What Happened to the News Media in America? Part 2 – The Golden Age of News – Destroyers of the Truth

Finally, I get to Part 2, the “Destroyers of the Truth.”  Turn your clock back to the 1970’s, the twilight of the Golden Age of news.  Events starting in the early 1960’s like the Cold War between the USA and Soviet Union, the Cuban missile crisis, the Kennedy assassination, Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy assassinations, then Watergate shook the news business to the bone.

Instead of a fifteen-minute national news broadcast, they expanded to 30 minutes with additional “news” shows like 20/20 or Sixty minutes among others added to the line-up.  This and a demand for real time coverage of events like the Kennedy assassination in 1963, where network coverage pre-empted regular programming, changed the face of media forever.

Suddenly national and local news became a big deal which led to an explosion of media innovations including the live broadcast of events, field reporting, live inter-active reporting between news anchors and field reporters, and a digital revolution in the collection, processing and distribution of news.

The second major shift taking place simultaneously was the wild and wacky decade of the 1960’s, as the post-World War II baby boomers became the dominant force.  Suddenly the youth of our nation faced crisis after crisis as they filled secondary and college educational institutions with their thirst for a new world.

The Baby Boomers, born in the shadow and deadly radioactive fallout of the only two atomic explosions ever used in war, which were dropped on Japan and ended World War II.  It would take a book to describe the impact the 1960’s had on this new generation and so far, none have done it justice.

“Within the span of a single decade the greatest revolution in world history took place…”

Within the span of a single decade the greatest revolution in world history took place as the Boomers faced civil rights bloodshed, demands for academic freedom, the threat of a Cold War, the added threat of biologic or chemical warfare, death in Viet Nam, death on college campus’s protesting the war, political assassinations, bloody peace protests, and so much more.

The entertainment industry also reached their Golden Age as Broadway, movies, and television all exploded before they would settle into bitter rivals in the battle for the hearts, souls and pocketbooks of the people.  How appropriate the end of the decade would result in Woodstock, a rock festival and anti-war protest drawing over 400,000 concert-goers to a muddy field in the other New York, meaning upstate from NYC.

“I call it the Second American Revolution.”

This amazing decade is what I call the Second American Revolution.  What emerged at the end of the decade showed little, if any, resemblance to what began the decade.  There was not an institution, idea, principle, or political policy that was not tested, tried and trampled over.

At this point I will offer you multiple choices of what caused such a venerable and respected institution like the news media to pretty much self-destruct in the ensuing decades until today.  Decide for yourself which were most responsible as the “Destroyers of the Truth” here in the American. News media.

Causes of the Collapse of the News Media

Cable News? Competition

Internet Technology

Changes in news media valuation from viewers to profits

Profit-driven companies bought news interests as investment

Astonishing increase in political spending for media

Courts rejecting campaign finance laws

Failure of government to regulate Internet

Proliferation of media advertising revenue

Blurring of the distinction between news and editorials

Apathy of a disenfranchised population

Reporters becoming advocates of causes and politics

A general public seemingly disinterested in the truth

Conflicts of interest between media and politics

No enforcement of News Media Code of Ethics

Lack of media accountability for sources and stories

Government abuse of classifying information

To sum it all up, greed, a lust for power, and exorbitant advertising revenue from politics and the private sector fueled the demise of the news media.  Once again, the pendulum has reversed itself and the credibility and believability of the news media by the public has gone off the cliff.

What was once intense competition between news groups has morphed into an insidious and ruthless effort to not only dismember and destroy those of opposing views, but to trample on the free rights of everyone but yourself.  Respect for our Constitutional rights to individual freedom, opportunity and free speech are spit upon by ego-centered, celebrity-driven news media.

“A new, more powerful special interest has cast a long dark shadow over our world.”

A new, more powerful special interest has cast a long dark shadow over our world, the digital answer to control.  Dominated by greed and the lust for power and fueled by an explosion of ad revenues from even more special interests, the news media of today, have no code of ethics.

When it comes to the Internet news providers and news aggregators, stories being pursued are no longer of broad interest but serve their own agenda.  Fake news is highly successful because, quite frankly, the reader is lost in the abyss of power and control.  People have willingly become pawns, because they have no backbone for the truth.

The news media embraces polarization, character assassination, and political agendas which are a violation of the Journalism Code of Ethics.  They are caught up in a tangle of special interests whose interest may be the enslavement of the general public to technology.  We are data-driven fools whose every thought, action, purchase, interest, and personal health and wealth are already under the microscope of Big Brother.

The Internet changed the dynamics.  The loss of integrity, absence of fairness, and failure of news groups to take responsibility for their stories or actions has undermined any hope for credibility in the news media.

