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serenata
Germany
1400 Posts |
 Posted - 10 Apr 2007 : 16:17:09
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I didn't read the book but I know that the Western freedom of press is more or less a myth.
In Western democracies, it is usually not - like e.g. in African dictatorships - the government who suppresses the media directly. But:
A) Any magazine, private TV station etc. depends on its advertisement clients, among them many bigger companies. If you are an important ad client, you can tell them what to write, and what not.
B) The big companies are the ones who own the political power in a Western (= capitalist) democracy. Look at the USA - do you need a better example? But Europe is also not bad: E.g. in Germany, companies even make their own laws - imagine that lobbyists have their offices in the German Parliament, and German politicians let them draft laws...! NO JOKE!!!!
C) Press companies like Murdoch or Bertelsmann follow the logics of any other big company. This implies certain political tendencies.
Freedom of press is nothing owned by one political system, while others lack it. It is, fairness presumed as the rule even an absolutely free press should follow, something we still and permanently need to fight for.
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