Media Monopoly and the Five Laws of Decline
Posted by Orrin Woodward on November 24, 2013
Happy Sunday to everyone! I woke up early and continued work on my new book project. Amazingly, the research and subsequent analysis of my finding is shocking even me! I have committed to follow truth wherever it leads me in life and I have researched the below topic extensively. Never underestimate man’s fallen nature and thus the avenues people will seek to exploit others. The Bible states, “Be harmless as doves and wise as serpents.” This means to me – do not practice exploitation, but be wise enough to discover it and stop it. This is what I intend to do with the help of other people who are harmless as doves, but wise as serpents. LIFE Leadership is on the move!
Sincerely,
In consequence, in any society where the FLD is progressing, one also discovers increasing control of the media by the exploiters. In essence, the media’s role is to deflect people’s attentions from the exploitations they are suffering and instead focus them on sports & entertainment, the stock market, and various political disputes that do not address the real injustices. In effect the people are lulled to sleep by the media who are funded by the FLD exploiters. For instance, Aberto Fujimori, the democratically elected leader of Peru, led a coup that transformed the democracy into a dictatorship in 1992. He relied heavily on the support of his right-hand man Valdimiro Montesinos, who organized a mass system of bribery, payoffs, and hush money to ensure the support of influential members of Peruvian society for his dictatorship. Interestingly, however, after the fall of Fujimori’s government, the meticulously documented records of Montesinos misdeeds fell into the public’s hands. Acemoglu and Robinson wrote:
The amounts are revealing about the value of the media to a dictatorship. A Supreme Court judge was worth between $5,000 and $10,000 a month, and politicians in the same or different parties were paid similar amounts. But when it came to newspapers and TV stations, the sums were in the millions. They paid more than $1 million to a mainstream newspaper, and to other newspapers they paid any amount between $3,000 and $8,000 per headline. Fujimori and Montesinos thought that controlling the media was much more important than controlling politicians and judges. One of Montesinos’s henchmen, General Bello summed this up in one of the videos by stating, “If we do not control the television we do not do anything.”
Does anyone seriously doubt, considering human nature is common to us all, that similar activities do not occur in the Western World? True, the influence may be less direct and the bribes rationalized as perks of the job, but the result is the same. Needless to say, the exploiters use the media to redirect, entertain, and rationalize the people into passivity. Interestingly, since all governments exist through the “consent of the governed”, the press, in a democracy, is responsible for the “manufacturing of consent” as Walter Lippmann stated nearly a century ago.
Noam Chomsky
In any event, propaganda blossomed as a tool of social control during WWI when the British, realizing they were losing the “War to End All Wars” to the Germans. In consequence, they poured funds into their propaganda machine, called the Ministry of Information, to convince America to help defeat the barbaric “Huns”. Noam Chomsky explained:
The British Ministry documents (a lot have been released) show their goal was, as they put it, to control the thought of the entire world . . . but mainly the US. . . In the US there was a counterpart. Woodrow Wilson was elected in 1916 on an anti-war platform. . . But he decided to go to war. So the question was how do you get a pacifist population to become raving anti-German lunatics so they want to go kill all the Germans? That requires propaganda. So they set up the first and really only major state propaganda agency in US history (Committee of Public Information or more commonly called the “Creel Commission” in honor of its founder George Creel). . . The task of this commission was to propagandize the population into jingoist hysteria. It worked incredibly well. Within a few months the US was able to go to war. . . the American business community was also very impressed with the propaganda effort. . . the huge public relations industry, which is a US invention and a monstrous industry came out of the first World War. . . Edward Bernays, comes right out of the Creel Commission. He has a book that came out a few years afterward called Propaganda . . . The propaganda system of the first World War and this commission that he was part of showed, he says, that it is possible to “regiment the public mind every bit as much as an army regiments their bodies.” These new techniques of regimentation of minds, he said, had to be used by “intelligent minorities” in order to make sure that the slobs stay the right course. We can do it now because we have these new techniques.
Presumably, if the few were benefitting from unjust FLD plunder over the many and knew the importance of the “consent of the governed” in a democratic republic, it would logically follow that they would seek “manufactured consent” to maintain societal peace while they enjoyed the plunder. In fact, the big corporations (Big Banks/Big Business/Big Government), hired the members of the “Creel Commission” propaganda ministry to improve the messaging of their companies. Naturally, when the companies realized great success from these techniques, they sought to own the media outright to manage the message to the masses daily. Not coincidentally, this is exactly what they did. For instance, when the book The Media Monopoly first hit US shelves in 1983, author Ben Bagdikian stated that, “Fifty corporations dominated almost every mass medium.” Significantly, with every new release of the book, the number of corporations controlling the media dropped. From 29 firms in 1987, 23 in 1990, 14 in 1992, ten in 1997 and only six today! Six corporations, in other words, create, print, and deliver the news that the US public consumes. This consolidation of media ownership ought to be concerning to anyone who understand the FLD and the role of propaganda within society. For the “Freedom of the press,” as noted journalist A.J. Liebling once remarked, “is guaranteed to those who own one.” In reality, the six remaining media conglomerates are not truly independent since they are closely connected through their interlocking corporate boards. Media critic Mark Crispin Miller emphasized, “The implications of these mergers for journalism and the arts are enormous. It seems to me that this is, by definition, an undemocratic development. The media system in a democracy should not be inordinately dominated by a few very powerful interests” On the other hand, however, if the goal of the rulers was the “manufacturing of consent” to support its agenda over the many, then a media monopoly is exactly the intended result.
