Subscribe to Receive the Daily Report

Monday, March 14th, 2016

6 Independent News Sources That Sold Out to the Highest Bidder

Author:     Jake Anderson
Source:     Mint Press News
Publication Date:     March 12, 2016
 Link: 6 Independent News Sources That Sold Out to the Highest Bidder
Stephan:   There is a little noticed trend underway that does not bode well for fact-based journalism. Corporate media in the U.S. today in all its forms whether news or entertainment (sometimes it is hard to tell them apart) is essentially owned by six corporations. Just as companies like Monsanto have been buying up small traditional seed companies, keeping the folksy affect while bringing the actual products into conformity with corporate goals, so media giants are buying up supposedly independent news outlets, retaining their look, but not their commitment to independent fact based news. Here is one of the few stories I have seen on this trend which I have been following for the past several years (see SR archives). It is getting harder and harder to find actual fact-based news.
Arianna Huffington, namesake of the media empire, The Huffington Post. Credit: AP

Arianna Huffington, namesake of the media empire, The Huffington Post.
Credit: AP

One of the most powerful propaganda tools is still print journalism. Though most sources have migrated to digital platforms and now integrate video and social media avenues in order to stay relevant, acquisitions of news publications remain an insidious way to control mainstream narratives.

The following six examples mark the most egregious recent sell-outs in online journalism:

The Huffington Post

Arianna Huffington’s namesake media empire, The Huffington Post,originated in 2005 as a liberal news aggregating alternative to the Drudge Report. It even won a Pulitzer Prize in 2012. However, the writing was already on the wall, as one year earlier, Huffington sold HuffPo to AOL for $315 million.

The acquisition caused many to question whether major corporate influence would dramatically affect the publication. Unsurprisingly, the answer was ‘yes,’ as within a few short years the website became a pro-corporate mainstream media vessel watered down with anemic liberal platitudes. These days, […]

Read the Full Article