So have we arrived at the point yet where everyone realizes that people with a whole lot of 💰 develop a god complex over time? And if not, when will we finally get there and stop supporting these billionaires?
“They also trust their instincts more than others' experience.” This tendency is described clearly in a 2014 article, “We are all confident idiots” by David Dunning.
When, in reality, those companies who do the right thing & stand up to authoritarian bullies always perform much better in the long run, financially & in length of prosperity. Companies need the wealth of the American citizens to survive & the bulk of that wealth sits with the Left.
All National News Media, and all printed newspapers have corporate sponsors that feed them.
National News will never bite the hand that feeds them.
End legacy News Media before the Propaganda controls us.
Who once thought they would be the saviors of journalism? I never heard that one. I read the people who thought they were going to do exactly what they have been doing. The knowledge of what oligarchs do with journalism is deep in American culture. Been there a few times. Saviors, never.
They're chickenshit cowards. I, as a dirt poor person, could run a newspaper better and with more integrity than any parasitic billionaire chucklefuck.
If only they would allow their acquisitions to run without hands on attention. Instead they are actively supporting a fascist and silencing his critics
Billionaires are vulture capitalism at it's worst. Elon pissed away $43 billion for a point of view. Having enough money that great grand kids will never be poor combined with the purchasable political power is an intoxication and good decisions don't come as result of an intoxication generally
Billionaire owners are hands-off until it matters—tanking Democratic endorsements, deep sixing critical editorial cartoons, throwing corporate money at Trump’s inauguration committee
It’s time that we abandon these corporate parasites. When their assets become worthless then they won’t be billionaires with recourses to attack our institutions
Billionaires are more the symptom of fundamental problems with the predacious nature of the American economy. They certainly aren't saviors of anything. At all.
This actually gives me hope. That he credits the Hearst Corp for being one of the exceptions is a good reminder that this is nothing new for journalism. Y'all got through it before and you'll do it again.
We all must become citizen journalists. Carry your 100% charged phones with you and be ready. We are the watchdogs. We are the reporters. Be ready to document.
And to speak up when the 💩-elect starts his BS!
Just today I heard another ridiculous vomit of words (in no particular order) about promising to fire the archivist! One thing the 💩-elect does extremely well is to keep up his list of vendettas! Such a critical skill for the leader of the free world!🙄
Sad reality. I find it fascinating and dangerous how widely spread these politically active billionaires globally. Oligarchical actors who feel the need to interfere in other nation’s politics and power structures need to be kept in check.
Well the part they don’t realize is that most of their readers are educated people who want journalism that isn’t afraid to criticize our elected officials. Educated Americans don’t want to pay to read propaganda, so they’re going to lose all their subscribers. Stupid business plan if you ask me!
billionaires
talent
lmoa
rofl even
to attribute any kind of innate ability outside of base cruelty as the reason these ghouls accrue these kinds of hoards is hysterical
"it is always dangerous to generalize"
...um not when it comes to billionaires. There's no such thing as a "good" billionaire. Anyone who hoards that much money while other citizens can't afford food...they aren't good people. No matter who says otherwise.
You'll definitely find good journalists at the NYT and MSNBC. You may even still find a few at Faux News. The problem is the management, not the journalists.
… wait, who actually thought billionaires were going to be the saviours of journalism?? We only HAVE billionaires because they control the narrative and distract us from the fact they’re hoarding all our wealth and bankrupting our public services! Are we surprised they aren’t nice people?? 🤔
🆙🤛
Nope. They're intentionally turning their acquisitions into Fox Not News in hopes of being chosen as the official State Media of the Fourth Reich. Get it straight.
More and more of the news media I read and watch daily are now own by Murdoch wannabes and are beginning to show it. It makes me yearn for the days when the news programs adhere to independent principles.
There is no such thing as a good billionaire. They shouldn’t exist. No productive system should allow one person to amass this much money. Stop supporting them. Btw who owns Bluesky?
Either:
- They don’t exist
- They do exist, but shouldn’t
Who says I support them? I think they should use their billions for good. Some do. Some don’t.
(The Christian thing is to give it all away to the poor and follow Jesus, but I don’t see the King doing that any time soon)
Because billionaires shouldn't exist. Sure you hear about one here or there doing something altruistic. But they could easily tackle problems Americans are facing with that money. But they won't. It's about power and even more wealth.
