Clear Channel is another huge media company that has openly enlisted in the pro-war movement, as Paul Krugman pointed out in a recent NY Times column:
Channels of Influence By PAUL KRUGMAN
By and large, recent pro-war rallies haven't drawn nearly as many people as antiwar rallies, but they have certainly been vehement. One of the most striking took place after Natalie Maines, lead singer for the Dixie Chicks, criticized President Bush: a crowd gathered in Louisiana to watch a 33,000-pound tractor smash a collection of Dixie Chicks CD's, tapes and other paraphernalia. To those familiar with 20th-century European history it seemed eerily reminiscent of. . . . But as Sinclair Lewis said, it can't happen here.
Who has been organizing those pro-war rallies? The answer, it turns out, is that they are being promoted by key players in the radio industry — with close links to the Bush administration.
The CD-smashing rally was organized by KRMD, part of Cumulus Media, a radio chain that has banned the Dixie Chicks from its playlists. Most of the pro-war demonstrations around the country have, however, been organized by stations owned by Clear Channel Communications, a behemoth based in San Antonio that controls more than 1,200 stations and increasingly dominates the airwaves.
full: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/25/opinion/25KRUG.html
Meanwhile, one of the regulars on the alt.fan.don-imus newsgroup (yes, it's true. I hang out there) has been posting bloodcurdling pro-war items written by Arnaud de Borchgrave, the Reaganite hack who when editing the Moonie Washington Times suppressed a reporters' revolt who resented interference from the Unification Church, and who now writes for UPI. After a couple of these items, I decided to look a little deeper. Wasn't UPI a reputable news wire service? As it turns out, the Moonie connection is still there:
Unification Press International? Rev. Moon Adds United Press International To His Media Empire
By Bill Berkowitz
A little more than eight years ago, Rev. Pat Robertson was closing in on acquiring what would have been the jewel in his media empire. Unfortunately for him, at just about the last minute a bankruptcy
judge rejected the bid by the fabulously wealthy religious broadcaster and Christian Coalition founder, and instead ruled that United Press International (UPI), one of the preeminent news wire services, would be sold to a group of Middle Eastern investors.
Fast forward to 2000: the venerable and troubled UPI has been sold yet again. News World Communications, the new owner, is the thriving media arm of another right-wing charismatic figure, the Rev. Sun Myung Moon and his Unification Church. Although News World Communications has
said that it intends to maintain UPI as an independent news organization, it all hinges on who's interpreting what "independent news organization" means. Media watchers of all political stripes are
wondering what to expect from this new Moon circling the globe.
full: http://www.mediachannel.org/originals/upi-moon.shtml
With this kind of open politicization of the mass media and with the assaults on Pacifica, it is very obvious that we are dealing with a crude attempt to dictate the terms of the debate. As alarming as this is, it indicates the weakness of their position. If there was a powerful base of support for the Bush administration, I doubt that it would be necessary to turn radio stations and news wires into wings of the Pentagon.
Louis Proyect, Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org
