a week after the takeover of NBC by Comcast. -Ed
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27317.htm
Olbermann Departs, as Media Consolidate Further
By Juan Cole
Information Clearing House: January 22, 2010
People are blaming the abrupt departure of Keith Olbermann from MSNBC on
that company's merger with Comcast and Olbermann's loss of the protection
and patronage of Jeff Zucker, the former head of NBC programming. MSNBC says
that the issue has nothing to do with Comcast.
It seems Olbermann is too extreme for US television. But Glenn Beck and Sean
Hannity, now they are mainstream. What universe could that proposition be
true in? That of cranky old white billionaires. And television news is owned
by them. Not by you.
Whether Comcast is the villain of the piece directly, things like the
Comcast merger with MSNBC are responsible for there being very few voices on
American television (and despite the proliferation of channels) like
Olbermann's. And for there being relatively little news on the "news"
programs. Time Warner, General Electric and Comcast (partners in NBC),
Viacom, Disney, and Rupert Murdoch's Newscorp own almost all television
news. In other words, six big corporations determine what you will hear
about the world if you get your news from television. There are fewer and
fewer t.v. news outlets that do not belong to one of these six, a process
called media consolidation.
For reasons of profit-seeking, when Disney acquired ABC, it looted the
company's news divisions. Profits are not to be had in hard news, but rather
in tabloid news. It used to be that human interest stories would be
'desert,'
but they have become the main meal.
Ironically,former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw was one of Olbermann's biggest
critics, afraid that the latter's flamboyant and polarizing style would
tarnish the reputation of regular NBC newsmen for objectivity.
What Brokaw seems not to have noticed is that NBC and MSNBC did, like most
television news, a miserable job of covering the Iraq issue in
2002-2003-mainly buying White House propaganda. The powerful bias toward the
point of view of the rich and powerful and well-connected in Washington
demonstrated by all the major tv news outlets in 2002-2003 makes Olbermann
look like a staid centrist.
***
Israel is met with its own Intolerance
Racism, homophobia and religious discrimination seem to be more prevalent,
taking the form of threats and even a government motion. But one journalist
says the trend is just a sign of 'growing pains.'
By Edmund Sanders,
Los Angeles Times: January 23, 2011
Reporting from Jerusalem -
The intent of the anonymous Internet video was unambiguous: "This person
should be killed - and soon," read a message underneath a photo of Israel's
deputy state prosecutor, Shai Nitzan.
His alleged offense? "Betraying" his Jewish roots by opening a criminal
inquiry into racist threats and hate speech expressed on two Israel-based
Facebook pages with statements in Hebrew such as "Death to Arabs."
It was the latest, and most overtly violent, sign of what many here are
calling a wave of intolerance toward people of different races, religions,
orientations and viewpoints.
From rabbinical prohibitions against renting homes to "non-Jews" to
government crackdowns on left-wing activists, Israelis are grappling with
their nation's identity and character.
Across the political spectrum, some see the struggle as a threat to Israel's
democratic ideals. Opposition leader Tzipi Livni, of the centrist Kadima
party, warned that "an evil spirit has been sweeping over the country."
Defense Minister Ehud Barak said a "wave of racism is threatening to pull
Israeli society into dark and dangerous places."
Faced with a Cabinet move to force non-Jewish prospective citizens to
declare loyalty to a "Jewish state," government minister Dan Meridor parted
with fellow members of the conservative Likud Party in opposing the motion.
After the motion won Cabinet approval, he said, "This is not the Israel we
know."
A recent Israel Democracy Institute poll found nearly half of Jewish
Israelis don't want to live next door to Arabs. But the list of unwanted
neighbors didn't stop there. More than one-third didn't want to live next to
foreigners or the mentally ill, and nearly one in four said they wouldn't
want to share a street with gays or the ultra-Orthodox.
