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When it comes to war, the networks
discard all pretenses of objectivity.
[Three cheerleaders from ABC, FOX, and NBC yell:] Bomb 'em back! Bomb 'em
back! Wwwway back!
Lawrence Grossman, who was in charge of PBS and NBC News for many years,
described the role of the press this way:
"The job of the President is to set the agenda and the job of the press
is to follow the agenda that the leadership sets." [129]
Why do all the networks sound the same? Why are they all consumed by war
fever every time the White House decides to send troops overseas?
Maybe it's got something to do with who controls them.
The television news media are owned by some of the largest corporations
in the country. NBC, as we have seen, is owned by GE, CBS is owned by
Viacom, ABC is owned by Disney, and CNN is owned by AOL Time Warner. The
members of the boards of directors of these powerful corporations also
sit on the boards of weapons manufacturers and other companies with
vested interests around the world such as Sun Microsystems, EDS, Lucent
Technologies, Prudential, etc. [130]
XEROX, JP MORGAN CHASE, CHRYSLER, MARRIOTT, CITIBANK
Our networks tell you everything you need to know.
Most of the news available to us -- about war and peace and everything
else -- is filtered through the perspective of the corporate news media.
The government and the news media obviously have a powerful influence on
public opinion.
[GE TV talking:] Everyone is rallying behind the President.
[[TV viewer:] Hmm...
But their influence is not as complete as they might hope.
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