A telling example of how the media works

Journalists and editors often get highly offended when it is suggested that they serve as the mouthpieces of the owners of the media institutions they work for. They protest that they write what they want to write about and that no one censors them or tells them to slant the reporting in a particular way. But as Noam Chomsky and Edward Hermann pointed out in their brilliant analysis Manufacturing Consent (1988), that kind of explicit direction is not necessary. It is even counter-productive because such tightly controlled information systems are clearly seen as what they are, propaganda. To be truly effective as propaganda, those generating it have to believe that what they are saying is of their own volition, and this is why the western media works far better as a propaganda system than media where the state runs it.
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How Roger Ailes got taken down by a ‘dumb blonde’

I mentioned in a previous post that my schadenfeude has limits when it comes to actual physical harm done to people and their families. But I have no limits to my enjoyment when it comes to how the odious, sexist, serial harasser Roger Ailes of Fox News got his comeuppance at the hands of someone who was widely seen as a dumb blonde. As I have noted before, former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson may have played a dumb blonde on her network but she is no fool.
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The future of newspapers

Newspapers are laying off beat reporters because their work does not generate enough revenue. The subscriber base is decreasing while the online ad revenue is not rising fast enough to compensate. But newspaper beat reporters covering actual events are the foundation of the news food chain, providing the essential nourishment that sustains all the other things such as TV, commentary, blogs, and other online services. If they go, the rest collapses.
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Et tu, Megyn?

After the initial allegations of sexual harassment against Roger Fox News head Ailes came out following Gretchen Carlson’s lawsuit, some prominent media figures in the company defended Ailes. Conspicuously silent was one of their stars Megyn Kelly and speculation abounded as to why, with one theory being that she wanted to take the high road and not get down into the mud since her contract was due for renewal next year.
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Ailes out?

Gabriel Sherman writes that a preliminary report by the law firm commissioned by 21st Century Fox, the parent company of Fox News, to investigate the sexual harassment charges brought by Gretchen Carlson against For News head Roger Ailes has been issued, and on the basis of that report the decision has been made to ease Ailes out his job, the only remaining question being when.
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Call for assistance with media monitoring during RNC

Those who follow media coverage of the RNC convention may be able to help me with the monitoring of the media. In particular, I am looking for the following things:

• Use of police force and to what degree
• Crowd control techniques (mounted police)
• Dispersal orders
• Police/reporter interactions
• Acts of civil disobedience
• Use of: pepper spray, tear gas, wooden bullets, rubber pellets.

If you see any of those things in the media, it would help me if you could jot down the following information and email it to me.

1. Date:
2. Time:
3. News Outlet:
4. Any comments or observations:

Thanks!

Idle question: Why do some talk show hosts still have microphones on their desks?

If you look at the clips of some talk show hosts such as Conan O’Brien, Seth Meyers, and Jimmy Fallon, who all sit at desks and talk to their guests, you will notice a large microphone on the desk. As far as I am aware, all the hosts and guests nowadays have wireless microphones attached to their clothing somewhere so why is there a desk microphone? Nobody actually talks directly into it. Does it serve some purpose or is it just a nod to tradition?