Current can become the only truly INDEPENDENT news stn. free from all corporate influence!

[Cal33]

If Keith really delivers, he will deserve our support in spreading the word that finally
we have one station - Current TV - that is completely independent in reporting the truth
as it is, a news station that is free of all dirty influence from any quarter.

Keith will deserve our support because American journalism will finally be climbing out
of the sewer, and he will be the person mainly responsible for it.

So let's see how things will be turning out. I sure am hopeful that this is the day
of return to great American journalism.

[Myrina]

1. I was fairly impressed last night ...

... was expecting the same "Rah Rah Dems can do no wrong and Republicans are lizards" stuff we see alot on Big Ed and Rachel, but I think perhaps during his time off, Mr. Olbermann has realized that the entire system is broken, bought and paid for by the Corporates and that We The People don't stand a chance in hell unless BOTH major parties get their asses kicked.

Hope he stays on that trend, I'm looking forward to thoughtful criticism of what truly ails this country.

[Cal33]

2. I agree with you. I did mention in a previous thread that I thought Keith showed a streak of

rebelliousness from what he had said in his reports, and the way he had said them. This is a
good trait for a reporter - if not overdone. Whatever difficulties he was having with his
superiors at MSNBC could have been affecting his work. Now that he has a free hand, he is his
own boss. Keith could make Current TV into the greatest news station in our country - the
news station that every serious and knowledgeable person turns to for real news.

This is the chance of his life-time. I hope it comes true. America needs this -- needs this badly!

[Recursion]

6. Sadly that's been Keith's story his whole career (the bad side of what you're saying)

He's managed to burn bridges everywhere he works. And, yes, to an extent a journalist has to be able to do that, but when he ends up muzzling himself by getting kicked out of every network he goes to, it kind of defeats the purpose. Even Murrow was willing to soothe egos from time to time.

[Cal33]

10. Aaah, but this time he is his own boss, which makes the circumstances quite different. Let's

give him some time to find out how he will behave under these new conditions.

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[True Earthling]

4. As long as Current is supported by commercial advertising

there will be corporate influence.

[Recursion]

9. Current is a corporation

How is a corporation supposed to avoid corporate influence? Why is corporate influence held to be universally bad?

[Cal33]

11. "...there will be corporate influence..." True. There are different types of

influences, though. (1) As equals, such as dealings between businesses - or corporations, if you like.
(2) having a superior manager, who tells you what he'd like you to do.

I imagine Keith will be having influences mostly of type (1) in his present position. And if Current TV
should be doing very well, Current will be having more people wanting to advertise there than it can
handle. The outside influence won't be significant.

True, not all corporations are bad. But the big, bad ones, such as some insurance companies, banks,
pharmaceutical companies, munitions companies ..... have brought disaster and chaos of such proportions
to our nation, that the word "corporation" has come to be associated with selfishness, greed, deceit and
corruption ..... Also to be noticed is that these big bad wolves haven't stopped by any means. They
are becoming "bigger and badder," and their threat to putting an end to the democracy that America has
always known is no idle joke. They are doing their best to make it happen.

I think it's better to be aware and wary of them.

And a big welcom to DU.

[Horse with no Name]

34. When corporations influence the news that is reported

or how it is reported--then it is a problem.

A corporation funding a news channel is not a threat unless they expect "favors" in return.

I mean, "imagine" if someone who owned a news channel also had interests in nuclear power plants halfway across the globe and that "imaginary" power plant was melting down and "imagine" if there was little important reporting on that "imaginary" nuclear power plant. What a fucked up world we would have if corporations were allowed to influence our news like that.

[Recursion]

5. You know it *is* a corporation, right?

And Comcast has a stake in it, as does SKY, and Vivendi maintains an interest through the NWI purchase. "Corporation" does not equal "evil", and if you look back in history what came before them was far, far worse.

[RandomThoughts]

7. Lets go back to those days in how we treat some of those people that say there corporate states

are kinder, when they do what is not acceptable.

those that try and steal rights, try to falsely accuse, and falsely imprison people.



Pulp Fiction - What now?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23EOVuhIhdg

http://vimeo.com/1764428



Brothers in Arms - Dire Straits
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5JkHBC5lDs

Bonnie Raitt - I Can't Make You Love Me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW9Cu6GYqxo

Bonnie Raitt - Nick Of Time
http://www.123video.nl/playvideos.asp?MovieID=407128

Dire Straits - Walk of Life
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZxVC0GB838


Constantine - Bring me to life (Evanescence)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dx8d3K_hngw

[Recursion]

8. Was there supposed to be another verb there? (nt)

[RandomThoughts]

14. You would have to know the wrongful treatment of some in prison.

Many of whom are innocent, to understand that clip.

[Erose999]

13. Isn't "SKY" owned by Rupert Murdoch? I think its part of Newscorp.

[Cal33]

15. You mean the feudal times, when royalty and nobility owned not only

the land, but also the people who lived on their land? Yes. It was worse.
But that's the exact problem. Corporate CEOs are trying to destroy democracy
in our country, so that they can become the new royalty and nobility.
Conservaties want to go backwards, correct?

