CNN and the business of state-sponsored TV news

theguardian ^ | Glenn Greenwald

[ckilmer]

Today I reported on the refusal of CNN International (CNNi) to broadcast an award-winning documentary, "iRevolution", that was produced in early 2011 as the Arab Spring engulfed the region and which was highly critical of the regime in Bahrain. The documentary, featuring CNN's on-air correspondent Amber Lyon, viscerally documented the brutality and violence the regime was using against its own citizens who were peacefully protesting for democracy. Commenting on why the documentary did not air on CNNi, CNN's spokesman cited "purely editorial reasons".

[ckilmer]

The article goes on much longer. the point is that CNN receives financial backing from foreign government.

A rider could be written into any bill before congress that would ban any news organization from playing at US airports that receivies funds from foreign governments.

That would force CNN to make some tough choices.

[Spok]

CNN is corrupt, which is what happens when you accept money from any gov’t. source.

[rellimpank]

—and if you think it’s coverage is biased propaganda domestically (which it is) you should see the foreign version—pure anti-American propaganda-—

[GoldenPup]

Hard to understand why anyone with half a brain would sit in front of a tv and listen to the Corrupt News Network lie and broadcast fake news.

If lying in the news was illegal, all these sleeze balls would be in prison.

[adorno]

I am no longer unwittingly paying for CNN on my TV.

I’ve cut the cord. No more cable TV. I do, however, still get TV channels over a Firestick. (Yeah, I hate having supported Amazon in any way, but that’s the only $39 they’ve gotten from me in the last 5 years).

With Firestick, I’ve downloaded a bunch of “providers” of TV stations (which also include a lot of “junk” channels, but I’ve learned which ones they are and skip over them with no problem). I’ve also downloaded a lot of other providers who provide thousands of movies, many of them recent releases.

I can now watch all of the broadcast TV stations, and most of the non-OTA channels, like AMC and FOX news and ID and Discovery and NIck Jr (for my grandkids) and Disney Jr, and much more.

BTW, Firestick is not the only way to get at all of those TV and movie and entertainment provides; there are a bunch of other devices that work just as well. In fact, I can get a lot of those same Firestick services via an Android phone, and from my PCs and tablets. I still needed to subscribe to internet service, being as how OTA TV sucks, and there aren’t really any good antennas that will pick up all the OTA channes, not even the much touted Mohu leaf antennas. Anyhow, I now watch only what I want and I’m not being charged for stations which I don’t watch and wont support, and to boot, I’m saving over $70 per month.

[Wuli]

I would go further.

I would in the same “Free Press” bill:

(a) Eliminate ANY government funded/sponsored/run/controlled “news” organization, domestic or foreign, from operating in any U.S. controlled television or radio space. That would not only dump NPR and the like, but dump the BBC, Al Jazeera, China and Russia’s “news” organizations and others from U.S. television viewing. As for all the current U.S. funded “press”, like NPR, they are also not “free” as in representing a politically unbiased view. Their view always is and always has been a Leftist view and a politically antagonistic view of Conservatives altogether. It is so much that way that when a “Left-of-Center” administration is in office in Washington D.C., or a Left-of-Center majority is in control in Congress, or both, NPR acts as a de fact virtual media arm of its political friends in power. Its own history disqualifies it as deserving of being funded by the taxpayers. If CSpan does not want to lose its privileges it should have to clean up its political act as well.

(b) I would deny “Press” visas to employees of foreign government funded/sponsored/run/controlled “news” organizations. Foreign government officials have all the diplomatic means they need to ask our government anything they want, and their diplomatic staffs are not prevented from asking questions directly to American businesses or citizens either. The U.S. citizens have no need of pretending foreign government funded/sponsored/run/controlled “news” organizations are “free” to do and say what any truly “free press” organ would say.