NEWS, OPINION, AND PROPAGANDA

NEWS: Pedestrian falls into open manhole.
OPINION: A manhole cover, removed for servicing below street-level cables, was carelessly not guarded by city workmen, leading to serious injury to a pedestrian who fell into the open hole.
PROPAGANDA: A careless pedestrian fell into an open manhole being used by city workmen to make crucial repairs to city cables.

David Bauder, The Associated Press: "MSNBC said Sunday it is replacing Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews as co-anchors of political night coverage with David Gregory, and will use the two newsmen as commentators. The change reflects tensions between the freewheeling, opinionated MSNBC and the impartial newsgatherers at NBC News. Throughout the primaries and summer, MSNBC argued that Olbermann and Matthews could serve as dispassionate anchors on political news nights and that viewers would accept them in that role, but things fell apart during the conventions. Gregory, the veteran Washington hand, will anchor MSNBC's coverage of the presidential and vice presidential debates and election night, said Jeremy Gaines, network spokesman."

An event is seen, heard, experienced, described, recorded. It is recorded for history. Between the occurence of the event and its recordation, lies a need for explication, an explication that often needs lies.

The powers that control the media for the disemination of "news," are the powers that determine the explication, the choice of analysis and meaning and often, the very facts themselves of the events. The conflict between the observers and participants in historical events and the recorders for history lies in controlled darkness. The purpose and goal of that control is identical to and a part of the drive for acquisition and control of power, of wealth.

Therein lies the reason for power elites to control the mass media. Adolph Hitler's propaganda machine provides the quintessential picture of the how and why of mass media control by German unified government and economic forces.

Today, in the United States of America, the "free press" is no longer free. It is chained by interlocking economic interests whose goal is the acquisition of power and wealth. The news media of the country are being consolidated in rapacious fashion by power elites with the cooperation of government agencies established to protect the freedom of the press. As the country moves its economic model closer and closer to a fascistic state, the battle for media control becomes more apparent and more urgent for dueling business giants.

The recognition that control of future history means control of wealth, has accelerated the battle for control of the mass media. The elimination of "free-wheeling, opinionated" commentators and their replacement by politically friendly hacksters, is proceeding under the noses of a complacent and ever more ignorant population and their compliant elected representatives.

Watch this phenomenon take place and ask if there is anything that can be done about it? Let me know your answer, please.