Date: Mar. 21, 2012 What Is the Liberal Elite Media?

In an effort to divert the truth from the valid claim that most of Americas media time is pro-right wing time spent listening to the radio, watching TV or reading print media like newspapers - (after all, you cannot argue with the Nielson Ratings as reported to the Wall Street Journal), the right wing candidates, led by Newt Gingrich, have re-qualified the word media from its current iteration as Liberal Media to Liberal Elite Media. The intent here is to not only label media as liberal media that is far removed from the rights point of view but to throw in elite, meaning rich, haughty, not of the people. Their goal is to make listeners and readers believe that anything from the media not openly affiliated with the right-wing is false, lies and is not of the people. So lets look at the words individually. A dictionary says that Elite means a group of people considered to be the best in a particular society or category, especially because of their power, talent, or wealth. And Liberal means open minded. And Media refers to the main means of mass communication. So Elite Liberal Media refers to publication or speech from the best, most open minded, people in America. And this is a bad label for the non-right wing media? But, according to conservatives, the liberal elite media is the clique of highly paid, left-leaning executives and journalists who directly control most output of the main newspapers and broadcasting organizations. They are epitomized by the staff of such organizations as the BBC, CNN, The Guardian, The Independent, New York Times, and the Washington Post. Most of the output? Really? Another fabrication. Lets drill down and see just who owns the biggest slice of media and gets the fattest pay checks - in America. Wall Street, hardly a bastion of support for anything liberal, controls all the companies and media outlets in America. And standing, front and center, is Rupert Murdock, a right wing mogul who clearly doesnt care about individual rights or the law in some cases. Hes the main leader of the far-right media here and abroad. He controls Fox, the Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones (thats Wall Streets measuring device of wealth and power), almost 20% of book publishing in America, about 15% of all movies made, and, well, another 800 companies around the world with influence approaching $200 billion. Then theres Rush Limbaugh owner of the most listened to radio talk show in America, Glenn Beck, David and Charles Koch (with an Internet media platform), and so on. Hardly an open-minded person amongst them. And as for elite well, as these people, and Newt Gingrich (with a $500,000

credit account at Tiffanys), are all stinking rich, it is funny to see them using the term elite in a derogatory way. They are the elite - when it comes to money and power anyway. But as Adolf once said, If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed. What is worrying is that history can repeat itself all too easily.