bloomass may control the press but not the internet, thank god. i want to thank crapper for the work they do to keep us informed. I post shit all the time for my friends and family to read. Cannot repeat more and more Bloomass needs to go away. Oh and dumb ass liz crowley too..
so give it up sleeper....

Anonymous said...

Oh, leave George alone.

He and "right-wing-radio" Rush are asshole buddies!

Anonymous said...

Thanks be for "Queens Crap"...
your source for the real poop!

And that bothers the hell out of PR pigs like Evan!

Anonymous said...

No shock that George the Atheist attacks a black president and a Hispanic supreme court nominee.

Couldn't find one blog where he bashes Bush except for his immigration/amnesty proposal.

Still looking...

Anonymous said...

still looking...

Clinton's fault for 9/11 even though he was out of office...

still looking....

Democrats fault for housing even though Republicans controlled policy with monopoly under Bush....

still looking....

Queens Crapper said...

And this post isn't about George, it's about the press being owned by politicians. People getting distracted and defending politicians is the reason this is happening.

Anonymous said...

Just remember the printed press are like the radio press...

They are out to make money and distort the truth.

Look at Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, and the NY Post also CNBC and the NY Times.

People have to be careful who's toes they step on because they have to earn a living.

Anonymous said...

A point about the printed press (and george the athesist)

The only ones in the press pushing for Obama's records are Conservative conspiracy blogs. If any of his qualifications were deficient Hillary would have gotten to him forst.

Remember Bloomy and Guiliani 'punish' reporters who don't do positive pieces on them, and shut off the reporters sponsor's (newspaper or tv) access to the mayor and conferences.

After nasty reports on the NYPD's officers and policies earlier this month the press lost their room at Police Plaza and share a tiny room with no air conditioning.

Taxpayer said...

The anonymous press lickspittle who bashes Georgetheatheist rather than address the 3 straightforward points in his comment is the exemplar of the perfect product of the press propaganda of the last 3 or 4 decades.

The same press that now covers up for Obamoron, was in full fury to show that McCain was an illegitimate candidate because he was born in the Panama Canal Zone (of US Citizens, in a US Military facility).

Once the same question was then raised about Obamoron, poof! No more questions permitted. He is a minority. A Muslim. But McCain showed the pertinent documents. Obamoron refused. Because he has none.

But, media skepticism vanished. Propaganda replaced it.

Then, we have Clinton was not to blame for 9-11; he was no longer in office. But, Bush, also no longer in office IS responsible for the economy, N Korea, Iran, yada, yada, yada.

That kind of "thinking" is the very essence of lickspittle.

Commissar Death and Taxes is a thin-skinned, money-grubbing, land-grabbing cowardly liar who is in a cocoon constructed by lickspittles, moronically believing their imbecilic lies of his "inevitable" steamrollering of the election.

Look what happened to the last "fucking steamroller". Dumped even by his paid hookers.

Lets dump this "fucking steamroller" and let him roll all the way back to Boston or Bermuda, wherever there are still people who are impressed by him.

Use November 3 to steamroll this prick out of town!

Anonymous said...

Who complained about McCain's birth???

When was that an issue?

I googled and saw unimportant blogs. No news articles. What are you talking about?

You don't think the press favors Obama because when he speaks he sounds intelligent, we haven't havd that for a long time.

Anonymous said...

How petty, trying to prove our President is an alien. Just petty, move on. If you want to get mad about Obamas election, blame Bush.

They are pro-Obama because the press believed him about Iraq and ran with it only to be proven to be used for his bullshit propaganda.

As a soldier, hearing complaints about the war wasn't disheartening, finding no traces of weapons of mass destruction everyday while going on dangerous missions with your brothers is disheartening.

Anonymous said...

What's worse, not getting Obama's college grades or sending troops to Iraq to bring liberty to muslims who cheered 9/11???

Yup, press is not doing their diligence on Obama!

Anonymous said...

When we attacked Bush, we were traders (ask the Dixie Chicks) but when you call Obama a sypathizer for extremisits or call him a foreigner then it's OK.

I don't remember the Media ramming it down McCains throat before the financial collapse when he actually said the economy was going strong when in fact it was already in a recession!

Where were you conservatives when McCain proposed socializing housing??? Isn't that what this website stands against also???

georgetheatheist said...

Let the dogs howl and bay, the caravan rolls on.

The Constitution says that the President must be a natural born citizen. Period.

Let him prove he is not the Foreign Occupier in the White House.

Anonymous said...

Where was the media when the republicans controlled both houses of Congress and the Presidency and nothing passed that benefited us working people???

Where is the media now that the Dems control everything and nothing is passing that benefits us working people???

Why does each side try to help the wealthy (top 1% earns 50% of the money made in America while paying only 23% of the taxes) or the poor (who receive alot and get more than most middle class workers while contributing nothing!)

Stop with Obama and McCain and Bush. That is the past. Where is the press to put pressure and fix this problem now.

We need a new party for just middle class, no more poor people getting more for nothing and no more rich giving less and earning more!

Anonymous said...

Amen.

PS: Obama is a citizen, no sitting Rebulican legislator in Congress disputes that.

Anonymous said...

Obama and Bush certainly didn't come to mind when I read this.

Rather, the obvious buying of the media by Bloomberg and to a lesser extent the Council buying off the locals with ads, is more of an immediate concern to me.

Anonymous said...

I'm more concerned that most people don't care enough to do anyting about it, and that includes to vote them out!

georgetheatheist said...

"Working people"

Get out the violins.

BILL GATES IS "WORKING PEOPLE". What? Gates lounges around all day in his toga, eating grapes, being serenaded by slaves with lyres?

Rich people are "working people".

Anonymous said...

seems like a mod from astorians.com getting the thread off topic and unfocused.

Anonymous said...

George, so the rich should pay a smaller percentage in taxes than I do?

Because of tax loopholes the top 1% pay less of a percentage of their income to taxes then an individual who makes $60K.

Fair?

georgetheatheist said...

Frankly, it's time to abolish the communistic income tax altogether.

From the 1848 Communist Manifesto of Marx & Engels:

10 conditions for the transition to communism.

#2 "a heavy progressive income tax" ("ein starke Progressivsteuer")