It’s also good for the corporate media monopolies to keep us focused on the train wreck in Washington, and ignorant of populist movements across the globe, that would threaten their bottom line.

@Haemish1 They are about people tuning in. People could not care less about what is going on in India, and with trump there is never a day when he doesn't do something that grabs headlines. For all of you hate the media folks, the only reason we know all of the shit we know about trump and his toadies is THE NEWS PAPERS AND THE NETWORK NEWS!

@Sticks48
Keep in mind that the news media gave Trump 100s of hours of free air time during his campaign, and played no small part in his election. One of the Network executives said something to the effect - Trump isn’t good for the country, but he’s good for us.
Since the abandonment of the fairness doctrine news programs have been incorporated into the entertainment divisions of the networks. The press and radio have been swallowed up by multinational corporations. Most Americans receive their news from one of five international corporate owned networks.
My complaint with the media is that in a large part it no longer serves the public interest. We do not have the free press that the founders wrote of in the constitution.

@Haemish1 The network news and PBS still deliver the straight news. The cable outlets are not a place to look for news. The NY Times, and especially the Washington Post still do an admirable job. Could it be better, sure, but as soon as the accountant types take over companies they are going to be fucked up to some degree. They have ruined the music and film industries.

Butte, MT was under martial law for six years in the early 1900’s, due to labor unrest.