32 Responses to “Media Monopoly and the Five Laws of Decline”
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Chad Waters said
Hi Orrin!
Corruption in government… fix that and we will fix so many things! love where this book is going and you have a dedicated person here to go all the way! Life is going to have that first small step of one million soon!
Hope your warmer then this white stuff we have in Canada!
God Bless!
Louis Schwitzer said
Insightful, as always. In my work in education, I’ve served in the classroom, as a test evaluator, as a test editor, and as a provider of professional development for other teachers. This experience with the factory/conveyor belt model of education only confirms what you’ve said here; control the information and spin it how you want and you will create a public eager to do your will. As always, thank you for the research and writing you do. It has and is changing my life.
Anthony Nieto said
Love it Orrin. The truth was there about the media but thanks for adding the facts to back it. The information we learn in LIFE is truly life changing.
Roy Hamilton said
Since people will not take the time or energy to research facts for themselves, they rely on newspapers or television to “tell them what is going on”. It is alarming to realize there are only 6 corporations that create, print, and deliver the news. A media monopoly does exist to control the minds of our nation. We must, through LIFE, continue awaking people to “thinking” and becoming leaders in their own homes.
Mark Pruitt said
BRAVO ORRIN!!! BRAVO!!!
I can’t wait to read the book!
Mark
Orrin Woodward said
Thanks Mark! I will keep plugging along until its finished! 🙂
Olivier Jean-Baptiste said
Hi Orrin
Étienne de la Boétie in his book entitled “The Politics of Obedience.” wrote:
“Resolve to serve no more, and you are at once freed. I do not ask that you place hands upon the tyrant to topple him over, but simply that you support him no longer; then you will behold him, like a great Colossus whose pedestal has been pulled away, fall of his own weight and break in pieces.”
I think that the greater a critical mass of people is tuning off the propaganda of the media the weaker the market value of its machinery will become. I am thankful for the truth that you speak and for what Life Leadership is doing in terms of developing independent thinker who are successful entrepreneurs by effectively bringing life changing information to the masses.
Truly this is revolutionary!!
Thanks,
Olivier.
Heidi Szymanski said
Yesterday we were in a big electronics store, and we saw waterproof televisions in a mirror. We can now brush our teeth and comb our hair and not miss any of the “programming”. How much more important does a self directed education and something liked the Freedom series seem when we know what the mainstream media is getting paid to do. I think most of us have realized they have an agenda for quite some time, but it is more insidious and more effective than we really know.
Thanks for all you do, Orrin
Dave Nelson said
all that can be reached, will praise you and bless you for saving them from weeping and gnashing of teeth. I pray for your continued success.
Kevin Hamm said
Great writing Orrin,
Complacency has always been used by another significant power in this world. It is often much more effective than direct assault. If we can get the LIFE machine to the tipping point, we will be a critical force in the battle for the minds. Thanks for all you do.
Steve Duba said
Thanks Orrin It is disturbing as the monopoly of 6 powerhouses take hold of the input of both the complacent in our society and the young people who haven’t the knowledge and wisdom about history. As the LIFE-LEADERSHIP group grows we at least have that ember of hope that we can transfer to those we interact with daily. Thank you again for the example yourself and the policy council have shown for us all….God Bless
Ryan Calovich said
Orrin, great stuff, as usual. I appreciate your hunger to expand your knowledge of the significant things. And thank you for your example for others to follow!
Matt Mielke said
Nice job Orrin!! I knew there were modern day examples exemplifying the FLD. Masterful and insightful!
MIchelle Mielke said
Wow Orrin! A few of your comments gave me shivers….”Never underestimate man’s fallen nature”…”the exploiters use the media to redirect, entertain,and rationalize the people into passivity”…“If we do not control the television, we do not do anything.”…the press (media),in a democracy,is responsible for the “manufacturing of consent” …it is possible to “regiment the public mind every bit as much as an army regiments their bodies” ,,,they sought to own the media outright to manage the message to the masses daily…media monopoly by 6 media conglomerates…..Wow is all I can say! Thanks for your research and your courage to shed light on modern-day examples of the FLD and, specifically, the role of propaganda in our society.
Maura Galliani, Sons of Liberty said
Be afraid, be very afraid! Seriously, though, before LIFE I had a “what can I do to help stop what is going on in this country?” mentality. Now I have a vehicle that allows me to share the truth one person at a time, thus answering the “what can I do?” question. Chris Brady said I could make a difference even if I only helped one person. And Orrin, it was a story you shared about your parents’ concern when you mentioned not keeping up with the tv news [at the same time reminding them they’d keep you in the know anyway] that comforted me when I had to disconnect cable. I also don’t get the paper and am pickier about what I choose to read on-line. Who has time to “support propaganda” when you’re reading, listening, associating … and sharing the truth?!! By the way, I had the pleasure of experiencing you [and Laurie] live in Port St. Lucie at last Tuesday’s Open …. fired up! Thank you for keeping us enlightened. 🙂
george guzzardo said
Orrin, Thanks again for taking the lead on these subjects critical to our freedom. Education (a self directed one) is the answer for those seeking the truth. Keep up the great work. George
Titi said
Hi Orrin – Here is a telling quote from a media insider way back! Your article is right on the money!
