tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post1011892837466319685..comments2023-10-17T04:51:08.765-10:00Comments on KauaiEclectic: Musings: Pressing ProblemsJoan Conrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00172330100788007499noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-16704395702349023792009-12-24T19:03:27.787-10:002009-12-24T19:03:27.787-10:00"hard to explain news of corporate malfeasanc..."hard to explain news of corporate malfeasance, especially involving the corporations who own media."<br /><br />-- im prob mostly agreeing w/ you, i think. tho times when the corp parent did put the kabash on a story that would hurt them directly do come to mind. a thing where a GE exec's wife ran a pr firm and got his help to kill a story killed on some nuclear plant safety / pollutant problem as the plant's corp parent hired her per firm <-- that is a pretty standard and effective tactic: hire a family member of the person you want to influence (also a common way to be less obvious when violating the foreign corrupt practices act, but i digrees a-la- dawson)<br /><br />and there was the 60 MIN tobacco story, where the corp parent freaked out about the $1B lawsuit threat (the movie "the insider")<br /><br />and noam chomsky offers some pretty compelling arguments RE the coverage of isreal<br /><br />still, there is plenty of good reporting out there; not hard to find<br /><br /><br />dwpsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-58481958499718385462009-12-24T08:52:32.125-10:002009-12-24T08:52:32.125-10:00A few rich corporations acting in their own best i...<i>A few rich corporations acting in their own best interest need not "conspire" to do so. Institutional analysis is not conspiracy theory. Even simple content analysis reveals a skewed repetition of some events and an under representation of others. Just ask yourself how long do you think a reporter can report stories the boss doesn't like before "moving on to pursue other interests" (corporate speak for "your fired")?</i><br /><br /><br />To repeat: If the media filtered the ""news"" "to serve the corporations that feed their coffers" then it would be hard to explain news of corporate malfeasance, especially involving the corporations who own media.<br /><br />But wait! We do see news of corporate malfeasance, every day! Corporations charged by the government with fraud, corporate executives perp walk before the cameras, why, there are even media exposes of corporations.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-86848408335146479582009-12-23T16:26:57.853-10:002009-12-23T16:26:57.853-10:00""Trying to be a first-rate reporter on ...""Trying to be a first-rate reporter on the average American newspaper is like trying to play Bach's 'St. Matthew Passion' on a ukulele.""<br /><br />Why does he hate ukuleles?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-38076034963043401122009-12-23T15:49:00.686-10:002009-12-23T15:49:00.686-10:00"How do we explain it? Not a very good conspi..."How do we explain it? Not a very good conspiracy they're running is it? Or maybe "conspiracy" is just the fevered dream of the American "progressive" fringe."<br /><br />Who said anything about conspiracy? A few rich corporations acting in their own best interest need not "conspire" to do so. Institutional analysis is not conspiracy theory. Even simple content analysis reveals a skewed repetition of some events and an under representation of others. Just ask yourself how long do you think a reporter can report stories the boss doesn't like before "moving on to pursue other interests" (corporate speak for "your fired")? If you answer is "longer than a New York Minute" you don't know what you are talking about and have never worked as a TV reporter.Ed Collhttp://kauai.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-50229095379778689752009-12-23T15:34:13.582-10:002009-12-23T15:34:13.582-10:00"As for colleges being indoctrination centers..."As for colleges being indoctrination centers, the ability of colleges and universities to control the message pales in comparison to the media's ability to influence public opinion."<br /><br />Yes indeed. Professors only wish they had the power media does. Kind of hard to blame college professors when one national 30 second spot reaches millions and cost the annual salary of many professors combined. <br /><br />Read "The Media Monolopy" by a professor "from the greatest generation" and educate yourself a bit before spouting loony conspiracy theories about 1960 era professors ability to influence public opinion.<br /><br />"Ben Haig Bagdikian (born 1920, Maraş, Ottoman Empire; now in Turkey) is an American educator and journalist of Armenian descent. Bagdikian has made journalism his profession since 1941. He is a significant American media critic and the dean emeritus of the University of California at Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism. In 1983, Bagdikian published The Media Monopoly, which revealed the fast-moving media conglomeration that was putting more and more media corporations in fewer and fewer hands with each new merger. This work has been updated through six editions (through 2000) before being renamed The New Media Monopoly and is considered a crucial resource for knowledge about media ownership. Bagdikian is credited with the observation that "Trying to be a first-rate reporter on the average American newspaper is like trying to play Bach's 'St. Matthew Passion' on a ukulele."<br /><br />PERMALINK: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ben_Bagdikian&oldid=327004182Ed Collhttp://kauai.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-7699629589429151612009-12-23T14:30:38.780-10:002009-12-23T14:30:38.780-10:00If there was a conspiracy among media to uncritica...If there was a conspiracy among media to uncritically support the Bush war efforts, how then to explain the eventual reversal of support by the same media and its extended self-reflection and self-criticism for having too readily reported the administrations line? In fact, it was the media who discovered and reported that various administration claims were false? <br /><br />How would we explain that?