We just found out that the person in charge of investigating detainee treatment in the past for the Pentagon said the Bush administration is committing "war crimes." And that the four major Western oil companies have conveniently received no-bid contracts to take the oil out of Iraq.
And what has the press done with these stories? Not a damn thing. War crimes -- don't sweat it. A war that cost thousands of lives so that the oil companies can get no-bid contracts -- don't even look into it. The news editors in this country are a national embarrassment. They wouldn't know news if it slapped them across the face. They're too busy typing out the latest government press release as if it's real news.
Here is the war crimes story and what the press did about it:
Here is the Iraqi oil story and what the press did about it (can you see a pattern here):
The press is supposed to challenge power, not suck up to it. It seems they have completely forgotten this part of the job description. Television is the worst, I don't know why we call those paid actors and models reporters anymore. Other than a handful of quality journalists, the rest of them have no idea what the news is and they are matched in their incompetence and cowardice by their own news editors. God forbid someone actually wants to report on the news, that's when the editors come in to spike the story. This system is fundamentally broken and it will take a long time to repair, if ever.
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The Press in America is Fundamentally Broken
Posted Jun 20th 2008 3:21AM by Cenk Uygur
Filed under: Iraq, Young Turks, Video, Torture
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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 4)
1. this site has been updated ... www.dontvoteobama.net
Bob at 4:39AM on Jun 20th 2008
2. Cenk
You of all the news sources, is by far the worse. You take a story and then edit it to fit your views. You omit certain facts from stories time and time again, just so the story fits what you want to say.
You raped Hillary Clinton while kissing up to Obama. I do not remember one story that may have even shed a little bad light on Obamassiah, but story after story, you went after Hillary to make her look bad. I guess they do not teach Journalistic Ethics in college anymore.
Yes, you hit the nail on the head with this article for you are a shining example of the decline of the media in the USA, you are a the biggest embarassment to the news industry that there could be.
Robert OKane at 5:52AM on Jun 20th 2008
3.
War crimes, murder, torture, no bid contracts for Exxon-Mobile, it's all about the oil but....
Obama's grandfather might have been a Muslim!
Thanks for letting us know that site had been updated, Bobby.
Captain Negative at 4:56AM on Jun 20th 2008
4. Cenk and his distorted Oil Contracts Story
The truth
International Herald Tribune/Reuters 6/5/08
The Iraq oil production infrastructure has been crumbling , dating back to when the west put an embargo of tne oil from Iraq.
The Iraq Government has takens steps to upgrade it's delapiated oil infrastructure by giving out 2 YEAR CONTRACTS to upgrade and improve the oil production capacity of Iraq. Iraq does not have the capital nor the know how to do this upgrade. This is a temporary measure until the much needed oil law is approved.
The two year deal with these oil companies will increase production in Iraq by 600,000 barrells of oil a day. The overall long range plan for Iraq Increased Oil Production is from it's 2.5 million barrels a day now, to 4.5 million barrels in 5 years, to 6 million barells a day in 10 years.
These deals will could give progress to improving the output of oil from Iraq.
Cenk-this is a perfect example of you distorting the news and saying what you want, not as to what is the truth.
There is nothing evil in the Iraq deals as you make out to be. Iraq is trying to improving the oil producing infrastructure that has fallen apart after 30 years of neglect. This is an acknowledged stop gap measure for the time being till the new oil law is passed.
Robert OKane at 5:52AM on Jun 20th 2008
5. cia controls the news
dave at 6:03AM on Jun 20th 2008
6. CENK FOR ONCE I AGREE WITH YOU ,AND AS LONG AS IDIOTS LIKE YOU PASS FOR JURNILIST IT WILL NEVER GET FIXED,DO MANKIND A FAVOR AND OPT OUT OF REPORTING SO WE CAN TRY TO RIGHT THIS WRONG...NITWIT
JPARCHERY02 at 6:56AM on Jun 20th 2008
7. Isn't CSPAN on TV? Aren't there like 2-3 channels available in most major markets?
It's not like this stuff is being buried. It's readily available, along with a lot of other stuff that gets passed on by the networks and the 3 info-tainment/rant channels.
