General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsEventually I think the changes at MSNBC/MSNOW
may eventually cave in to the fascists and we will see the end of people like Ali Velshi. His weekend show is one of the best things going right now on any channel. His reporting this week about the housing affordability crisis in this country was very well done. He pinpointed the greed merchants responsible.
That kind of reporting and shining the light on the rich and powerful rigging the system against the American people is why I think those same powerful interests will eventually exert their influence to remove show hosts, producers etc. who have this level of honesty and intelligence to do vital reporting that is in the public interest. As we see more and more media consolidation, and bending the knee to the fascists, people who are effective at pulling back the curtain and telling the truth in a direct way that people understand become very problematic for the messaging/propaganda/programs the fascists and greed merchants are putting big money into to make happen.
In other words those who control the megaphone will eventually only want certain things, and not other, said through that megaphone. They won't likely make the change too abruptly but nobody could miss the fact that the legacy big media has been moving in an even more rightward direction. We also need to remember that control of messaging/propaganda is not just about what gets said but also what doesn't get said.
We need to be mindful of repression that takes place through omission of topics, hosts, producers etc. Remember what happened in the run-up to the Iraq War and how people like Phil Donahue and others had major efforts made against them to silence their questioning of the evidence for going to war. Repression by omission.
People like Murrow and the other pioneers of "investigative journalism" on TV would face a hard slog to get hired today at major networks/media companies if they stated the kinds of reporting they wished to do. Big greed/power/media knows the message it wants and what it doesn't want. It has purchased all of the major megaphones and the changes are evident.
So how long before MSNOW becomes MSCOWER remains to be seen but the assault on those across all the media companies who speak into the megaphones has been well underway for a long time now. Repression by omission.
no_hypocrisy
(53,792 posts)two stations that have only talk and both are right-wing. WABC predominates and WWOR tries to compete, but really isn't despite having Hannity.
My point: MSNOW can't compete with FOX. It would come off as a poor copy. By continuing the format of MSNBC, there would be ratings and commercial advertising to at least give viewers a choice.
moniss
(8,409 posts)part of these people is not about competing. It is about control. As you point out about talk radio it is and has been for a very long time dominated almost entirely by right wing nutjobs. The message remains the same no matter the channel is the aim of these people.
MSNBC used to have more liberal voices during the daytime. That changed even before the last few years of consolidation.
Ask yourself this question. If we were back in the early 2000's and the Republicans and W had been successful in gutting PBS don't you think that Phil Donahue or others would have had on the producers of series like "Frontline", "American Experience", "NOVA" etc. and done a show about what the budget cuts meant, the efforts to pressure them to alter or not do certain stories? But here we are today with a full blown FCC Commissioner echoing calls for censorship of political criticism and talking about "investigations of media people" and the loss to informing the public that is represented by cuts to those programs gets barely mentioned as a topic if at all let alone a whole show.
Years ago, and still, it was not unusual to go half way across the country and never hear anything different on AM radio than the same right wing whacko messaging no matter which channel you tuned to in any area. It wasn't about ratings. It was about the message.
no_hypocrisy
(53,792 posts)The attack on non-RW radio in NYC on the AM dial started with ABC buying WEVD and turning it into a sports station.
Then WWOR was converted to RW.
Then WLIB lost its liberal format.
Then WWRL stopped being talk, period.
hlthe2b
(112,148 posts)A far more minor issue, the new logo is just jarring to me. I will likely get used to it, but there is something beyond the newness that seems "off." But I hope for the best.
Irish_Dem
(77,995 posts)Are they throwing MSNBC overboard in a sneaky way.