I like my press free
I’m currently reading this book: Reporting the Arab-Israeli Conflict: How Hegemony Works. It’s sort of a comparative study between the Israeli press pre- and post-independence. One of the primary issues that comes up in such a comparison, with regard to hegemony, is how one-sided or hegemonic a press is with the military censorship of the outwardly Zionist pre-independnce press, as opposed to the capitalist, bottom-line-driven censorship of today’s Israeli coverage. Here’s a quote telling us what the study reveals:
Asked to choose the greater danger to a free press – that of censorship by the military (in the name of political self-interest) or that of censorship by press owners (in the name of economic self-interest) – senior journalists in Israel unanimously name the latter. Military censorship, they believe, is more negotioable, and less opposed to journalistic values, than capitalist censorship. (pg. 28, my bold/italics)
What is possibly most amazing to consider about this revelation is its presentation of military and capitalistic censorship as mutually exclusive. However, there is a lot of evidence that the Western press, particularly in the US, is subjected to the shortcomings of both. Between that months-old but still very relevant New York Times article documenting the military’s heavy influence on mainstream media, and the general acceptance of a bottom-line driven news system, it’s hard to know what kind of journalistic values remain intact at all.
In short, while it is something of a surprise to many that military censorship is preferable to journalists over capitalistic censorship, a free press requires journalism that is independent both in finance and opinion. There is always tons of cool stuff going on in the free press movement, and I think it has a lot more momentum (and significance?) than many other “progressive” movements. Freepress.net has great info on a number of media issues, policy specifics, and ways to get involved.
I’ll send you off with a Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal investigative study about whether or not Barack Obama is too in-shape to be president. Oh and also, CNN’s Pulitzer Prize contending story, 3 whole minutes devoted to Soulja Boy. Enjoy.
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