Media Capture Is No Joke

[appalachiablue]

Daily Kos, Nov. 28, 2024. Ed. Image: 'I wish this were fake news' poster

For the past week, Elon Musk has repeatedly commented about buying MSNBC. At the same time, Musk accused the news outlet of peddling "puerile propaganda" and derided MSNBC's ratings, which have- as might be expected - dropped since the election. The result has been a string of comments on Twitter and Fox News in which Trump supporters chortle over the thought of replacing Rachel Maddow with Joe Rogan and exult in the distress they believe Musk's comments must be generating on the left.

Many of Musk's "jokes," and those of toadies like Rogan, have been accompanied by the kind of homophobic, racist, or misogynist memes that have come to dominate Twitter since Musk laid down $44 billion to destroy that platform. But even as Musk and his social media pals laugh, no one should consider this a farce. It's a threat. And it's not just a threat against MSNBC. Musk is signaling that he has the limitless resources and unchecked power to purchase and shutter any outlet he believes represents a threat to Donald Trump or the incoming array of kleptocrats. He can not only silence perceived critics, he can do it on a whim.

What Musk is suggesting is known as "media capture," and it's a common practice among authoritarian governments everywhere. Whether it's a long series of Russian journalists falling from windows, or Victor Orban building a media empire that controls every scrap of news reaching the citizens of Hungary, a hallmark of authoritarian governments is that they do not tolerate independent reporting.

One of the first and most obvious messages to emerge in the wake of the election earlier this month was just how uninformed and misinformed many American voters already are. In post-election interviews, many voters falsely attributed policies advocated by Kamala Harris to Trump. The policies that Trump actually ran on, from inflationary tariffs to mass deportations to the destruction of the legal system, were either missed altogether or dismissed as inconsequential political rhetoric...
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/11/28/2289221/-Media-capture-is-no-joke

[appalachiablue]

1. Total Media Capture - The Third Reich - Newspapers, Radio, Motion Pictures

Last edited Fri Nov 29, 2024, 07:50 AM - Edit history (1)

USHMM. When Hitler came to power in 1933, Germany had a well-developed communications infrastructure. Over 4,700 daily and weekly newspapers were published annually in Germany, more newspapers than in any other industrialized nation, with a total circulation of 25 million..

Germany's movie industry ranked among the world's largest, its films had won international acclaim, and it had pioneered in the development of both radio and television.

Establishing Control of the Press:
When Hitler took power in 1933, the Nazis controlled less than 3% of Germany's 4,700 papers. The elimination of the multiparty political system not only brought about the demise of hundreds of newspapers produced by outlawed political parties; it also allowed the state to seize the printing plants and equipment of the Communist and Social Democratic Parties, which were often turned over directly to the Nazi Party. In the following months, the Nazis established control or exerted influence over independent press organs.

During the first weeks of 1933, the Nazi regime deployed the radio, press, and newsreels to stoke fears of a pending “Communist uprising,” then channeled popular anxieties into political measures that eradicated civil liberties and democracy. Within months, the Nazi regime destroyed Germany's previously vigorous free press...

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/writing-the-news

[Just Jerome]

2. Capture the media,

capture the courts, capture a religious sect; it’s a tried and true algorithm, though far too many think it’s the greatest thing since breathing. Poor dumb bastards always end up about the same and drag the rest (us all) into their sick maelstrom.

Sisyphus lives, and we are he!

[appalachiablue]

3. Many major changes and challenges ahead, hold on tight. Thanks for posting.

[littlemissmartypants]

4. Great post. Thank you. ❤️

[appalachiablue]

5. You're very welcome. Thanks for replying.

[littlemissmartypants]

10. My pleasure. ❤️

[bronxiteforever]

6. Thank you for posting! Now I have a name for it.

“Media Capture” is exactly what is going on.

[appalachiablue]

8. You're welcome, spot on term. Here's another kind of major 'capture'

Last edited Fri Nov 29, 2024, 09:24 AM - Edit history (1)

Wiki. - Regulatory Capture. In politics, regulatory capture (also called agency capture) is a form of corruption of authority that occurs when a political entity, policymaker, or regulator is co-opted to serve the commercial, ideological, or political interests of a minor constituency, such as a particular geographic area, industry, profession, or ideological group.

When regulatory capture occurs, a special interest is prioritized over the general interests of the public, leading to a net loss for society...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture

[chouchou]

7. I'm sure that many thoughts cannot be spoken on this forum.

[FakeNoose]

9. NBC could refuse to sell to him ... it's their choice, not his

[snot]

11. Follow the $!

MASSIVE consolidation of media ownership followed on the heels of the Telecom Act of 1996, which removed restrictions on such consolidation. Here are links to some more-or-less current charts and related info re- ownership of the media.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/09/17/incredible-belief-corporate-ownership-does-not-influence-media-content

https://adfontesmedia.com/media-ownership-and-bias/

https://adfontesmedia.com/interactive-media-bias-chart/

https://res.cloudinary.com/tmxfoc/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1649162882/titlemax/9da18bf2-who-owns-your-news-11_60per_compressed_290445f2b4/9da18bf2-who-owns-your-news-11_60per_compressed_290445f2b4.png?_i=AA

Imho, anyone who thinks that any of the international megacorps that own the vast majority of our media are truly liberal should think again.

[appalachiablue]

12. Tx you for adding this impt info. IK, the 1996 Telecom Act was major. Way too

much corp consolidation has gone on in the last several decades. It's damaging democracy and Americans. Neoliberal economics is toxic.

A few years back a relative kept saying the 'liberal media' so much that I finally had to get rough with the real facts and they stopped.

Joseph Stiglitz, Democrats Need to Dump Neoliberal Economics, Nov 28, 2024,
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/nov/28/the-message-to-democrats-is-clear-you-must-dump-neoliberal-economics