“Social media news organizations and so-called news aggregators for the Internet services have become the new overlords of the news media…”

Social media news organizations and so-called news aggregators for the Internet services have become the new overlords of the news media, and the new censors for determining news media content.

I suspect somewhere along the line the institutions of higher learning who once defended the freedom and fairness of the news media decided corporate underwriting of the academic endowment funds was more important than telling the truth.  Or, perhaps they were just taking care of their university graduates in the private, “capitalism” sector.

In summary – the truth has been checkmated, the game is over.

What Happened to the News Media in America? Part 2 – The Golden Age of News – Destroyers of the Truth

Finally, I get to Part 2, the “Destroyers of the Truth.”  Turn your clock back to the 1970’s, the twilight of the Golden Age of news.  Events starting in the early 1960’s like the Cold War between the USA and Soviet Union, the Cuban missile crisis, the Kennedy assassination, Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy assassinations, then Watergate shook the news business to the bone.

Instead of a fifteen-minute national news broadcast, they expanded to 30 minutes with additional “news” shows like 20/20 or Sixty minutes among others added to the line-up.  This and a demand for real time coverage of events like the Kennedy assassination in 1963, where network coverage pre-empted regular programming, changed the face of media forever.

Suddenly national and local news became a big deal which led to an explosion of media innovations including the live broadcast of events, field reporting, live inter-active reporting between news anchors and field reporters, and a digital revolution in the collection, processing and distribution of news.

The second major shift taking place simultaneously was the wild and wacky decade of the 1960’s, as the post-World War II baby boomers became the dominant force.  Suddenly the youth of our nation faced crisis after crisis as they filled secondary and college educational institutions with their thirst for a new world.

The Baby Boomers, born in the shadow and deadly radioactive fallout of the only two atomic explosions ever used in war, which were dropped on Japan and ended World War II.  It would take a book to describe the impact the 1960’s had on this new generation and so far, none have done it justice.

“Within the span of a single decade the greatest revolution in world history took place…”

Within the span of a single decade the greatest revolution in world history took place as the Boomers faced civil rights bloodshed, demands for academic freedom, the threat of a Cold War, the added threat of biologic or chemical warfare, death in Viet Nam, death on college campus’s protesting the war, political assassinations, bloody peace protests, and so much more.

The entertainment industry also reached their Golden Age as Broadway, movies, and television all exploded before they would settle into bitter rivals in the battle for the hearts, souls and pocketbooks of the people.  How appropriate the end of the decade would result in Woodstock, a rock festival and anti-war protest drawing over 400,000 concert-goers to a muddy field in the other New York, meaning upstate from NYC.

“I call it the Second American Revolution.”

This amazing decade is what I call the Second American Revolution.  What emerged at the end of the decade showed little, if any, resemblance to what began the decade.  There was not an institution, idea, principle, or political policy that was not tested, tried and trampled over.

At this point I will offer you multiple choices of what caused such a venerable and respected institution like the news media to pretty much self-destruct in the ensuing decades until today.  Decide for yourself which were most responsible as the “Destroyers of the Truth” here in the American. News media.

Causes of the Collapse of the News Media

Cable News? Competition

Internet Technology

Changes in news media valuation from viewers to profits

Profit-driven companies bought news interests as investment

Astonishing increase in political spending for media

Courts rejecting campaign finance laws

Failure of government to regulate Internet

Proliferation of media advertising revenue

Blurring of the distinction between news and editorials

Apathy of a disenfranchised population

Reporters becoming advocates of causes and politics

A general public seemingly disinterested in the truth

Conflicts of interest between media and politics

No enforcement of News Media Code of Ethics

Lack of media accountability for sources and stories

Government abuse of classifying information

To sum it all up, greed, a lust for power, and exorbitant advertising revenue from politics and the private sector fueled the demise of the news media.  Once again, the pendulum has reversed itself and the credibility and believability of the news media by the public has gone off the cliff.

What was once intense competition between news groups has morphed into an insidious and ruthless effort to not only dismember and destroy those of opposing views, but to trample on the free rights of everyone but yourself.  Respect for our Constitutional rights to individual freedom, opportunity and free speech are spit upon by ego-centered, celebrity-driven news media.

“A new, more powerful special interest has cast a long dark shadow over our world.”

A new, more powerful special interest has cast a long dark shadow over our world, the digital answer to control.  Dominated by greed and the lust for power and fueled by an explosion of ad revenues from even more special interests, the news media of today, have no code of ethics.