They’re still people. A lot of them do good. A lot of them do bad. A lot of them are somewhere in between.
Just like us non-billionaires.
A century ago, there seemed to be a more altruistic culture among the mega-rich Carnegies and Rockefellers. They still do that, but it’s not as well publicised.
Not getting dewy eyed at all.
Billionaires are people - they aren’t alien overlords.
They avoid tax like everyone else, they can just afford to do it better.
What I want to see is them setting a good example, not a bad one.
The list u just made were ppl who did this giving for self preservation vs altruism… Rockerfeller only gave at the urging of Frederick T. Gates and others on that team.
Once owning and running a media so openly becomes a question of making money instead of doing journalism the real winners are people in power who buy themselves a free pass from the Fourth Estate. The losers are you and me who gain nothing from this
If you care to look at history we have seen this over and over again in times when extremists are on the march. Sadly history repeats itself and media once again sacrifices the truth on the alter of increasing profit
Look at what Adelson did in Israel when he took over a paper and made it free. It killed the competition and allowed him to spout his right-wing Zionist opinions.
It’s so sad that it’s come to this. A huge problem is the selfishness of this way of thinking. The common good is non-existent in their minds. They’re totally self-absorbed. If they give a charitably, it is done for their own glory. “Fools' names, like their faces, always seen in public places.”
In what world were billionaires taking over media seen as anything other than a direct attack on journalistic integrity and independence? We've known all along this was a terrible idea.
In 1931 William Randolph Hearst tried to buy the Washington Post, hoping to shut it down to benefit his own Washington newspaper presence, such as the Herald.
Of course Rupert Murdoch inherited a media empire built by his father Keith - cheaper than buying papers.
I like the excerpt, thanks for posting it.
But ...
As a skilled writer, I KNOW you can do better than "Read this" as a lead. The vibe is the same as "22 movies you need to watch this week". My time is precious, I'm constantly skipping interesting things because there is too much out there.
It all starts with the kind of bloated egos that think, because they succeeded at one thing, they'll automatically succeed at anything else they touch. You don't see anyone hiring test pilots to be heart surgeons, but billionaires think they know everything about everything.
The uber wealthy have managed to convince the masses that they are wealthy because they are smarter, better beings, and worse, that if the masses celebrate them, they too will be rich.
In the years since Reagan introduced trickle down, over $50 trillion has been siphoned out of the middle class and transferred to the wealthiest one percent
A journalism professor once explained to me that everyone gets to call themselves a journalist but it's their audience who decides if they are one or not.
No institution is immune to corruption.
So no institution can be trusted to safeguard something as important as journalism.
By economic policies they mean they want him to gut any regulations and workers rights that prevent them from doing whatever they want to maximize profits.
Until people are mad enough to actually do something about it, nothing will change. I suspect that over the next few years, that shouldn't be a problem
The history of the ultra wealthy owning media outlets , from Hurst to Murdoch to Musk is not a pretty one. The output always becomes politically monotone , laced with personal vendettas .
“Billionaires, once thought to be the saviors of journalism”… just because the media is full of dumbass sycophantic little shit stains doesn’t mean the rest of us fell for the “billionaires as saviors” narrative.
It is no secret to most people with retirement accounts, investments, real estate, whether just the home they reside in or investment property, Biden improved the economy in 4 years.
Im agreeing with you. I was asking the reporters to please start reporting it now. Sorry. I can see where you misconstrued that. I would NEVER disagree with this.
Agreed…a very public ledger that details the state of the economy, inflation, GDP, etc. would make it more difficult to obfuscate down the road. I would add that a fulsome picture of the finances of all the oligarchs around the Trump administration (including gov’t contracts!) would be interesting!
Can't give up! Looks like they've taken the gloves off and are all set to dismantle any parts of government that impede their absolute "liberty", but there's gotta be a way to dethrone them. . . I just don't know what it is, yet.
Not sure when the illusion of "billionaires once thought to be saviors of journalism" took hold, considering Orson Wells warned about it back in 1941 with one of the most famous movies of all time, but concentrated capital has manipulated the news since the invention of the printing press.
