Bourgeois media: Difference between revisions

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'''Bourgeois media''' is means of communication (usually news media) that is owned, controlled, or otherwise serves the interests of the [[Bourgeoisie|bourgeois]] class.<ref>{{Citation|author=[[Lenin]]|year=1917|title=Draft Resolution On Freedom Of The Press|chapter=|page=|quote=|pdf=|city=|publisher=|isbn=|doi=|lg=|mia=https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/nov/04.htm|title-url=|chapter-url=|trans-title=|trans-lang=}}</ref> Bourgeois media can be either state-owned, such as [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland|UK]]'s [[British Broadcasting Corporation|BBC]] or [[Qatar]]'s [[Al Jazeera]], or for-profit media, such as AT&T-owned [[Cable News Network|CNN]]. In common political discourse, the term "'''corporate media'''" is also used to specifically refer to means of communication controlled by for-profit corporations promoting their own interests.<ref>[https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/08/17/corporate-media-the-enemy-of-the-people/ Corporate Media: the Enemy of the People] by Paul Street on [[CounterPunch]] on Aug 17, 2018</ref><ref>[https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/09/22/after-20-years-of-failed-war-corporate-media-stills-give-wars-of-empire-a-pass/ After 20 Years of Failed War, Corporate Media Still Give Wars of Empire a Pass] by Robin Andersen on [[CounterPunch]]</ref>
'''Bourgeois media''' is means of communication (usually news media) that is owned, controlled, or otherwise serves the interests of the [[Bourgeoisie|bourgeois]] class.<ref>{{Citation|author=[[Lenin]]|year=1917|title=Draft Resolution On Freedom Of The Press|chapter=|page=|quote=|pdf=|city=|publisher=|isbn=|doi=|lg=|mia=https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/nov/04.htm|title-url=|chapter-url=|trans-title=|trans-lang=}}</ref><ref>{{News citation|newspaper=Swiss Policy Research|title=The American Empire and its Media|url=https://swprs.org/the-american-empire-and-its-media/}}</ref> Bourgeois media can be either state-owned, such as the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland|UK]]'s [[British Broadcasting Corporation|BBC]] or [[Qatar]]'s [[Al Jazeera]], or for-profit private media, such as [[AT&T]]-owned [[Cable News Network|CNN]]. In common political discourse, the term "'''corporate media'''" is also used to specifically refer to means of communication controlled by for-profit corporations promoting their own interests.<ref>[https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/08/17/corporate-media-the-enemy-of-the-people/ Corporate Media: the Enemy of the People] by Paul Street on [[CounterPunch]] on Aug 17, 2018</ref><ref>[https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/09/22/after-20-years-of-failed-war-corporate-media-stills-give-wars-of-empire-a-pass/ After 20 Years of Failed War, Corporate Media Still Give Wars of Empire a Pass] by Robin Andersen on [[CounterPunch]]</ref>
[[File:Media consolidation in the US.webp|thumb|210x210px|Media consolidation in the US]]
[[File:Media consolidation in the US.webp|thumb|210x210px|Media consolidation in the US]]


== United States ==
== United States ==
[[File:Media consolidation in the US 2.jpg|thumb|211x211px|Another infographic with more logos of subsidiaries]]
[[File:Media consolidation in the US 2.jpg|thumb|211x211px|Another infographic with more logos of subsidiaries]]
In the [[United States of America|United States]], 6 corporations control 90% of all of broadcast media.<ref>{{News citation|journalist=Nickie Lousie|date=2020-09-18|title=These 6 corporations control 90% of the media outlets in America. The illusion of choice and objectivity|url=https://techstartups.com/2020/09/18/6-corporations-control-90-media-america-illusion-choice-objectivity-2020/|newspaper=techstartups.com|archive-url=|archive-date=|retrieved=}}</ref> Individual billionaires also bankroll their own propaganda outlets, ranging from liberal [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]] like Bill Gates<ref>{{News citation|journalist=[[Alan Macleod]]|date=2021-11-15|title=Revealed: Documents Show Bill Gates Has Given $319 Million to Media Outlets|url=https://www.mintpressnews.com/documents-show-bill-gates-has-given-319-million-to-media-outlets/278943/|newspaper=[[Mintpress News]]|archive-url=|archive-date=|retrieved=}}</ref> to right-wing oil billionaires behind the [[Anti-communism|anti-communist]] PragerU.<ref>{{News citation|journalist=Claire Goforth|date=2019-10-25|title=PragerU is conservatism for the youths—brought to you by old billionaires|url=https://www.dailydot.com/debug/prager-u-benefactors-dan-wilks-sheldon-adelson/|newspaper=|archive-url=|archive-date=|retrieved=}}</ref><ref>{{News citation|journalist=|date=|title=Right-Wing Views for Generation Z, Five Minutes at a Time|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/04/us/politics/dennis-prager-university.html|newspaper=|archive-url=|archive-date=|retrieved=}}</ref> Additionally, one of the richest individuals in the world, [[Jeff Bezos]] (the owner of [[Amazon.com, Inc.|Amazon]]), owns and controls the [[The Washington Post|Washington Post]] in order to promote his own financial interests.<ref>{{News citation|journalist=[[Alan Macleod]]|date=2021-06-18|title=With Bezos at the Helm, Democracy Dies at the Washington Post Editorial Board|url=https://www.mintpressnews.com/jeff-bezos-at-helm-democracy-dies-at-washington-post-editorial-board/277738/|newspaper=[[MintPress News]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211203143509/https://www.mintpressnews.com/jeff-bezos-at-helm-democracy-dies-at-washington-post-editorial-board/277738/|archive-date=|retrieved=}}</ref>
In the [[United States of America|United States]], 6 corporations control 90% of all of broadcast media.<ref>{{News citation|journalist=Nickie Lousie|date=2020-09-18|title=These 6 corporations control 90% of the media outlets in America. The illusion of choice and objectivity|url=https://techstartups.com/2020/09/18/6-corporations-control-90-media-america-illusion-choice-objectivity-2020/|newspaper=techstartups.com|archive-url=|archive-date=|retrieved=}}</ref> Individual billionaires also bankroll their own propaganda outlets, ranging from liberal [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]] like [[Bill Gates]]<ref>{{News citation|journalist=[[Alan Macleod]]|date=2021-11-15|title=Revealed: Documents Show Bill Gates Has Given $319 Million to Media Outlets|url=https://www.mintpressnews.com/documents-show-bill-gates-has-given-319-million-to-media-outlets/278943/|newspaper=[[Mintpress News]]|archive-url=|archive-date=|retrieved=}}</ref> to right-wing oil billionaires behind the [[Anti-communism|anti-communist]] [[PragerU]].<ref>{{News citation|journalist=Claire Goforth|date=2019-10-25|title=PragerU is conservatism for the youths—brought to you by old billionaires|url=https://www.dailydot.com/debug/prager-u-benefactors-dan-wilks-sheldon-adelson/|newspaper=|archive-url=|archive-date=|retrieved=}}</ref><ref>{{News citation|journalist=|date=|title=Right-Wing Views for Generation Z, Five Minutes at a Time|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/04/us/politics/dennis-prager-university.html|newspaper=|archive-url=|archive-date=|retrieved=}}</ref> Additionally, one of the richest individuals in the world, [[Jeff Bezos]] (the owner of [[Amazon.com, Inc.|Amazon]]), owns and controls the [[The Washington Post|Washington Post]] in order to promote his own financial interests.<ref>{{News citation|journalist=[[Alan Macleod]]|date=2021-06-18|title=With Bezos at the Helm, Democracy Dies at the Washington Post Editorial Board|url=https://www.mintpressnews.com/jeff-bezos-at-helm-democracy-dies-at-washington-post-editorial-board/277738/|newspaper=[[MintPress News]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211203143509/https://www.mintpressnews.com/jeff-bezos-at-helm-democracy-dies-at-washington-post-editorial-board/277738/|archive-date=|retrieved=}}</ref>
 
In recent times, the [[far-right]] section of the Statesian corporate-news has increasingly radicalized their content, often taking advantage of the desperate economic state among the [[Petty bourgeoisie|petite-bourgeoisie]], and spreading racist, xenophobic, and nativist propaganda, particularly in regards to undocumented immigration in the southern border of the USA, which many far-right news corporations, such as [[FOX]], have used to spread [[White Genocide Conspiracy Theory|white-supremacist]] [[Conspiracy theory|conspiracy theories]].<ref>{{News citation|author=Dan Kennedy|newspaper=GBH|title=Tucker Carlson Is A White Supremacist. And He's Giving Fox Viewers Exactly What They Want.|date=2021-4-15|url=https://www.wgbh.org/news/commentary/2021/04/15/tucker-carlson-is-a-white-supremacist-and-hes-giving-fox-viewers-exactly-what-they-want}}</ref>
 
Only 11% of North Americans trust television news, and only 16% trust newspapers.<ref name=":0">{{Web citation|author=[[Ben Norton]]|newspaper=[[Multipolarista]]|title=Polls show almost no one trusts U.S. media, after decades of war propaganda and lies|date=2022-07-30|url=https://multipolarista.com/2022/07/30/trust-us-media-war-propaganda/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220806143950/https://multipolarista.com/2022/07/30/trust-us-media-war-propaganda/|archive-date=2022-08-06|retrieved=2022-08-07}}</ref>
==Support for war==
==Support for war==
[[File:UsaMediaLies1.jpg|thumb|211x211px|Some of the most famous lies perpetuated by [[United States|Statesian]] big media]]
As US General Smedly Butler said, [[Library:War is a racket|war is a racket]]. The corporations that own the media are usually the beneficiaries of this racket, either directly through investments, or indirectly through the economic activity as a result of imperialist war.<ref>[https://miscellanynews.org/2021/05/13/opinions/the-improper-meshing-of-the-corporate-media-and-the-military-industrial-complex/ The (im)proper meshing of the corporate media and the military-industrial complex]</ref><ref>[https://www.huffpost.com/entry/push-for-war-highlights-need-for-independent-media_b_58ee8b0ce4b04cae050dc423 Push for War Highlights Need for Independent Media]</ref><ref>[https://truthout.org/articles/corporate-media-are-erasing-uss-long-term-culpability-for-afghanistan-war/ Corporate Media Are Erasing US’s Long-Term Culpability for Afghanistan War] on [[TruthOut]]</ref>
As US General Smedly Butler said, [[Library:War is a racket|war is a racket]]. The corporations that own the media are usually the beneficiaries of this racket, either directly through investments, or indirectly through the economic activity as a result of imperialist war.<ref>[https://miscellanynews.org/2021/05/13/opinions/the-improper-meshing-of-the-corporate-media-and-the-military-industrial-complex/ The (im)proper meshing of the corporate media and the military-industrial complex]</ref><ref>[https://www.huffpost.com/entry/push-for-war-highlights-need-for-independent-media_b_58ee8b0ce4b04cae050dc423 Push for War Highlights Need for Independent Media]</ref><ref>[https://truthout.org/articles/corporate-media-are-erasing-uss-long-term-culpability-for-afghanistan-war/ Corporate Media Are Erasing US’s Long-Term Culpability for Afghanistan War] on [[TruthOut]]</ref>
U.S. bourgeois media promoted the U.S. colonization of [[Republic of Cuba|Cuba]], the [[Republic of the Philippines|Philippines]], and [[Commonwealth of Puerto Rico|Puerto Rico]] in 1898. ''[[The New York Times]]'' denied that the 1945 nuclear bombing of Hiroshima caused dangerous levels of radiation. In the 1960s, Statesian media claimed that [[Democratic Republic of Vietnam (1945–1975)|Vietnam]] attacked the United States in the Gulf of Tonkin. In the 1980s, U.S. media blamed the [[Sandinista National Liberation Front|Sandinistas]] for war crimes committed by the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]]-backed [[Contras]].<ref name=":0" /> They completely ignored the 1992 war crimes tribunal against [[George H. W. Bush|George Bush]].<ref>{{Web citation|date=2023-04-12|title=Ramsey Clark, human rights fighter – 1927-2021|url=https://www.workers.org/2021/04/55760/|newspaper=[[Workers World]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131173503/https://www.workers.org/2021/04/55760/|archive-date=2023-01-31|retrieved=2023-04-23|author=Sara Flounders}}</ref> In 2003, they tried to justify the [[Iraq War|U.S. invasion of Iraq]] by falsely claiming that [[Saddam Hussein]] had weapons of mass destruction.<ref name=":0" />
==Attacks against progressive candidates==
==Attacks against progressive candidates==
Despite the fact that many "progressives" are merely social-democrats who do not challenge the [[Capitalism|capitalist]] system, they're still attacked by the corporate media for weakly threatening the control that corporations hold over society.<ref>[https://politicsdoneright.com/2019/11/corporate-media-progressive-candidates/ Corporate media attacks Progressive candidates after Democratic Debate]</ref><ref>[https://btlonline.org/bias-against-progressive-candidates-evident-in-corporate-media-coverage-of-democratic-primary/ Bias Against Progressive Candidates Evident in Corporate Media Coverage of Democratic Primary]</ref><ref>[https://truthout.org/articles/the-people-vs-the-democratic-establishment-the-coming-attack-on-progressive-candidates/ The People vs. the Democratic Establishment: The Coming Attack on Progressive Candidates]</ref>
Despite the fact that many "progressives" are merely [[Social Democracy|social-democrats]] who do not challenge the [[Capitalism|capitalist]] system, they're still attacked by the corporate media for weakly threatening the control that corporations hold over society.<ref>[https://politicsdoneright.com/2019/11/corporate-media-progressive-candidates/ Corporate media attacks Progressive candidates after Democratic Debate]</ref><ref>[https://btlonline.org/bias-against-progressive-candidates-evident-in-corporate-media-coverage-of-democratic-primary/ Bias Against Progressive Candidates Evident in Corporate Media Coverage of Democratic Primary]</ref><ref>[https://truthout.org/articles/the-people-vs-the-democratic-establishment-the-coming-attack-on-progressive-candidates/ The People vs. the Democratic Establishment: The Coming Attack on Progressive Candidates]</ref>
 
== Alternatives ==
 
* [[:Category:Anti-imperialist news outlets|Anti-imperialist media outlets (category)]]
* [[:Category:Targets of censorship|Targets of censorship (category)]]


== See also ==
== See also ==

Latest revision as of 04:19, 28 June 2023

Bourgeois media is means of communication (usually news media) that is owned, controlled, or otherwise serves the interests of the bourgeois class.[1][2] Bourgeois media can be either state-owned, such as the UK's BBC or Qatar's Al Jazeera, or for-profit private media, such as AT&T-owned CNN. In common political discourse, the term "corporate media" is also used to specifically refer to means of communication controlled by for-profit corporations promoting their own interests.[3][4]

Media consolidation in the US

United States

Another infographic with more logos of subsidiaries

In the United States, 6 corporations control 90% of all of broadcast media.[5] Individual billionaires also bankroll their own propaganda outlets, ranging from liberal Democrats like Bill Gates[6] to right-wing oil billionaires behind the anti-communist PragerU.[7][8] Additionally, one of the richest individuals in the world, Jeff Bezos (the owner of Amazon), owns and controls the Washington Post in order to promote his own financial interests.[9]

In recent times, the far-right section of the Statesian corporate-news has increasingly radicalized their content, often taking advantage of the desperate economic state among the petite-bourgeoisie, and spreading racist, xenophobic, and nativist propaganda, particularly in regards to undocumented immigration in the southern border of the USA, which many far-right news corporations, such as FOX, have used to spread white-supremacist conspiracy theories.[10]

Only 11% of North Americans trust television news, and only 16% trust newspapers.[11]

Support for war

Some of the most famous lies perpetuated by Statesian big media

As US General Smedly Butler said, war is a racket. The corporations that own the media are usually the beneficiaries of this racket, either directly through investments, or indirectly through the economic activity as a result of imperialist war.[12][13][14]

U.S. bourgeois media promoted the U.S. colonization of Cuba, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico in 1898. The New York Times denied that the 1945 nuclear bombing of Hiroshima caused dangerous levels of radiation. In the 1960s, Statesian media claimed that Vietnam attacked the United States in the Gulf of Tonkin. In the 1980s, U.S. media blamed the Sandinistas for war crimes committed by the CIA-backed Contras.[11] They completely ignored the 1992 war crimes tribunal against George Bush.[15] In 2003, they tried to justify the U.S. invasion of Iraq by falsely claiming that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.[11]

Attacks against progressive candidates

Despite the fact that many "progressives" are merely social-democrats who do not challenge the capitalist system, they're still attacked by the corporate media for weakly threatening the control that corporations hold over society.[16][17][18]

Alternatives

See also

References

  1. Lenin (1917). Draft Resolution On Freedom Of The Press. [MIA]
  2. "The American Empire and its Media". Swiss Policy Research.
  3. Corporate Media: the Enemy of the People by Paul Street on CounterPunch on Aug 17, 2018
  4. After 20 Years of Failed War, Corporate Media Still Give Wars of Empire a Pass by Robin Andersen on CounterPunch
  5. Nickie Lousie (2020-09-18). "These 6 corporations control 90% of the media outlets in America. The illusion of choice and objectivity" techstartups.com.
  6. Alan Macleod (2021-11-15). "Revealed: Documents Show Bill Gates Has Given $319 Million to Media Outlets" Mintpress News.
  7. Claire Goforth (2019-10-25). "PragerU is conservatism for the youths—brought to you by old billionaires"
  8. "Right-Wing Views for Generation Z, Five Minutes at a Time".
  9. Alan Macleod (2021-06-18). "With Bezos at the Helm, Democracy Dies at the Washington Post Editorial Board" MintPress News. Archived from the original.
  10. Dan Kennedy (2021-4-15). "Tucker Carlson Is A White Supremacist. And He's Giving Fox Viewers Exactly What They Want." GBH.
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 Ben Norton (2022-07-30). "Polls show almost no one trusts U.S. media, after decades of war propaganda and lies" Multipolarista. Archived from the original on 2022-08-06. Retrieved 2022-08-07.
  12. The (im)proper meshing of the corporate media and the military-industrial complex
  13. Push for War Highlights Need for Independent Media
  14. Corporate Media Are Erasing US’s Long-Term Culpability for Afghanistan War on TruthOut
  15. Sara Flounders (2023-04-12). "Ramsey Clark, human rights fighter – 1927-2021" Workers World. Archived from the original on 2023-01-31. Retrieved 2023-04-23.
  16. Corporate media attacks Progressive candidates after Democratic Debate
  17. Bias Against Progressive Candidates Evident in Corporate Media Coverage of Democratic Primary
  18. The People vs. the Democratic Establishment: The Coming Attack on Progressive Candidates