{"id":1142,"date":"2008-11-29T15:46:49","date_gmt":"2008-11-29T23:46:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1142"},"modified":"2008-11-29T15:58:16","modified_gmt":"2008-11-29T23:58:16","slug":"government-bailouts-the-media-is-in-it-for-themselves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1142","title":{"rendered":"Government Bailouts: The Media Is In It For Themselves"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the past few weeks there has been a flurry of activity on Capitol Hill to dump truckloads of cash on ailing industries. Insurance companies, banks and financial services, mortgage lenders, and auto makers are all heading for Washington with their hands out.<\/p>\n

But who is the real beneficiary? Keep this in mind when you see news reports in the media discussing the benefits of multi-billion dollar taxpayer funded disbursements to the nation’s biggest corporations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
2007 Advertising Expenditures<\/a> By Bailout Targets<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Company<\/b><\/td>\nAmount<\/b> (000’s)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
General Motors<\/td>\n3,010<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ford<\/td>\n2,525<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Toyota<\/td>\n1,758<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Chrysler<\/td>\n1,739<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bank of America<\/td>\n1,491<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Nissan Motor<\/td>\n1,407<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Honda<\/td>\n1,326<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Citigroup<\/td>\n1,135<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
JPMorgan Chase<\/td>\n1,074<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
American Express<\/td>\n1,050<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Capital One<\/td>\n757<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Hyundai<\/td>\n651<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Visa<\/td>\n581<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Allstate<\/td>\n537<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Fidelity <\/td>\n499<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
MasterCard<\/td>\n489<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Progressive<\/td>\n460<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Washington Mutual<\/td>\n445<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
State Farm Mutual<\/td>\n431<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Wells Fargo<\/td>\n356<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Total:<\/b><\/td>\n21,751<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

That’s right. That’s almost $22 Billion in advertising that would be at risk if these companies were to fail. And this is only from the list of the top 100 advertisers. All told, the total would come to more than $36 billion. That does not include ancillary businesses like home furnishings, hardware, gas and oil, auto parts, accounting services, etc., all of whom are significant advertisers.<\/p>\n

Do you think that the media might be somewhat concerned about losing these sources of revenue? Do you think that they might adjust their coverage to make the bailouts more palatable to the public to insure their passage? Do you think the businesses might pressure the media to put on a positive spin under the threat of cutting back on ad budgets?<\/p>\n

When you consider how much of the money doled out to the banks, automakers, etc., would eventually end up in the pockets of Big Media, you would think that someone would question whether or not they can fairly present coverage of these issues. At the very least, they ought to disclose their interest so that news consumers can factor that into their conclusions.<\/p>\n

The media also has its tentacles around the legislators in Congress who are debating and deciding these matters. So our representatives in Washington are susceptible to pressure from the media if they want to continue to receive favorable coverage. No congressman wants the press battering them every day about how they are responsible for this economic debacle.<\/p>\n

Because of the ascendancy of multi-national media monopolies, whose only allegiance is to their bottom line, it is almost impossible to separate the interests of media companies from the corporate culture they promote and the public discourse they control. And they can hardly be depended on to represent the interests of their readers and viewers. Certainly not at the expense of their own interests. So when an issue of public concern is raised, the public has to very careful about who to trust.<\/p>\n

Once again, the irrepressible anthem of conspiracy theorists everywhere is the key to assessing these mysteries. Cui Bono – Who Benefits. In this case, clearly the media will enjoy a windfall if American taxpayers bailout our failing industries. That doesn’t mean that the bailouts are bad policy. It just means that if we get our information about this from Big Media, we may not have all the facts with which to make the right call. And if we ever hope to have confidence in what we learn from the press, these media conglomerates will have to be broken up and regulated to insure independence and diversity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the past few weeks there has been a flurry of activity on Capitol Hill to dump truckloads of cash on ailing industries. Insurance companies, banks and financial services, mortgage lenders, and auto makers are all heading for Washington with their hands out. But who is the real beneficiary? Keep this in mind when you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,1,8],"tags":[247,462],"class_list":["post-1142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-big-media","category-general","category-propaganda","tag-advertising","tag-bailout"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Ijg-iq","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4087,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=4087","url_meta":{"origin":1142,"position":0},"title":"Stop Federal Funding Of Fox News","author":"Mark NC","date":"3\/21\/2011","format":false,"excerpt":"A few weeks ago video pimp and propagandist, James O'Keefe, released a heavily edited and deliberately deceptive video that purported to expose an institutional bias at National Public Radio. It was quickly debunked and denounced as a fraud by analysts across the political spectrum, including those at Glenn Beck's web\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Media"","block_context":{"text":"Big Media","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1239,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1239","url_meta":{"origin":1142,"position":1},"title":"Fox News Tea Baggers Consumed With Fear","author":"Mark NC","date":"4\/9\/2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The upcoming Tax Day Tea Parties are shaping up to be a source of unending hilarity. A week before the event, supporters are already fretting over their self-invented fears of being infiltrated by the liberal, Soros-sponsored, ACORN hordes, who apparently have nothing better to do than disrupt the Foxbots' Mad\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":68117,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=68117","url_meta":{"origin":1142,"position":2},"title":"WHUT? Trump’s Treasury Secretary Says a $40 Billion Bailout of Argentina is…’America First’?","author":"Mark NC","date":"10\/26\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"From the beginning of his political career, Donald Trump has been chanting the slogan \"America First!\" that he lifted from an early 1900s movement that was associated with anti-Semitism, fascism, and a campaign to prevent the United States from getting involved in World War II and the fight against Hitler\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Economy"","block_context":{"text":"Economy","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=219"},"img":{"alt_text":"Donald Trump","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-baby-flag.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-baby-flag.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-baby-flag.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1157,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1157","url_meta":{"origin":1142,"position":3},"title":"Fox Business Network Sues U. S. Treasury","author":"Mark NC","date":"12\/19\/2008","format":false,"excerpt":"The U. S. Department of the Treasury is taking on friendly fire. The Fox Business Network has just announced that they are suing them to force the disclosure of information about the Wall Street bailout and how the funds are being used. FBN filed a Freedom of Information Act request\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Free Press"","block_context":{"text":"Free Press","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=14"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":569,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=569","url_meta":{"origin":1142,"position":4},"title":"News Corpse Sells Out","author":"Mark NC","date":"8\/23\/2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Beginning today, News Corpse is a member of the Liberal Advertising BlogAd Network. The LBAN is a group of progressive blogs that have coalesced under this banner to support, through advertising, blogging and bloggers who promote \"the national progressive zeitgeist\". For the New Media revolution to remain a viable challenger\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6738,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=6738","url_meta":{"origin":1142,"position":5},"title":"Fox News Asks: Can the Chevy Volt Help Win the War on Terror?","author":"Mark NC","date":"3\/26\/2012","format":false,"excerpt":"For the past year or so, Fox News has been mercilessly bashing Chevrolet's new electric vehicle, the Volt. They have derided it as an unsafe, unpopular, taxpayer-funded boondoggle, that was foisted on the auto industry and the public by President Obama as part of his socialist agenda. This well-coordinate media\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1142\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}