America has shown the world that we aren’t any different than the Banana Republics. Americans have put into office a corrupt felon who probably either sold or disclosed state secrets and classified information to our enemies. Not just a felon but a proven sexual predator to boost. The media helped.
The real issue is believing it can’t happen here. Anything can. We can only reduce the odds. Like modern aircraft, it takes multiple failures for a crash, but crashes still happen. Every tree falls eventually; it’s just a matter of time. Vigilance, not denial, keeps systems strong.
So an investigative reporter comes up with a juicy, multi-sourced, damaging story about Trump or one of his minions - does the oligarch, sorry billionaire, owner of the paper kill the story? We may find out sooner than later.
To consider billionaires to be the “saviors” of ANYTHING was the first mistake. Too much faith in money, image and hype…and not enough faith in substance. Journalists, as a whole, let this happen. They let hype-driven editors rule the newsrooms and didn’t stand when they could have.
Well, that's stuck out like a sore thumb seeing billionaires w/our own eyes capitulating to Trump for their primary interests aka business aka money not journalistic interests aka information aka public service. ALL ABOUT money ALWAYS! So, what does that leave us with-oligarchs & misinformation!
Do we have any hope when NBC ditches MSNBC with the upcoming split? Right now I’m only watching @aljazeera.com and reading independent news like @democracydocket.com.
They also treat those media companies as liabilities in view of their profit centers. These are vanity projects that become problematic when they interfere with their rich-people relationships.
I couldn't care less. I didn't listen to the lefty twats who were lying for the last 50 years and Now I don't listen to the billionaire twats who are lying. WHY because when they are effing lying you can see it a mile off. Stop treating everyone like they don't remember Dan Rather lying about BUSH.
They're fantastic stewards of other people's money, since they didn't earn most of it. None of them did. You legitimately can't fairly earn that much money, most is exploitation. Every time they sell stock, they're stealing from an investor. The entire system sucks.
“Steward” implies care and advocacy towards other people’s money. That is just not so. They haven’t got a clue how to care for other people and their money. Taking government welfare in the form of tax cuts only rich people can qualify for; that’s how they “steward.”
Yeah I used the term because I'm speaking about "their money" but had to say "other people's money" because I don't think they earned it. I'm sure they carefully guard the money they've stolen.
"… Soon-Shiong and Bezos waited until days before the election to order their publications not to endorse Harris. …The timing suggests they panicked after realizing a Trump victory was likely and a Harris endorsement could hurt their other, more important businesses." So damnably telling.
Every politician who says we have served democracy today is either a fool, a liar or some combination of the two. This gets worse on day one, no matter how many things he fails, some crime or corruption will succeed! The insurrection took four years, but he fucking won!
Wealth wants to spin the world into its control. Once you hit billions its just a score. And everything becomes control. They lose track of the agency of others and try to force their way onto everything in their gaze. They forget that we outnumber them and eventually we get hungry.
Billionaires are buying news outlets to support the 💩-elect's narrative in order for the obscenely wealthy to become even more obscenely wealthy! When you know exactly what it takes to manipulate the 💩, isn't that the important priority?? Support the psychotic bully to make more $$$!!
Yeah, do they think there's no risk involved in journalism? Or did they all die in Ukraine when they went over there? I guess it's fine when you're risking your life in another country.
My question is more around this image attachment, screenshotted from the above OP. How can journalism be actual journalism when the people they work for are corrupt and spineless?
Perhaps more pointedly: should journalists abandon mainstream media in favor of private platforms? We already see it.
Well that's the most concise breakdown I've seen. I agree, though there are "journalists" like Matt Taibi who operate via subs and just push propaganda. What do you think of Ken Klippenstein, Binder, Coffeezilla? I see more pop up as the mainstream dies. I hope they all help each other.
They hope to use them to advance their own political and business preferences, and can afford to run them at a loss so readership numbers are not that important to them for now.
We need media reform. Journalists should be shielded from fear of retribution; we need to provide local news coverage for the many counties who have NO newspaper (and who all voted for Trump). You are so smart I’m sure you have ideas. Also, like Finland, teach how to recognize fake news.
Comments
At https://bluestreetbrand.com
Kinda like the concept of public servants becoming self-interested politicians.
National News will never bite the hand that feeds them.
