Danny Schechter

Change is sweeping though the Middle East and it's the Facebook generation that has kickstarted it

New York: January 28: This past weekend's anti-war march was big, say the organizers and I have no reason to doubt them.

New York, August 29: In the world of mainstream media, there is always something "breaking." Who wants to hear about old news when there are so many new disasters to keep up with?

Elements of the U.S. intelligence "community" (which have done such a fine job in Iraq) and their Israeli counterparts, along with the cadre of paid and unpaid cheerleaders in the TV punditocracy, seem to have decided that what the world needs now is another world war.

Welcome to another edition of TV Smackdown. Only this imaginary wrestling super match is not on TV but about it. In one corner stands the mighty media business. In the other corner, the law of gravity.

As events in Iraq continue to slip from bad to worse, the good news brigade is scrambling for new stories—('anything, give me anything') to shore up what's left of public support for a bloody war without end.

A tsunami of "Breaking News" bulletins courses through the veins and ganglia of what passes for an information system. A corporate news system pumps it on more platforms dedicated to "more news in less time" on the web, on TV, on the radio, and now on the phone. It's hard to escape the deluge.

Danny Schechter, Big Picture TV'ye, medyadaki tekelleşmenin haber çeşitliliği ve derinliği üzerine olan etkilerini anlatıyor: "Medya gittikçe daha az sayıda insan tarafından kontrol ediliyor. Bir çok kanal olsa da çok az gerçek seçeneğimiz var, çünkü ortak tek bir perspektif var."

Big Picture / Danny Schechter, ABD'deki medya sisteminin yetersizlikleri ve çevre meselesinin neden bu kadar seyrek ele alındığı hakkında konuşuyor:"Ana akım medyanın birçok Amerikalıya verdiği mesaj şu: "Sus ve alışveriş yap! Satın al, tüket, ama siyasi sorunlarla ilgilenme."