Conspiracy and the Press...

[Arrow]

Yes, I not only believe it, I know it for certain that huge conglomerates own and operate and, yes, control through their management and producers (and our FCC) every single word we hear and image we see. It's called propaganda. Ask any war correspondent what happens to their reports after they are written

Mike put this up under the Wall thread but I would like to answer the statement here.

If one will just walk through their local library, Library of Congress, or a university library,Visit Barnes and Noble, or Borders, go on line with a good search engine they will find that we are the most wide open society in the world concerning freedom of the press.

We have the greatest opportunity in the world to question everything that is presented to us via news channels outlets if we are not lazy.

I'm stunned when educated people are of the mindset that there is no freedom of the press. I would hope we would not pass this mindset on to our younger generation. I would rather see them encouraged to ask questions and find their answers through diligent research and to seek both sides of the question before settling on a conclusion.

I have never oncefailed to find the resources I needed when researching a question be it political, religious, historical, or any social issue. I'm almost sixty years old(next year Keith) and I have not seen a decrease in knowlege available but a huge increase.Ifeel very blessed to have lived my life in a placewhere I can think my own thoughts and get my own answers. If there is thoughtcontrol in this countrythey missed my mind completely.

Just my thoughts...

[phuloi]

Mike needs to switch channels,is all.Anyone that listens to the liberal gibberish espoused by NPR should be required by all that is rightous to tune into FOX News at least once a week to see "Fair and Ballanced" reporting.Just my right-wing oppinion.

[MORTARDUDE]

Sis :

Well stated. I would also add a lot of folks do not want to spend the time to see what is really going on. If all you see are the major network's news shows ( including Fox ) and read the paper, you are going to miss a great deal. Anyone that wants to know the truth has NO excuse not to find it.

Larry

[phuloi]

Right you are,Larry,but at least FOX will air opposing views.

[82Rigger]

I believe we have freedom of the press just like I believe that our right to keep and bear arms has never been "infringed".

Sure, you can go to the library or the internet and read anything you want. But if you read or seek "certain things" you will become "of interest" to some government agencies. This policy has been requested by the current administration and may already be in place.

The press is free to print whatever they know except for compromising security issues, but...how can they print what they don't know? And if something is being with-held, how would you KNOW that it's being with-held?

POWER is no respecter of national boundaries, and neither is abuse of power.

My two cents.

Steve / 82Rigger

[Boats]

You are both right! And it goes along way by saying that some interpret things differently in almost every instance.

Ever notice how people in a room can watch the same thing and come away with different opinions of what they just saw. The same applies to news.

The media gives us on bites of data the real story takes a more indepth read to get the whole picture.

The US is a very deep society and a mixture of peoples from all over the world. It's this mix that makes us great. It's the feedback from many minds that see things just slightly different than others.

What makes us great is our ability to interact with each other to takes sides on issues that offend us or that we take exception to. Other countries would lock us up and begin brain washing courses.

Though we don't always get along internally we do come together on issues that really matter and that is what makes us great or better than most.

[b3196]

I do not believe that the news is controlled by our government and hugh conglomertes.....The news is controlled by the individual reporters and its editors who give them permission to say or write what they feel is correct. Its a proven fact that bad news sells better then good news. Griz you're right If you want to know what is going on in this world, Fox news gives a fair and unbiased account. I refuse to listen to Peter Jennings and Dan Rathers. both of which reported negatively toward the President's actions after 9/11..... Again my opinion only and we
all know what opinions are like.
Bob K

[BLUEHAWK]

What Steve and Boats said is closer to what I would have been trying to say in the post Little Sparrow started this with, if I had actually been as smart as some folks think I am, or think I think I am.

> True, we DO have a very free press compared with Stalinist USSR or Red China. Ask yourself though, how WOULD FOX News respond if O'Reilly suddenly became as liberal as people say Dan Rather is? Or, if Dan Rather became as conservative as people say O'Reilly is! To suggest that there is NO relationship between what gets reported and the way it is reported, with who OWNS and GOVERNS the networks may simply be naive, or at best hopeful.

> What is different about NPR/PBS, nominally, is that they do find ways to present "out of the box" viewpoints nobody EVER sees on broadcast TV or on Cable. Even they, however, experience what Steve was alluding to. I'm not suggesting they are right, I'm only saying there are only two public sources of alternative opinion... both of which are government funded.

> We tend to think of ANYONE in America as being able to access internet and cable. That simply is not the case, unless one can afford the price. We here on PF somehow manage, but I submit that there are literally millions of our people who cannot. The FCC and high-tech industry are tied in with promoting better access of course, but they are also in control of HOW that is accomplished. People on fixed incomes, and many many elderly (the ones most likely to vote) simply cannot pay the price demanded for full and complete access to information. Cable companies often force a customer to pay for access to their own local news. My work of the past 30 years has taken me to all but two of our States (driving, not on airplanes), and I have sat listening in A LOT of living rooms and meeting halls of all imaginable kinds. I'm just offering the evidence I have personally seen. I am not suggesting a conspiracy.

> I will say again, for anyone who believes that reporters control what is broadcast, ask any honest war correspondent their opinion of that statement, ask any editor of a newspaper whether or not there is any relationship between what gets printed and a) who their advertisers are, b) who owns their paper; if they will tell the truth...

> Propaganda, as Goebbels demonstrated, is a mighty sword... kinda sneaks in under the door like a toxic gas, very quiet and deadly.

Complacency and misplaced trust are the true enemies of freedom.

[PHO127]

The Sports newscaster for the local FOX station was interviewing John Shurholtz (GM of the Braves) about John Smoltz being put on the 15 day disabled list. Shurholtz repeatedly stated that the Ace closer had only a mild case of tendonitis and it was not due to any previous surgery and since we were 13 games in the lead they wanted to rest him for 15 days so he would be in peak shape for the playoffs and a run at the series. Advance to just prior to the 10 PM news and the same newscaster headlines topics for the 10 PM news. "HEAR ABOUT THE DEVASTATING INJURY TO JOHN SMOLTZ AND OUR CHANCES IN THE PLAYOFFS" So much for fair and balanced. Major news " The FBI says Major Crime is at its lowest point in years" Gwinette County Georgia is experiencing its largest increase in crime ever, this year the murder rate for Gwinette surpassed all of last year by the end of July. And people wonder why I have added a 12ga double barrel coach gun to my arsenal in my pickup.

[DMZ-LT]

PHO , just a few questions from an old Cavalryman: What is a 12 ga ? are there other ga.'s ? if so what ga."s are the smallest / biggest ? What ga.'s are used in combat ? Are there more than double barrels ? what is the most # 's of barrels ? do the Marines use them ? if you have a coach gun can you also own a chair gun ? do they make bunk bed guns ? Just trying to understand , thanks.