<br /><br />"The almost universal acceptance by the media of Ronald Reagan as a great president" is a nonexistent figment of your fevered imagination.<br /><br />If the media filtered the ""news"" "to serve the corporations that feed their coffers" then it would be hard to explain news of corporate malfeasance, especially involving the corporations who own media.<br /><br />But wait! We do see news of corporate malfeasance, every day! Corporations charged by the government with fraud, corporate executives perp walk before the cameras, why, there are even media exposes of corporations. <br /><br />How do we explain it? Not a very good conspiracy they're running is it? Or maybe "conspiracy" is just the fevered dream of the American "progressive" fringe.just because you're paranoid doesn't mean you're not crazynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-15076967482558884472009-12-23T13:29:46.116-10:002009-12-23T13:29:46.116-10:00You think it's a coincidence that the talking ...You think it's a coincidence that the talking point used by Bush administration officials leading up to the Iraq invasion were parroted by CNN, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, etc.? How's about the almost universal acceptance by the media of Ronald Reagan as a great president? As for colleges being indoctrination centers, the ability of colleges and universities to control the message pales in comparison to the media's ability to influence public opinion. Are you claiming that there is no concentration of media ownership among a select few corporations? Or that the "news" isn't filtered to serve the corporations that feed their coffers? Maybe you believe that the the radio and teleivision networks don't give a shit about the message and just let it rip. Yeah, that's a believable scenario because if you can't trust Hannity or Limbaugh, who can you trust?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-74187126724928685722009-12-23T11:06:41.616-10:002009-12-23T11:06:41.616-10:00Hilarious. The very politically radical baby boome...Hilarious. The very politically radical baby boomers who destroyed education in America now try to blame their failure on corporations. Puh-lease! Boomers have turned colleges into indoctrination centers and high schools into holding pens. You don’t expand your mind in college you learn to join an identity group or you learn to duck the crap that comes your way if you resist and refuse to regurgitate the vapid ideological brain-turds the boomers call progressive politics. Boomers use schools to indoctrinate and impose their non values on the young. Then aging professors and hippies have the audacity to try to deflect blame for the predictably devastating consequences of their stupid social theories.steal this education theorynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-82052015954353231982009-12-23T10:40:28.845-10:002009-12-23T10:40:28.845-10:00Wow, you guys are some humorous, if a little sad, ...Wow, you guys are some humorous, if a little sad, living stereotypes. So, how is this conspiracy to brainwash everyone coordinated among the corporations and all the separate school systems across the country? And how come you guys are the only ones smart enough to see what's happening while the rest of us are duped?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-76378412951247803252009-12-23T08:59:14.397-10:002009-12-23T08:59:14.397-10:00Corporate media's threat to democracy? It'...Corporate media's threat to democracy? It's at least thirty years too late for that warning. They've refined the techniques and now technology allows us to be brainwashed with high definition flat screen TVs.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-67208088983561100502009-12-23T08:00:16.988-10:002009-12-23T08:00:16.988-10:00Thanks for the clarification on the Khmer Rouge. I...Thanks for the clarification on the Khmer Rouge. It appears a few literate people can convince a very large number of illiterate people to kill people the literate don't like. This is troublesome given the declining literacy rate in the US and the fact that a few literate people (about 5 corporations) control a media such as television that can propagandize the illiterate in very large numbers. In earlier times one had to be literate to be propagandized by newspapers, books, posters etc. Joan is correct about TVs negative influence on literacy, but the ability of TV to propagandize such large numbers of illiterates is the true threat to democracy, peace and social justice.Ed Collhttp://kauai.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-16823575271980154962009-12-23T07:08:00.153-10:002009-12-23T07:08:00.153-10:00Although digressing from the original post, clarif...Although digressing from the original post, clarification: Khmer Rouge leaders were all highly educated (in France) and copied the Maoist doctorine. They employed the peasants (the illiterati) to run the country, focusing on agrarian gains. This meant intellectuals and others with "foreign" influences, such as those wearing glasses, suffered or were killed. There is a large corpus of work out there detailing those years. In the end, the experiment failed, obviously, and the Vietnamese saved Cambodia, ironically, after the US pullout of Saigon.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-46551401261226386882009-12-22T18:43:22.047-10:002009-12-22T18:43:22.047-10:00The Khmer Rouge didn't make anyone their slave...The Khmer Rouge didn't make anyone their slaves. They just murdered everyone. Which doesn't seem all that bright. So, yeah, they were probably illiterate. Their attitude was, eat the rich. And the smart. And the not particularly rich or bright who didn't agree with them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-79341872492494663412009-12-22T17:26:44.706-10:002009-12-22T17:26:44.706-10:00Weren't the Khmer Rouge illiterate?Weren't the Khmer Rouge illiterate?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-10007839216317669502009-12-22T17:12:07.594-10:002009-12-22T17:12:07.594-10:00The functionally illiterate?