When it comes to the Internet news providers and news aggregators, stories being pursued are no longer of broad interest but serve their own agenda.  Fake news is highly successful because, quite frankly, the reader is lost in the abyss of power and control.  People have willingly become pawns, because they have no backbone for the truth.

The news media embraces polarization, character assassination, and political agendas which are a violation of the Journalism Code of Ethics.  They are caught up in a tangle of special interests whose interest may be the enslavement of the general public to technology.  We are data-driven fools whose every thought, action, purchase, interest, and personal health and wealth are already under the microscope of Big Brother.

The Internet changed the dynamics.  The loss of integrity, absence of fairness, and failure of news groups to take responsibility for their stories or actions has undermined any hope for credibility in the news media.

“Social media news organizations and so-called news aggregators for the Internet services have become the new overlords of the news media…”

Social media news organizations and so-called news aggregators for the Internet services have become the new overlords of the news media, and the new censors for determining news media content.

I suspect somewhere along the line the institutions of higher learning who once defended the freedom and fairness of the news media decided corporate underwriting of the academic endowment funds was more important than telling the truth.  Or, perhaps they were just taking care of their university graduates in the private, “capitalism” sector.

In summary – the truth has been checkmated, the game is over.

Melchizedek Internet Warning Heard by Father of Internet - Censorship and Control dominate Creativity and Imagination

Technology

The father of the world wide web is one disappointed dad

 David Lumb,Engadget

The father of the world wide web is one disappointed dad

Today is the World Wide Web's 29th birthday, and to celebrate the occasion, its creator has told us how bad it's become. In an open letter appearing in The Guardian, Tim Berners-Lee painted a bleak picture of the current internet -- one dominated by a handful of colossal platforms that have constricted innovation and obliterated the rich, lopsided archipelago of blogs and small sites that came before. It's not too late to change, Lee wrote, but to do so, we need a dream team of business, tech, government, civil workers, academics and artists to cooperate in building "the web we all want."

Lee reserves his biggest criticisms for the huge platforms -- by implication, Facebook and Google, among others -- that have come to dominate their spheres and effectively become gatekeepers. They "control which ideas and opinions are seen and shared," Lee wrote, pointing out that they're able to impede competition by creating barriers. "They acquire startup challengers, buy up new innovations and hire the industry's top talent. Add to this the competitive advantage that their user data gives them and we can expect the next 20 years to be far less innovative than the last."

Centralizing the web like this has lead to serious problems, like when an Amazon Web Services outage took down a chunk of internet services over a week ago -- ironically, nearly a year to the day after another similar web-crippling incident on AWS. But bottlenecking the internet through a handful of platforms has also enabled something more sinister: The weaponization of the internet. From trending conspiracy theories all the way up to influencing American politics using hundreds of fake social media accounts, outside actors have been able to maximize their manipulation efforts thanks to a far more centralized internet than we used to have, in Lee's opinion.

These companies are ill-equipped to work for social benefit given their focus on profit -- and perhaps could use some regulation. "The responsibility – and sometimes burden – of making these decisions falls on companies that have been built to maximise profit more than to maximise social good. A legal or regulatory framework that accounts for social objectives may help ease those tensions," wrote Lee.

You know who could fix the future of the internet? Us, of course -- a group of individuals from a broad cross-section of society who can outthink the hegemony of colossal internet corporations who are mostly fine with things as they are. Incentives could be the key to motivating new solutions, Lee concluded.

But there's another problem that business can't really solve: Closing the digital gap by getting the unconnected onto the internet. These are more likely to be female, poor, geographically remote and/or living outside of the first world. Bringing them into the fold will diversify voices on the internet and be, well, a moral thing to do now that the UN has decided internet access is a basic human right. But it'll take more than inventive business models to get them online and up to speed: We'll have to support policies that bring the internet to them over community networks and/or public access.

The Guardian

• This article originally appeared on Engadget.

When Greed Dominates the Public Interest we get this! Pharmaceutical Giant Finds New Use for Viagra - Screwing the Public!

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Prolonged Erection Proves Profitable!

IT'S OFFICIAL: Pfizer agrees to a $160 billion deal to avoid US taxes

By Sam Ro 

The pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and Allergan will combine to form a $160 billion global drug behemoth.

Allergan shareholders will be receiving $363.63 worth of Pfizer stock as payment. Specifically, for each share of Allergan, investors will receive 11.3 shares (based on the Pfizer's Friday closing price of $32.18) of the new combined company.

Importantly, the combined businesses will be renamed Pfizer Plc but legally will be combined under Allergan Plc. This means the combined company will officially be domiciled in Ireland.

"Upon the closing of the transaction, the combined company is expected to maintain Allergan's Irish legal domicile," management said.