Just look at what they're doing. They're taking home larger and larger amounts
of pay at the expense of their workers, who are struggling to survive on their
dwindling salaries. They've become wage slaves. Execs. are trying to wipe out
the middle-class, correct?

Who is doing most of the productive work? The middle-class. Greed prevents
the execs. from seeing that they're trying to kill the goose that's laying
the golden eggs. They need the middle-class. In the final analysis, endless
greed always turns out to be self-destructive.

[Recursion]

17. No, between feudalism and capitalism was mercantilism

And the American Revolution can at least partly be seen as the corporate model vs. the mercantile model; it's no coincidence that The Wealth of Nations came out in 1776.

But nothing is as simple as we want it to be on this board; the Progressive Era reforms and regulations were pushed largely by the increasingly powerful corporations (the irony is not lost on me that a defining aspect of the Progressive Era was "corporatism", which is anathema to those who call themselves progressive now -- just like I'm amused that Herbert Hoover was the "Progressive" candidate against FDR in 1932, and FDR was opposed by "Progressive" democrats -- like Strom Thurmond) because they could afford to follow safety regulations while the legacy mercantilist concerns could not. Just like in the 1920s, as an example, the sweeping food safety regulations that were just passed were lobbied for by large meat packing corporations, because they can afford them and smaller outfits can't. Corporations have done a lot of harm but on the balance I personally have to judge that their good has outweighed their harm (which is why the poor today are so much richer than the poor of the past).

[Renew Deal]

12. I read on DU that they ran ads last night.

Which means there's some corporate influence there. I also think they'll get scooped up if they are succesful enough. That's how things work.

[kctim]

16. Countdown is an opinion show

and simply agreeing with an entertainers opinion is not a "return to great American journalism." Such simplistic thinking is why wingers believe FOX is the only real 'news' station.

[Cal33]

19. You haven't noticed that most of the post was written in the future and

conditional tenses, and I began the first line with "If Keith really delivers ...."

I am really hoping and rooting for the kind of news station that died out
in America at least thirty years ago.

[kctim]

20. Sorry, but you will not get that kind of news station with oberman

[Cal33]

38. I hope he is flexible enough to grow and change.

[Recursion]

21. Keith's not a reporter

He was never into the Murrow style of journalism. He's a columnist, and one I agree with, but I don't like the comparisons of him to journalists of the past because he doesn't seem interested in doing what they did -- and part of asking and pressing a hard question to a politician is keeping cool enough to get the interview in the first place, which Keith is very bad at (Rachel is, IMO, much more in the Murrow/Cronkite mold). Even at ESPN he would piss off teams' management and not get access to any players.

When people got pissed at Jon Stewart for comparing Keith Olbermann to Glenn Beck, he had at least that part right: neither one is very good at talking to guests who disagree with them.

[Gregorian]

18. Democracy Now.

Linktv.

I'm not saying anything. Only pointing out two very important independent news sources.

[KoKo]

30. +1

[donheld]

39. Free Speech TV

www.freespeech.org

[EFerrari]

22. There are two indys that need support: LinkTV and Free Speech TV.

www.linktv.org
www.freespeech.org

[Dappleganger]

24. +10000

[Cal33]

27. This is the first time I've heard of them. Many thanks for the info.

[EFerrari]

33. You're in for a treat.

:)

[Cal33]

35. Thanks. I've put them in my list of favorites.

[Pisces]

23. There will always be a slant and an influence when money is concerned. Keith will

influence with his childish petulance and paranoia. The fact that his new show is running into Rachel's intentionally just shows what a prick he is. Rachel will win this contest every time. She is a much better television personality and I appreciate her interviewing skill.

Olbermann has been overpaid. He will never get Rachel to work for him because he is unprofessional and she is the complete opposite.

[Cal33]

29. Maybe so. But some people, when given the chance to do something great,

will learn, change and rise to the occasion. I'm wishing this not only for
him, but for all of us. Because of people like Rupert Murdoch and others
like him, American journalism has been floating in the sewer for thirty
years, dumbing down and brain-washing the people.

I sure hope, for all our sakes, that we can finally start climbing out of
the muck.

[Taverner]

25. I wonder who else they will lure to the channel

Seems like a perfect venue for Bill Moyers

[Cal33]

31. Bill Moyers would be great!

[Taverner]

32. Bill Moyers, Stephanie Miller, Wanda Sykes all would be good

[Kingofalldems]

26. I bet Breitbart and O'Keefe already at work

[Cal33]

37. Yeah. They'll probably do what they can to bring it down.

[ProSense]

28. First

it would have to buyout Comcast's stake.

[Cal33]

36. I think Comcast is in it strictly for the money, and if Current TV does well, it would

be hard to buy Comcast out.