"Liberal" Media...

[Marksist]

Clicky McClicky

GENERAL ELECTRIC --(donated 1.1 million to GW Bush for his 2000 election campaign)

Television Holdings:
* NBC: includes 13 stations, 28% of US households.
* NBC Network News: The Today Show, Nightly News with Tom Brokaw, Meet the Press, Dateline NBC, NBC News at Sunrise.
* CNBC business television; MSNBC 24-hour cable and Internet news service (co-owned by NBC and Microsoft); Court TV (co-owned with Time Warner), Bravo (50%), A&E (25%), History Channel (25%).
The "MS" in MSNBC
means microsoft
The same Microsoft that donated 2.4 million to get GW bush elected.

Other Holdings:
* GE Consumer Electronics.
* GE Power Systems: produces turbines for nuclear reactors and power plants.
* GE Plastics: produces military hardware and nuclear power equipment.
* GE Transportation Systems: runs diesel and electric trains.
==================================================

WESTINGHOUSE / CBS INC.
Westinghouse Electric Company, part of the Nuclear Utilities Business Group of British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL)
whos #1 on the Board of Directors? None other than:
Frank Carlucci (of the Carlyle Group)

Television Holdings:
* CBS: includes 14 stations and over 200 affiliates in the US.
* CBS Network News: 60 minutes, 48 hours, CBS Evening News with Dan Rather, CBS Morning News, Up to the Minute.
* Country Music Television, The Nashville Network, 2 regional sports networks.
* Group W Satellite Communications.
Other Holdings:
* Westinghouse Electric Company: provides services to the nuclear power industry.
* Westinghouse Government Environmental Services Company: disposes of nuclear and hazardous wastes. Also operates 4 government-owned nuclear power plants in the US.
* Energy Systems: provides nuclear power plant design and maintenance.
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VIACOM INTERNATIONAL INC.
Television Holdings:
* Paramount Television, Spelling Television, MTV, VH-1, Showtime, The Movie Channel, UPN (joint owner), Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, Sundance Channel (joint owner), Flix.
* 20 major market US stations.
Media Holdings:
* Paramount Pictures, Paramount Home Video, Blockbuster Video, Famous Players Theatres, Paramount Parks.
* Simon & Schuster Publishing.
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DISNEY / ABC / CAP (donated 640 thousand to GW's 2000 campaign)
Television Holdings:
* ABC: includes 10 stations, 24% of US households.
* ABC Network News: Prime Time Live, Nightline, 20/20, Good Morning America.
* ESPN, Lifetime Television (50%), as well as minority holdings in A&E, History Channel and E!
* Disney Channel/Disney Television, Touchtone Television.
Media Holdings:
* Miramax, Touchtone Pictures.
* Magazines: Jane, Los Angeles Magazine, W, Discover.
* 3 music labels, 11 major local newspapers.
* Hyperion book publishers.
* Infoseek Internet search engine (43%).
Other Holdings:
* Sid R. Bass (major shares) crude oil and gas.
* All Disney Theme Parks, Walt Disney Cruise Lines.
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TIME-WARNER TBS - AOL (donated 1.6 million to GW's 2000 campaign)
America Online (AOL) acquired Time Warner–the largest merger in corporate history.
Television Holdings:
* CNN, HBO, Cinemax, TBS Superstation, Turner Network Television, Turner Classic Movies, Warner Brothers Television, Cartoon Network, Sega Channel, TNT, Comedy Central (50%), E! (49%), Court TV (50%).
* Largest owner of cable systems in the US with an estimated 13 million subscribers.
Media Holdings:
* HBO Independent Productions, Warner Home Video, New Line Cinema, Castle Rock, Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera.
* Music: Atlantic, Elektra, Rhino, Sire, Warner Bros. Records, EMI, WEA, Sub Pop (distribution) = the world’s largest music company.
* 33 magazines including Time, Sports Illustrated, People, In Style, Fortune, Book of the Month Club, Entertainment Weekly, Life, DC Comics (50%), and MAD Magazine.
Other Holdings:
* Sports: The Atlanta Braves, The Atlanta Hawks, World Championship Wrestling.
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NEWS CORPORATION LTD. / FOX NETWORKS (Rupert Murdoch) (donations see bottom note)
Television Holdings:
* Fox Television: includes 22 stations, 50% of US households.
* Fox International: extensive worldwide cable and satellite networks include British Sky Broadcasting (40%); VOX, Germany (49.9%); Canal Fox, Latin America; FOXTEL, Australia (50%); STAR TV, Asia; IskyB, India; Bahasa Programming Ltd., Indonesia (50%); and News Broadcasting, Japan (80%).
* The Golf Channel (33%).
MEDIA HOLDINGS:
* Twentieth Century Fox, Fox Searchlight.
* 132 newspapers (113 in Australia alone) including the New York Post, the London Times and The Australian.
* 25 magazines including TV Guide and The Weekly Standard.
* HarperCollins books.
OTHER HOLDINGS:
* Sports: LA Dodgers, LA Kings, LA Lakers, National Rugby League.
* Ansett Australia airlines, Ansett New Zealand airlines.
* Rupert Murdoch: Board of Directors, Philip Morris (USA).

