The Real News

You may not be aware of this, but you're not getting the complete truth.

It seems unbelievable, but the "news" you see when you tune in to the mainstream media is not always as unbiased, complete or accurate as you might hope. And that's important, because in a democracy, the people are in charge, and since you're in charge, you had better have good information! Otherwise, how will you know who to vote for?

You might be asking, "how can that be?" Well, the mainstream media consists of corporations, and corporations only have one purpose, which is making money. They are not bound to tell the truth. Further, corporations are led from the top - everyone has a boss, and they take orders from that person. If they don't, they lose their job. That's all well and good if the boss has good intentions and a conscience, but the bosses bosses are the shareholders, and they want a return on their investment.

Making sense so far? The owners of the media companies want a return on their investment, and they want perks. And unfortunately, "perks" in this context include the ability to say what will make the news, and how it will be spun. For example, the Fox News corporation publishes a memo to all staff every day that says what to cover, and how to cover it.

So who owns Fox News? Well, Rupert Murdoch, as the head of News Corporation, is that guy. So what are Rupert Murdoch's politics? What does he want everyone to believe about the world? Well I don't know, but isn't it a shame that it makes a difference? I mean, didn't you believe at one time in your life that the news was the truth? Well you're not alone - most people believe that.

You might want to poke around here to see who owns what in the world of media. A quick google search would also provide the necessary proof. At least they're all public companies, so we can all trace the tree of ownership for ourselves.

Sadly, the "news" is more often "infotainment" or "militainment" (love that term), because that's what people want to see. So that's what gets eyeballs, and therefore sells advertizing.

It's no better in the rest of the mainstream media, by the way. Most media is owned, at the top of the chain, by two large corporations, namely General Electric and Westinghouse. Yes, they are both military contractors, but that's a whole 'nuther story, as they say.

Now I hate to stir up problems without presenting a happy ending, so here it is. I learned yesterday of a new kind of news, completely free of the usual bias. They are not beholden to large corporate owners, because they are not owned by any. They are not beholden to advertizers, because they don't run any ads. They are not even beholden to governments, because they receive no government funding. They get all their money from you, the viewer, through small voluntary donations. And that means their only allegiance is to you, the person who is tired of being fed lies, subtle and not so subtle, by the shamefully biased mainstream media machine.

They are called The Real News, and if you care about democracy, I would strongly recommend that you give them a look. If you want to know what's really going on in the world so you can make good decisions as a citizen, and strongly suggest you send them a few bucks as well.

http://www.therealnews.com