This type of deal, also known as a tax inversion, has been embraced by more and more US companies as a way to dodge relatively high US tax rates by moving to low-tax regions like Ireland.

For Pfizer, this means billions of dollars in savings.

"Pfizer anticipates the transaction will deliver more than $2 billion in operational synergies over the first three years after closing," management said. "Pfizer anticipates that the combined company will have a pro forma Adjusted Effective Tax Rate of approximately 17%-18% by the first full year after the closing of the transaction."

"The proposed combination of Pfizer and Allergan will create a leading global pharmaceutical company with the strength to research, discover, and deliver more medicines and therapies to more people around the world," Pfizer CEO Ian Read said. "Allergan's businesses align with and enhance Pfizer's businesses, creating best-in-class, sustainable, innovative, and established businesses that are poised for growth."

The combined company will continue to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker PFE.

Here are the bullets summarizing the deal via Pfizer:

·                          Creates a new global biopharmaceutical leader with best-in-class innovative and established businesses

·                          Enhances revenue and earnings growth profile of innovative and established businesses

·                          Broadens innovative pipeline with more than 100 combined mid-to-late stage programs in development

·                          Transaction expected to close in the second half of 2016

·                          Expected to be neutral to Pfizer's Adjusted Diluted EPS1 in 2017, accretive beginning in calendar year 2018 and more than 10% accretive in 2019 with high-teens percentage accretion in 20202

·                          Expect combined Operating Cash Flow in excess of $25 Billion beginning in 2018

·                          Increased financial flexibility facilitates continued investment in the United States

·                          Preserves opportunity for a potential future separation of innovative and established businesses

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A bet on Obama turns to Gold for Goldman

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America's Best Investment the Last Year - Obama's Presidential Campaign

So we just suffered through the worst year since the Great depression and the collapsing economy wiped out more than half of people's savings and investments along with a big chunk of their home and other real estate values. The stock market has now recovered about 40-50% of it's value. The Dow Jones hit 10,000 for the first time in a year.

Home prices have stabilized although below the value of the past few years. Unemployment is way up but economists say we are out of the recession. Oil prices have settled at about twice what they were before the economic crash. Even billionaires like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett lost a lot of value over the past year.



At least things seem to have stopped losing value and we can catch our breath. All in all we seem happy to be where we are which is far worse off than we were a year or two ago. Still some people managed to make a lot of money on the pain and suffering of the rest of the world, a whole lot of money.



There was an investment you could have made that would have made you wealthy in the past year. If you were a Goldman Sachs employee your investment in Barack Obama's presidential campaign resulted in the highest earnings per quarter for employees in history in this, Goldman's 140th year in business. Goldman employees donated about $1 million to Obama's campaign, helped raise a total of over $21 million from the Wall Street financial community and of course have helped guide his career since his start in politics.

Goldman's financial contributions to Obama amounted to about $32 per employee (there are 31,700 Goldman employees). The money Goldman earned in 2009 and is paying for wages and benefits just through the last nine months since Obama took office average $527,192 per employee. Imagine if you gave someone $32 last year and already were paid back over half a million dollars.



Goldman generated $35.6 billion in revenue so far this year, an increase of 49% over last year. 47% is allocated to the employees, a total of $16.7 billion. The only better year was 2007 when $16.9 billion was set aside and the only better quarter was the last quarter of this year.



Besides the billions of dollars in pay this year, the stock value has also been astronomical for Goldman's. They are the only financial services company to achieve such staggering success as their stock value increased from $53.31 a share when Obama was elected to about $187.32 today, an increase of over 3.5 times in less than a year.

Compare Goldman's to the next largest investment bank and another Obama backer JP Morgan. Morgan also had a great year but allocated just $8.79 billion to employees, half of the Goldman allocation. The Morgan stock hit $23.38 when Obama got elected and today is up to $46.83, double the value but far below the Goldman record pace.

Goldman was a major player in the sub-prime mortgage market and oil futures market whose wild swings drove the world into economic chaos. They also were selling mortgage packages to clients while they were spending their own money betting the mortgage market would collapse. It earned them the record earnings in 2007 and cost them $60 million in state fines so far. However, the fine was paid with no admission of guilt to limit the corporate liability and allow the expense to be deducted. Some people have all the breaks it seems.



In addition, Goldman received $10 billion in bank bailout funds last year and billions more from the AIG bailout. The bank funds were repaid so the federal government could not challenge the payoffs to their employees. Yet to be determined is the long term relationship between Goldman and Obama to explain why one of the largest investment banks in the world took a state senator from Illinois under their wing and led him to the presidency of the nation.



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