"A Time to Hate," was the headline in the newspaper Haaretz this month. Some
have compared the hostile climate to 1995, shortly before a right-wing
fanatic assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
"The immune systems of Israeli society are clearly crumbling," Labor Party
lawmaker Daniel Ben-Simon said.
To some, the timing of the rising intolerance is surprising because it comes
during a period of relative security and prosperity. The number of terrorist
attacks in Israel dropped last year to its lowest level in more than a
decade, and Israel's economy is growing faster than those of most other
countries.
Ben-Simon said the lack of pressing outside threats might be contributing to
the domestic friction.
"The stronger the external tension, the more repressed the internal
tension," he said. "Any lull in outside pressure causes the internal ones to
rise.. This led people to feel that if they're squared off with the outside
and feel secure enough, 'Let's fight a bit.'"
The rise of Israel's nationalist and religious parties might also be playing
a role. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu party and the
religious Shas party now account for about one-third of the ruling
coalition's seats in the parliament, or Knesset, and have emerged as key
players in advocating a conservative agenda in Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu's coalition government.
Party leaders say their agenda is not about intolerance but is designed to
instill Jewish values in the government, and preserve the Jewish character
of Israel. They point to their growing popularity among voters as evidence
of public support for their programs.
But critics say Arab Israelis and foreigners have borne the brunt of their
agenda.
Last month, dozens of municipal rabbis issued an edict against renting or
selling real estate to non-Jews, particularly Arab citizens. A group of
rabbis' wives followed with a public letter urging Jewish women to avoid
contact with Arab men.
Meanwhile, the Knesset is considering a bill that would allow Israeli
communities to form local committees that could ban prospective residents
based on race, sexual orientation or marital status.
Israel's rising population of migrant workers is also drawing fire.
Ultra-Orthodox city leaders in the Tel Aviv suburb of Bnei Brak have tried
to ban the rental of apartments to foreigners and pressured landlords who
resisted.
In Ashdod, some African immigrants narrowly escaped death when their front
door was set afire with a burning tire. In Petah Tikva, Girl Scouts born in
Israel to African parents were beaten on their way home by attackers who
called them names.
Tolerance of differing political viewpoints also appears to be shrinking.
The Knesset this month gave its provisional approval to an investigatory
committee to examine the foreign funding of leftist and pro-Palestinian
groups that criticize Israel's military. Leaders of the targeted groups
likened the move to a "McCarthyist witch hunt" designed to silence
government criticism.
But it's not only liberals and minority groups who are facing attack. Some
of the same religious and political groups who are backing the crackdowns on
Arabs and leftists are also feeling the rise of intolerance.
After lawmaker Faina Kirschenbaum - part of the Yisrael Beiteinu party,
which includes many Russian immigrants - introduced the motion to
investigate left-leaning organizations, her office received a letter
reading, "A good Russian is a dead Russian," and characterizing Russian
immigrants as "whores, thieves and hooligans."
Last fall, a radio talk-show host launched into an on-air tirade about
welfare payments to non-working ultra-Orthodox men, calling the men
"parasites."
And Arab Israelis, according to the Israel Democracy Institute poll, appear
just as intolerant. About two-thirds said they wouldn't want to live next to
Jewish settlers, the ultra-Orthodox or gay couples. About half preferred not
to live near foreigners.
Some question whether the tide of intolerance is rising at all, saying the
public debate in Israel has been hijacked by extremists in part because of
the weakness of the centrist and liberal political parties.
Bambi Sheleg, founder of the magazine A Different Place, a respected social
affairs journal, said she doesn't think Israelis are becoming more
xenophobic, but that extremist viewpoints are receiving more attention.
"Israeli society consists of a gigantic center," she said. "But there is no
one to lead it and its voice isn't heard."
She expressed hope that the recent trend would trigger a backlash among
Israeli centrists that would lead to more tolerance.
"We are on the threshold of the understanding that we all have to live here
together and compromise," she said. "These are growing pains."
Batsheva Sobelman in The Times' Jerusalem Bureau contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Times
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