Lopsided Reports of Wisconsin Strike Proof That TV Networks Need Boycotting

By TRB

You can only take so many half truths and lies from a source before you begin to ignore it.

That is the minor predicament the major three television network news organizations (ABC, CBS and NBC) find themselves in at this time. Don't think for a moment that their unspoken decision to take sides with the union-busters in Wisconsin has them worried. The networks generally don't care about their news divisions. There are even a few executives who believe the networks would be better off with no news divisions at all.

Look what the news networks have done over the past twenty years. They have slashed budgets to their news divisions. They have closed too many news bureaus to count in foreign nations. The "news" business to the multi-national corporations which in all cases own it, is not viewed by its owners as a vehicle from which to disseminate information regular people have to know to conduct their lives. Rather, it is seen as an opportunity to promote the many other more lucrative businesses they own. Like weapon system businesses.

At least two of the multi-national corporations who own the television networks made a fortune selling weapon systems to the U.S. military to fight the illegal war in Iraq. So is it any wonder that those same television networks are not calling for investigations into that illegal war, are not pointing out the many lies that were told to make the U.S. military move against the sovereign nation of Iraq, have not reported accurately the 100,000 or so Iraqis murdered by U.S. forces in the war based on lies?

And now we witness these television networks as they "report" the public labor strike in Wisconsin, and many Americans are taken in by their false polling techniques, their penchant of placing the blame for the strike on the striker, and their outrageous failure to look at the entire story, shutting off entire avenues of information that don't jibe with the anti-union propaganda they are selling.

A friend of mine, a senior officer in the military, once wrote a poem entitled "These Lies We Are Enjoined to Tell." the poem was about the propaganda machine behind the Vietnam war during which he was a press briefing officer, and how it pained him to keep the truth from the press of what was really happening in the war. I remember the poem because I also once worked for the military propaganda machine. I have worked both sides of the desk, as a public affairs officer for the military and as a journalist for the civilian press. In other words, I know a lie when I hear it.

The television networks have given proof to a chapter out of the book Manufacturing Consent by Noam Chomsy and Edward Hermann, It is a chapter called "Worthy and Unworthy Victims." The major television new networks have apparently decided that Governor Walker of Wisconsin is the "worthy victim" and the unions are the "unworthy victims." The Governor is always presented on news reports sitting calmly behind his desk, speaking softly to the networks, who are kind enough not to bring up the fact that this story is no longer about making money concessions to balance the budget.

The unions have already made these concessions. This is a story about attempts by two billionaires to pay for the destruction of a union. This is the most important part of the story from the viewpoint of traditional journalism. But you won't hear it on the network news. You will be lucky to hear that the union has made any concessions at all, So the networks have shown you their "worthy victim" the governor, sticking to his "promise to the electorate."

Now the networks will show you the "unworthy victims," the strikers. First they will lead with an overhead shot of bobbing heads, angry , carrying signs. Instead of interviewing a union spokesman in a quiet room, they will go into the crowds on the streets. You will hear shrill chants, you will see the anger on the unionists faces. In other words, you will most likely view Governor Walker as the reasonable, the "worthy victim" in this fight.

And you won't even realize that you have just witnessed a casebook example of propaganda, i.e. how to make you believe something that on closer inspection is a lie. It was all carefully choreographed by the news producer to tell you a story from their point of view. In short, it was a sales job.

And in this particular case, a bare-faced lie.

This effort to break the unions is being paid for by two billionaires with business interests in Wisconsin. The Governor has been the recipient of some of their money. Not mentioned by the networks. But a key point in the story.

The kind of collective bargaining the union wants is almost just as often won by management as by the union, Not mentioned by the networks. But a key point in the story.

The effort to break the union in Wisconsin is part of a 4 or 5 state union busting attempt privately financed by industries that seek to avoid safety and other regulations that union workers have won over the past 75 years through collective bargaining. Not mentioned by the networks. But a key point in the story.

There are well over a hundred or so television channels today. As a nation we are no longer required to stick to the three networks. Cable has opened things up. I would advise any reader who is tired of the anti-labor news to watch other channels. You should also see what companies own NBC, CBS and ABC. Off the top of my head I can name General Electric and Walt Disney, Both them and their products too.

If you are in favor of collective bargaining rights for unions you will not watch television stations that are obviously anti-union in their views. General Electric - anti union. Walt Disney - anti union. And at least 150 other business tied into these networks. Do your homework; look them up. Most are anti-labor.

When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that money had the same "rights" as free speech, then obviously you have the freedom to spend that speech/money in a way that represents your political beliefs.

At 10pm ET Ed Shultz of MSNBC, a station which also employs Dylan Ratigan and Rachel Maddow, will broadcast live from the steps of the Wisconsin State Capitol. So far MSNBC and its reportage of this strike has been more credible and objective than any other station on television.

Of course they are cable.