And once afoot, nearly impossible to remove.

I don't know to whom I should attribute this quote, but someone wisely said "It's much easier to con someone than convince them they've been conned."

that said there’s a sucker born every minute.

Once the media is captured, its ALL OVER.

Ultimately, a free press was supposed to quash any inroads into a propaganda state, but mixing news and entertainment led to the serious dilution of the effects of a free press. Add to that an American public that only wants to hear the news they believe to be true or wish to be true, sans any intellectual or political curiosity, and voila, goodbye free press, goodbye Constitution, goodbye USA.

We're a lot closer to that than most realize.

Loss of Fairness Doctrine.
The Communications Act of 1996. Ended the 7-7-7 rule and allowed for cross media ownership.
The rise of right wing talk radio.
And, the biggest of them all Fox. When a wealthy Australian media mogul teamed up with Roger Ailes to create Fox News as the template for propagandized infotainment that led to our current era where facts no longer are believed or matter.

How do we fight it ?

All of whom have been conditioned to believe that an attack on their media institutions is a de facto attack on their politics. They will give no quarter and obviously are not interested in liberal "truth", even if liberal truth is a set of quantifiable facts and their media dishes blatant lies and hyperbole.

We are totally effed, my friend. We can win the House, the Senate and the White House, we can even change the laws, but they'll be back, and with them will come their intended destruction of progressive American values.

that I have been to has FOX bullshit on in this red state. Every one of them! Sooo sick of that shit!

Drives me nuts... sitting in my little local cafe/diner, drinking my coffee, watching my neighbors lapping up the Fox Noise bullshit.

If they refuse, tell them you’ll never come back. Then leave.

many businesses and offices. Some places whose obstinate owners/mgmt. won't change to a neutral channel like ESPN.
FOX is also free, unlike MSNBC and other cable channels. In many places, FOX is the ONLY CHANNEL people can get in their homes.

Also troubling is lack of concern over the influence and damage done by dominant Fox and Hate Radio for 30+ years.
It's downright spooky to get in your car and hear Nothing but RW radio channels, even in a large metro area where I am.

Many here still dismiss the impact of RW media via many avenues:

- "radio is a dying industry,"

- "Sirius FM" carries some progressive programs." (Great if you can afford a Sirius subscription).

- "we're not going to advocate for Left broadcast media that lies, and depends on cheesy entertainment like the Right.'

Get real! No one expects liberals to sponsor and develop the SAME type media, just some fair programming for media balance, for heavens sake.

committed crimes, they can be tried for them.

see or listen to, compared to 50 companies with power in 1983.

Of all the disastrous things Ronald Raygun did, eliminating the fairness doctrine for media probably had the greatest long-term effect. Right-wing propaganda is easy to package and distribute, because it's all based on fear of the other, something almost everybody has on SOME level.

The most important protection of a democracy is informed citizens. This is the first casualty of a dictatorship. I content that the Republican Party has metamorphosed into a fascist organization that is using the identical tactics as were used by the Nazis. The Republican Party is the greatest threat to our government that our Republic has ever faced. They are the enemy within that is corrupting the entire structure. I don't know if it is too late, but I don't hold much confidence do to the apathy of the citizens.

The FCC killed it in '87 with Reagan's urging and we've been on this fast track to "Idiocracy" ever since.

pressure the FCC; also we need to start enforcing the Sherman Anti Trust Act, Reagan first let it lapse.

done this when we had the majority? Obama said that until we get rid of Fux Ruse the Dems will have an uphill battle in 2016.

why can't it be un-done just as easily? I really do not understand this. Are there new GOP laws in place since 1987 to make it impossible to change it back to before Reagun's time?

start up their own network here in Canada several years ago but were denied so because the regulatory body said they propagated too many lies with zero retractions.

garbage. No, there isn’t:

- A caravan of 1000s of Mexican “illegals” coming to invade the US
- ISIS training camps in the US
- An underground child sex bunker in Comet Ping Pong pizza.
- A conspiracy by Hillary Clinton to take over the Presidency (learn how succession works, idiots!)
- Towns run by sharia law
- An Obama-led plot to come and grab your guns
- A deep state that is trying to get Trump impeached

I agree that repeating this crap is irresponsible, and could get people killed. However, the first amendment protects their speech, just like it protects ours.

Reinstate the Fairness Doctrine. Make sure "news" , while it may be reported dramatically, MUST be backed by facts and proof - not conjecture, not speculation, but facts. Any SNL-style on-air reporter games must be acknowleged as such - to the audience and on the air. Institute and vigorously enforce massive monetary fines for knowingly disseminting false news and mandatory jail time for continued violations.

I can thinkof more but even my hair hurts today.