John Swinton, Chief of Staff for the New York Times, who is considered to be the dean of his profession, made a most bold confession. In 1953, at a New York Press Club, he declared,
“There is no such thing, at this date of the world’s history, in America, as an independent press. You know it, and I know it. There is not one of you who dares to write your honest opinions, and if you did, you know beforehand that it would never appear in print. I am paid weekly for keeping my honest opinion out of the paper I am connected with. Others of you are paid similar salaries for similar things, and any of you who would be so foolish as to write honest opinions would be out on the streets looking for another job. If I allowed my honest opinions to appear in one issue of my newspaper, before twenty-four hours my occupation would be gone. The business of the journalists is to destroy the truth; to lie outright; to pervert; to vilify; to fawn at the feet of mammon, and to sell his country and his race for his daily bread. You know it, and I know it and what folly is this toasting an independent press? We are the tools and vassals of rich men behind the scenes. We are the jumping jacks, they pull the strings and we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes. — Multiple contributors, A U.S. Police Action: Operation Vampire Killer, The American Citizens and Laumen Association, pp. 18,19, (emphasis supplied).
Orrin Woodward said
Wow Titi! That is powerful! Thanks for sending that! 🙂
Louis Schwitzer said
http://www.constitution.org/pub/swinton_press.htm
John Y said
Great info. Did not know that about the current Media Monopoly, very important information.
Don Schultz, Team VIP Phalanx said
Thank you Orrin for your hunger to learn and communicate Truth to the masses.
A deal of the problem in our society is that many haven’t ever learned to think critically. They do as was said on a CD one time, “like a guppy they just take in whatever is fed to them” and when something is said often enough, whether it is true or not, people start to believe it.
I am thankful for this LIFE Business organization and it’s leadership that seeks to disseminate life-changing, truthful information so the current decline of this great country of ours can not only be halted but restoration take place.
Adam Lucarini said
Hi everyone I am a customer/ business builder. My up-line is Phil and Linda, Larry and Marcy.I am also a young man who sees the importance of FREEDOM in both our country and the world. In saying Liberty or Death I prefer the former being Liberty! I would like to share a link to this video about a man defending his natural law as Orrin recently discuses this matter referring to Patrick Henry in last months freedom series CD.- http://benswann.com/hunger-games-in-montana-man-forces-judge-to-leave-bench-citing-natural-law/
Ben said
Thank You Orrin for your courage to act over 20 years ago and commit a “silly little business” that the credentials and masses tossed to the wolves! The chain of events that decision set in motion are nothing short of extraordinary. And What is just as extraordinary is that your example gives hope to us all, to dream big, and wonder what is possible for us if we live on purpose!!
Your article is the best example I have seen exposing the media for what it is today and has been throughout history when consumed by the FLD: A tool to distract and stupefy so that the few can continue to pillage and plunder seemingly unnoticed. But not unnoticed by everyone…. Thank you for your commitment to Truth and for all of your research. I can not wait to read your newest book! LIFE Leadership is a vehicle for truth and I am proud to be a part of it.
God Bless,
Ben
Steve Meixner said
Orrin, thanks again and looking forward to the book. I realized long ago the Media was fixed but I did’nt realize it was all controlled by only Six different Corporations! Thanks to you more and more people are learning this important information. I’ll continue to read and forward the info. Thanks,
Steve
Randy Robson said
Great article!
Greg Johnson said
Orrin,
This makes one wonder if the reports by various agencies of the US Government carry truth or propaganda.
Elizabeth Sieracki said
I was thinking the same thing Greg. Thankful for the moral compass I do have and LIFE leadership.
CJ Calvert said
Thanks Orrin for another brilliant article. Hopefully, the truth is shocking enough to jar North America out complacency into action. Can’t wait for the book!
Arden Compton said
Thanks Orrin, I always love reading your blogposts. Thanks for all you do.
A friend of mine just sent me a youtube link to a video that shows the corruption in our monetary system. I think that what this video is saying is probably right, but I don’t know for sure. I will paste a link to it hear, if you could take a few minutes to watch it and then leave a comment as to what you think about its validity, I would appreciate it.
Thanks!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFDe5kUUyT0
Jennifer spolar said
Wow ,we are being led like sheep to the slaughter, unless….we get the right information from the right sources..I feel so blessed to be part of the solution LIFE offers 🙂
Matt Foote said
Fantastic information Orrin, as always. This further solidifies the rightness of our decision to stop watching TV, especially the “news,” and to stop reading sudo-journalistic newspapers. They had always felt a little off but I could never quite pinpoint why. I no longer have that problem.
Adam Gonzales said
Is that why all news sounds the same?!?!