End legacy News Media before the Propaganda controls us.
And you get to be a billionaire by putting money and power first before all else
"...they panicked after realizing a Trump victory was likely and a Harris endorsement could hurt their other, more important businesses."
Just today I heard another ridiculous vomit of words (in no particular order) about promising to fire the archivist! One thing the 💩-elect does extremely well is to keep up his list of vendettas! Such a critical skill for the leader of the free world!🙄
talent
lmoa
rofl even
to attribute any kind of innate ability outside of base cruelty as the reason these ghouls accrue these kinds of hoards is hysterical
think @ it - this is what they've chosen to spend their life, and they have enough money that they really, truly could do anything
He COULD play Diablo all day HIMSELF but he hires some1
power becomes a game only its impact is very real
...um not when it comes to billionaires. There's no such thing as a "good" billionaire. Anyone who hoards that much money while other citizens can't afford food...they aren't good people. No matter who says otherwise.
🆙🤛
So why don’t they cough up and buy a newspaper?
Am sick and tired of toddler-brained men running around peddling their own version of the truth.
- They don’t exist
- They do exist, but shouldn’t
Who says I support them? I think they should use their billions for good. Some do. Some don’t.
(The Christian thing is to give it all away to the poor and follow Jesus, but I don’t see the King doing that any time soon)
Just like us non-billionaires.
A century ago, there seemed to be a more altruistic culture among the mega-rich Carnegies and Rockefellers. They still do that, but it’s not as well publicised.
Let’s not get too dewy eyed over the Mellons and Rockefellers
Billionaires are people - they aren’t alien overlords.
They avoid tax like everyone else, they can just afford to do it better.
What I want to see is them setting a good example, not a bad one.
No individual can be trusted to use a billion dollars in a responsible manner
I’m talking about ‘changing the billionaire culture’ so they’re outdoing each other on altruism, rather than outdoing themselves on space rockets.
Do they exist?
https://ground.news
Billionaires are in it to the tips of their implanted hair follicles.
You need this
https://medium.com/@bj.chippindale/owned-3a5602124f7b
and this
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CQRKGPCZ
and a bit of my pinned thread
https://bsky.app/profile/bjchippindale.bsky.social/post/3lacq4nvxsb2t
It always has, & power corrupts.
😠😡🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬
Of course Rupert Murdoch inherited a media empire built by his father Keith - cheaper than buying papers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Post#cite_note-52
You twats shoulda listened to Bernie instead of slobbering Sloppy Hillary.
Too late, dearies.
Thank you!
But ...
As a skilled writer, I KNOW you can do better than "Read this" as a lead. The vibe is the same as "22 movies you need to watch this week". My time is precious, I'm constantly skipping interesting things because there is too much out there.
https://www.youtube.com/live/JkmSXcHLjLE?si=gpPj6DMxbIcmXh1A
The best they can hope for is to catch a few crumbs that fall from the rich man’s table.
No institution is immune to corruption.
So no institution can be trusted to safeguard something as important as journalism.
https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/horizon-forbidden-west-story-analysis/
See More:
https://buff.ly/3C74cdh
billionaires are exploiters of everything!
We need to see billionaires as the criminals they are.
They MUST SET A MARKER!
Trump is getting a stronger economy than he got in 2017!
It MUST be noted @cnn.com @velshimsnbc.bsky.social
It is no secret to most people with retirement accounts, investments, real estate, whether just the home they reside in or investment property, Biden improved the economy in 4 years.
If you want to disagree, fine.
I wasn't sure what you meant because of the question mark.
Does anyone care about TRUTH anymore in America ?
We are slowly being trained to ignore the distinction and conflate the two.
At our own detriment.
Journalism has profound risk, as presenting facts and speaking truth to power always does.
Embedded journalism is an act of profound selflessness.
Not sure what you are driving at - but I am certainly open to discourse.
Perhaps more pointedly: should journalists abandon mainstream media in favor of private platforms? We already see it.
It is not possible to do “journalism” (or at the very least excruciatingly difficult) at Media outlets.
Media companies desire “platform” engagement (eyeballs + clicks = ads)
Journalism outlets desire “piece” engagement (brains + grokking = subs)
Please give us names.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Koch_(businessman)