Tom Huckin Handout:

 

  "Politics as Show Biz and the Role of the Corporate-owned Media"

  by Tom Huckin, Salt Lake City Library, 9/26/2004

 

  1. The US as global empire vs. the geopolitical ignorance of the average US citizen.
  1. The basic argument:  (a) although we live in an information-saturated society, most people actually get relatively little information about some of the most important issues affecting our country, (b) this is due to a combination of factors, including the prevailing economic system, contemporary American lifestyles, the main sources of information, and the intrinsic nature of the mass media itself.
  1. Due to laissez-faire capitalism and the individualist ethic, most Americans are working harder than ever but experiencing greater economic anxiety.
  1. Most Americans are too overworked and stressed out to follow the news in depth.  Instead, they turn to entertainment for relaxation.  News corporations have accommodated them by turning news itself into a form of entertainment.
  1.  Most Americans get their picture of the world from the mass media, esp. network or cable TV.
  1. The mainstream media are now controlled by a small number of giant, multinational corporations, all of which are politically conservative.
  1. This translates into direct or indirect political pressure/censorship and little investigative reporting.
  1. TV as a medium favors simplicity over complexity and thereby favors conservative themes over liberal ones.   (Scheuer).
  1. Just as the mass media are increasingly entertainment-oriented, so is public politics.
  1. Mass entertainment is expensive, hence the need for both political parties to get corporate support.
  1. In exchange, both parties do the corporations’ bidding on economic issues.
  1.  Both political parties use theatrical social issues as a distraction from the more serious, but more complex, economic issues. 
  1. Journalists themselves must also toe the corporate line.  They do less and less investigative reporting and seldom raise important issues that the corporate/political establishment prefers to keep off the table.
  1. Everything in this system conspires to undermine progressivism. 
  1. One way to combat this is through education in critical media analysis.  Students should pay particular attention to certain rhetorical techniques that politicians like to use:
  1.  In addition, there are numerous alternative sources of information and investigative reporting: