Propaganda in the U.S.
To the Editor:
I agree with the letter-to-the editor posted last week (Nazi Press) that many key US media outlets are actually propaganda instruments rather than “free press” outlets of responsible journalism. As the last remaining prosecutor of the Nuremburg war trials, Benjamin Ferencz, warns us, there is now in the US “an attempt to thwart the law and flout international norms” that reminds him of the crimes he prosecuted in Nazi Germany.
If this is true, who might we compare to the Nazi’s Minister of Propaganda, Dr. Goebbels?
The largest single media mogul in the world now, focusing largely on English language outlets, is not even an American by birth. According to Wikipedia, through his holding company, News Corp, he owns the following: “hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including The Sun and The Times in the UK, The Daily Telegraph and The Australian in Australia, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post in the US, book publisher HarperCollins, and the television broadcasting channels Sky News Australia and Fox News (through the Fox Corporation).”
One of the 100 richest men in the world and one of the most powerful in terms of influence, he is Australian Rupert Murdoch, maker of Presidents and Prime Ministers, breaker of men and nations.
There are many fine exposes about the journalistic sensationalism, unethical business practices and political interventions highlighting Murdoch’s career and empire. Wikipedia simply says, “Many of Murdoch’s papers and television channels have been accused of biased and misleading coverage to support his business interests and political allies.”
What most disturbs me about Murdoch’s media empire is the unparalleled level of “editorial” control he has gained over the American public. while effectively avoiding US antitrust laws through the political clout he has effectively purchased. In business practice, this is known as Quid Pro Quo. In terms of our current government, “business as usual” seems more appropriate. A far cry from the ‘Free Press” envisioned by our Founders!
To understand propaganda, one needs to look at the “puppet master” pulling the strings, Rupert Murdoch.
The writer Sinclair Lewis was nearly prophetic when he wrote his book, It Can’t Happen Here, in 1935. He predicted it will not be a wave of Socialism that ends Democracy in America, it will end in the flames of Fascism disguised as patriotic populism. I deeply and sincerely hope not.
David Richard
Milford