COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN SPUTNIK
The letter is, of course, completely sensible.
However, these are all things that those of us who are able
to work at being informed on important matters already understood. Nothing here
is new.
The problem with the approach of the academics is that
"Western media" are treated as though they were something they in
fact are not.
Western media, the major broadcasters and newspapers, are
actually owned by relatively small group of large corporate interests after years
of mergers and take-overs.
Moreover, they have lost some of their most traditional
sources of revenue – as, for example, classified advertising in big cities,
something which now belongs to the Internet. So, their financial ability to do
more extensive or better quality reportage is greatly reduced.
None of them is in any way an independent source of
journalism. None.
And they proved that to us overwhelmingly with Trump’s
election, during which they lined up like the troops of a foreign power rather than
as objective journalists. The case of Syria was even worse, but many ordinary
people had no way of fully understanding what was going on. They never saw
Syrian or Russian speakers or independent critics the way they saw Trump on the
hustings contradicting the corporate press’s claims.
To even expect large corporate interests, who depend on the
American government for many things - from permissions and licenses to favors
with leaks and interviews - to behave much differently than they have done is
actually pretty naïve.
It is only new competition that will stir things up a bit
and create some change, and we are very much seeing that happen before our eyes
on the Internet.
Alternate media were very influential in Trump’s victory,
and he knows it. He has already demonstrated in a few ways that he intends to
formalize the changing media situation – from giving accreditation to an
alternate media site to asking questions of reporters at the back of the press
room and to avoiding the traditional wave to the press corps when he leaves on
Air Force One.
One thing is certain, things in the Western press are
changing and changing fast.