*(Phillip Morris donated 2.9 million to George W Bush in 2000)*

*Note* All boldface added by me.

Very interesting to see that Viacom seems to be the only major television owner to not have contributed to Dubya's 2000 campaign. I think this should dispell at least some of the "Liberal bias in the media" myth.

[SyntaxVorlon]

I'll play devils advocate and say that a lot of companies donate to both parties. It would be good to know what each of these companies donated to the Kerry Campaign, if anything.

[Pu-239]

I believe Kerry is also a Disney cocksucker (probably even moreso). Don't know about the others, but it's likely- according to this, less:

Anyway, stuff from Opensecrets.org for 2004:

Kerry:
http://www.opensecrets.org/presidential ... =N00000245

Bush:
http://www.opensecrets.org/presidential ... =N00008072

Probably doesn't include soft money, but that's not applicable to this election anyway.

[The Kernel]

Anyone who actually watches the news networks out there doesn't need to follow the money trail to learn that the "liberal media" thing is a myth.

Look at it this way, can you name a news network that would be the left equivalent of Fox News? How about a radio show with anything approaching the distribution of Rush? When people talk about "liberal media" they usually point to the example of NPR/PBS which is ridiculous when compared to outright conservative propeganda networks like Fox News.

[Pu-239]

I'm not trying to validate the myth of the liberal media... just saying the media conglomerates have contributed to both candidates (probably for stuff like the Sonny Bono Copyright Extension act, the DMCA, etc). This is becoming a thread hijack though- however contributions are not a sure sign of who a politician supports or where contributers' ideologies lie.

I'm not as knowledgable about politics as others on this board, so feel free to correct me.

[fgalkin]

Someone there posted this link. but I don't know how accurate it is.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[Cairber]

conservatives think the media is liberal, liberals think its conservative. Frankly, it shouldnt matter since we should all the endowed with the ability to think for ourselves. Its a nice challenge they pose for us...well, us who like to think for ourselves.

[Joe]

Poorly researched Indymedia trash.

[CJvR]

conservatives think the media is liberal, liberals think its conservative.

Well they are probably both right. The ownership is conservative but the reporters are most likely not.

[Glocksman]

The media isn't uniformly liberal or conservative, but rather are one or the other depending upon the issue at hand.

For example, I've read and seen plenty of pieces in the 'mainstream' (NY Times, Washington Post, network news, etc) media on gun control over the years, and I can count the number of neutral pieces with 2 hands and the number of progun pieces on one hand. The mainstream media is almost uniformly antigun, not neutral like they profess to be.


On other issues, the prevailing orthodoxy may tend conservative.

[Marksist]

Anyone who actually watches the news networks out there doesn't need to follow the money trail to learn that the "liberal media" thing is a myth.

I agree, I posted this as it seems to quantify the fact that the myth is false. But, as the links Pu-239 posted, it seems that they are both about equal as far as the money thing goes. And Joe said the source is not good (just found this on a search, and didn't delve further into the site), so I'll retract that there is monetary proof that the owners of media outlets overwhelmingly favor conservative candidates.

[Jessie Stamos]

I should work for a major paper.

[Coyote]

I used to think the media was hopelesly liberal, a lefty jerkoff machine. But after seing the way they gleefully tore into Clinton, the liberal uber-hero, I was with doubt. The spectre of an American President possibly going down in flames trumped any ideological bent...

But they do pick and choose... on gun control they are fiercely leftist, for sure... face it, the media are just in it for themselves, primarily. THey are building up Kerry on one hand while totally making a mockery of him on the other, but their atacks on BUsh are obvious as well...

They're just mercenaries. Or whores, depending on your pov. Except these mercenaries make their own wars to pas the time and make profits...

[Boyish-Tigerlilly]

They also have 2 chapters devoted to why the media isn't liberal in Al Franken's book; Lies, and the lying liars who tell them. Funny book.