State of Our World: Open_Notes 4

Time-Warner-CNN, Disney-ABC-Capital Cities, etc., these massive media mergers, where is the indignation, the opposition ?? Westinghouse-CBS, GE-RCA-NBC, Murdock-FOX, Southwestern Bell-Pacific Telesys, etc., the re-combination of what had been a separate media; Microsoft buying the world's art heritage, exclusive leases of photo's, paintings, etc. - the Telecommunications Bill structuring the future - no more controls - open to the "free market," the stamping ground of the "large scale" where "more competition" is the excuse released into the realm of the gullible public - concentrated wealth means concentration of power !! WE ARE TALKING ABOUT OUR MINDS, OUR OUTLOOKS, OUR CONSCIOUSNESS !!

our outlooks are coming less-and-less from our families, from our schools -- what we are seeing is the corporate control of the message and image "form" of society - chain newspapers, TV stations, publishers [the chaining, locking, restraining of the public mind]; owners claim separate editors, producers on each newspaper, station, have complete autonomy [this is in a very limited sense; autonomy within extremely tight boundaries], they all adhere to the system, they all obey the quarterly returns, the balance sheet as criterion - *institutionalized censorship* - safe programming, "crime, sports, weather" - serious issues are avoided ie., the standard of living, the level of income and inequality, etc., the full emphasis, the need to do something is missing - the arousal of the population, from their *image-coma* would destabilized this information-society [yet we do not have information] - media at the beck-and-call of the corporate fraternity.

State of Our World: Open_Notes 4