A friend recommended this film to during a conversation about the media's responsibility to act as a check to government. It looks at the power of the corporate media and it's influence, reaching the ultimate conclusion that the media holds a more important power over the people of this country than any branch of government, as they have the ability to rewrite history and direct public opinion.
And as the keepers of information, who is the media accountable to?
Some people accuse the news media of having a liberal bias. I've always said that reality has a liberal bias, but I digress. What the makers of this film are saying is that the major players in news and entertainment are the lapdogs of government and big business, and that their modus operandi consists of keeping the public ignorant so that corrupt people can continue to enjoy their money and power.
A prominent example was made out of recent legislation passed during the Bush administration regarding the estate tax. Most of the general public had no idea that they wouldn't be affected by the estate tax, but the media worked in conjunction with the conservative party to depict the whole thing as something terrible, even relabeling it as the "death tax."
While the media could do a much better job at informing our populace, it's main function ends up being to entertain. Bread and circuses. The public is kept complacent and distracted, while those who control the news are in bed with those who control the government to make sure that things stay the way they are.
The increasingly important role of technology is a welcome de-stabilizer, in my opinion. With the internet providing more equal access to information publication, perhaps all of the uncertainty about the future will translate to some real positive change.
The film is available in parts on youtube. Here is the first:
What we want in a media system is ostensible diversity that conceals an actual uniformity.
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--Joseph Goebbels
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