It's been in the newspapers and, obviously, online.
That it's not a screaming headline is probably more indicative of the fact that the nation as a whole isn't particularly interested in building a case for putting Bush and company in front of a firing squad.
bob at 8:45AM on Jun 20th 2008
8. The press sure is broken, when they can hand pick a unknown Democratic presidential nominee.
Ella at 9:07AM on Jun 20th 2008
9. What school of journalism did you flunk out of?
Eric at 9:09AM on Jun 20th 2008
10. Freedom of the press died in this country a long time ago. This is the most corrupt period in our history. The economy is in shambles, the environment is being destroyed, and our govert is controlled by foreigners and greedy right-wing corporations. Our children can barely read and our medical and judicial systems rank right up with El Salvador. And besides becoming a full-blown Police State, we have become an empire with no direction and very little humanity. All thanks to the corporate controlled republican media. Have a nice day kids.
gshort3011 at 9:11AM on Jun 20th 2008
11. Freedom of the press died in this country a long time ago. This is the most corrupt period in our history. The economy is in shambles, the environment is being destroyed, and our govert is controlled by foreigners and greedy right-wing corporations. Our children can barely read and our medical and judicial systems rank right up with El Salvador. And besides becoming a full-blown Police State, we have become an empire with no direction and very little humanity. All thanks to the corporate controlled republican media. Have a nice day kids
gshort3011 at 9:12AM on Jun 20th 2008
12. "All thanks to the corporate controlled republican media. Have a nice day kids."
Hahahahaha.
The doomsaying in the media killing all shreds of hope in the country while celebrating the violent, depraved and ignorant shreds of 'news' have done more than enough to beat down any sort of optimism. The economy and the 'good times' all revolve around public [mis]perception. Eight years of "THE SKY IS FALLING WE ALL SUCK!" sort of has an adverse effect on people. The best part of this is that it then gets rationalized by media-sponsored public opinion polls that they use to confirm that yes, the sky _is_ falling; which in reality is just a measure of their own success at sapping the public.
I agree on the foreign controls and influences, as well as the police state point. Although they could be by-products of the doom and gloom.
B at 9:42AM on Jun 20th 2008
13. I still think Bush and his cronies derive some sort of sick, sadistic, sexual-thrill out of torturing and killing innocent human beings. Common sense and basic human nature in normal people would dictate that we be 100% certain that those we subject to our torture are, in fact, a genuine enemy.
Even then, laws have been established and treaties have been signed with regards to torture, and those aren't so much to protect the victims, it's to protect the citizenry and governments of those who commit this crime.
As for the media, it's purpose these days is to be nothing more than a distraction. Genuine stories have been replaced with mindless fluff, anchors are dolled up to please the eye, and when a legitimate story comes along, it's shrouded and hidden in all sorts of worthless flash and glamor that serves no purpose other than to entertain.
So, I'm thinking the reason why you didn't see this story on any of the 24 hour news outlets was simply because they couldn't find a nice, flashy graphic and music package to slap on as the intro the story.
And, that's how pathetic our media has become. They are now more concerned with small, shiny objects of flashy technology than they are in actually doing any reporting whatsoever.
Dan at 9:44AM on Jun 20th 2008
14. NOBAMA08!
Help Jesse Jackson save his people--
Let's gather up all them pesky dummycraps, make Soylent Green outa them then send that to the welfare slackers in lieu of they government checks. Solves SO many problems. YUMMMMM!
An American taxpayer voting for Osama bin Obama is like a racehorse voting for Alpo as a retirement plan.
People Eating Tasty Animals and Alpo -- Join Now! Enroll the whole family.
Cliff Mansfield at 10:01AM on Jun 20th 2008
15. NOBAMA08!
Help Jesse Jackson save his people--
Let's gather up all them pesky dummycraps, make Soylent Green outa them then send that to the welfare slackers in lieu of they government checks. Solves SO many problems. YUMMMMM!
An American taxpayer voting for Osama bin Obama is like a racehorse voting for Alpo as a retirement plan.
People Eating Tasty Animals and Alpo -- Join Now! Enroll the whole family.
Cliff Mansfield at 10:03AM on Jun 20th 2008