December 22, 2009 3:...The functionally illiterate?<br /><br />December 22, 2009 3:54 PM<br /><br />ha, ha, ha, ha, ha - sweet!<br /><br />I look forward to the census next year - anyone else? It is pretty easy to see the demographical change. I'm afraid the illiterate one will be incorrect.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-57543196726227800592009-12-22T16:25:56.361-10:002009-12-22T16:25:56.361-10:00Let's eat grandpa! Let's eat, grandpa! Com...Let's eat grandpa! Let's eat, grandpa! Commas save lives.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-51195049016296938802009-12-22T16:22:10.685-10:002009-12-22T16:22:10.685-10:00boat dos guys gusd wong. gus agin.boat dos guys gusd wong. gus agin.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-29719931289725238942009-12-22T15:59:35.999-10:002009-12-22T15:59:35.999-10:00Ain't nobody goin hav 2 b a slave all de time ...<i>Ain't nobody goin hav 2 b a slave all de time no mo<br />We goin take turns<br />an guess whos turn it is now?</i><br /><br />People who don't believe in a Second Amendment right to bear arms.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-74715294502767419732009-12-22T15:54:36.999-10:002009-12-22T15:54:36.999-10:00Ain't nobody goin hav 2 b a slave all de time ...<i>Ain't nobody goin hav 2 b a slave all de time no mo<br />We goin take turns<br />an guess whos turn it is now?</i><br /><br />The functionally illiterate?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-55298063538561356462009-12-22T15:53:06.434-10:002009-12-22T15:53:06.434-10:00Ain't nobody goin hav 2 b a slave all de time ...Ain't nobody goin hav 2 b a slave all de time no mo<br />We goin take turns<br />an guess whos turn it is now?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-67183867986925358342009-12-22T10:59:01.400-10:002009-12-22T10:59:01.400-10:00Looks like this blog has gone from a boiling cauld...<i>Looks like this blog has gone from a boiling cauldron to a tepid pool.<br /><br />Ah, the ebbs and flows of the blogs.</i><br /><br />How many people really care that some people build big houses?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-34109208365857472462009-12-21T19:37:03.960-10:002009-12-21T19:37:03.960-10:001. Education is important.
2. Do Hawaii residents...1. Education is important.<br />2. Do Hawaii residents take advantage of educational opportunities?<br />3. Do Native Hawaiians take advantage of their educational opportunities?<br />4. Are their educational opportunities competent, even if they want an education?<br /><br />Scary stuff.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-62328384813236056532009-12-21T17:55:23.375-10:002009-12-21T17:55:23.375-10:00The fact that it was a crime to teach slaves how t...<i>The fact that it was a crime to teach slaves how to read not only accounted for the high illiteracy rate among blacks, but is indicative of how much those in control feared literacy. </i><br /><br />And lest anyone think the desire to "keep them in their place" is ancient history and confined to the slave owning South, consider the attitude of White trading post owners on Navajo lands in 1955, a few years after the proliferation of schools began to break the domination of illiteracy: <br /><br /><i>Many traders express the opinion that Navahos are congenitally indolent, so that there is not, from their point of view, any such thing as an "ideal Navaho." Shonto's trader [White owner/operator of the sole commercial business in, and primary representative of White culture to, the Shonto community], however is actually able to point to an "ideal Navaho" in the community. This individual is cited and extolled repeatedly (though not in his own presence) as embodying all of the qualities which the White world expects and values in a Navaho. So far as the trader is concerned he sets the standard of behavior for the whole community.<br /><br />Shonto's "ideal Navaho" is a man of 44.... He is a completely reliable worker -- punctual in arriving and industrious on the job. He is always available for work when needed, and does not take time off without obtaining prior permission.<br /><br />...He lives in an ordinary hogan with his wife and seven children, wears long hair, and speaks no English (although he is reputed to understand a good deal of it).... He has never been to school. He has a very large flock of sheep, sells his lambs and wool to the store every year, and is an assiduous farmer. He is orderly in his behavior, does not drink or fight, and regularly attends and participates in native religious performances.<br /><br />His behavior is approved and praised [by his White employer] above that of other Navajos of superior education who have actually achieved a higher income and a considerably higher standard of living in the outside world.</i><br /><br />-- Adams, W.Y. <i>Shonto: A Study of the Role of the Trader in a Modern Navaho Community</i>, 1963: 286-287.Dawsonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-88341995009603796872009-12-21T17:09:17.914-10:002009-12-21T17:09:17.914-10:00Looks like this blog has gone from a boiling cauld...Looks like this blog has gone from a boiling cauldron to a tepid pool.<br /><br />Ah, the ebbs and flows of the blogs.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-60981329225294955022009-12-21T14:36:05.009-10:002009-12-21T14:36:05.009-10:00I lik to wach tv. lots of smart peeple telling me ...I lik to wach tv. lots of smart peeple telling me ther idas and the comershuls are good to.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com