Editorials & Other Articles

no_hypocrisy

(46,254 posts) Wed Dec 14, 2016, 10:13 AM Dec 2016

Chris Christie's Revenge: Kill the Press (Editorial)

http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2016/12/christies_revenge_kill_the_press_editorial.html#incart_2box_opinion

This bill is pitched as a way for local governments to save money by posting legal advertisements on their own web sites, and not in local newspapers. But it would force local governments to fortify their web sites against hacking, and hire staff to process, format and track all the ads, a job now done by the newspapers.

So how much would it save, in the end? Probably nothing. The last time the boys in the back room tried to pull this stunt, in 2011, the Legislature's own research arm said it might not save a dime - and could even increase local costs. That may explain why no other state has done this.

-snip-

It would give them new leverage to pressure the press. Under this bill, a mayor could threaten to pull the legal ads from the local paper preparing to print a damaging story.

Imagine the pressure on the publisher of a local paper that is barely surviving in today's market. The temptation would be to yield, to protect the staff and their families. And if you don't think New Jersey pols would play that rough, you haven't been paying attention. It is a sure thing.

-more-

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Chris Christie's Revenge: Kill the Press (Editorial) (Original Post) no_hypocrisy Dec 2016 OP

One of the first steps for a potential authoritarian regimes is to control the media. justhanginon Dec 2016 #1

justhanginon

(3,290 posts)

1. One of the first steps for a potential authoritarian regimes is to control the media.

Reply to no_hypocrisy (Original post)

Wed Dec 14, 2016, 12:09 PM

Dec 2016

I think the republicans are already more than half way there with print media and virtually all the way there with the television coverage, not only on cable but increasingly with the main line broadcasters. NBC is especially worrisome with the obvious conflict of interest in its sponsorship of the incoming presidente's TV reality show. CBS Sixty minutes has become a joke compared to past investigative stories.

Since a large part of the American public has obviously lost its ability for critical thinking or even just thinking in general, it has become increasingly easy for them to be influenced by both the biased coverage and also fake news as was demonstrated in this past election season.

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