Elliot D. Cohen: Why Haven't the Mainstream Corporate Media Covered the AT&T/NSA Domestic Spying Pro

http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/contributors/1232

Elliot D. Cohen: Why Haven't the Mainstream Corporate Media Covered the AT&T/NSA Domestic Spying Program?
Submitted by BuzzFlash on Mon, 08/13/2007 - 9:07am. Guest Contribution

A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION
by Elliot D. Cohen, Ph.D.

The recently passed "Protect America Act of 2007" (S. 1927), which expands presidential powers under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to spy on our overseas phone and e-mail communications without a court warrant, appears to be just the tip of the iceberg of government eavesdropping on American citizens. Yet, mainstream media (MSM) have given scant coverage to the NSA/AT&T domestic spying program, and a landmark case now pending before the 9th circuit federal appeals court, the outcome of which may mark the final blow to Fourth Amendment privacy rights in America.

On January 31, 2006, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a class action suit against AT&T for allegedly collaborating with the National Security Agency (NSA) in electronically eavesdropping on the phone and e-mail messages of millions of Americans, both domestic and overseas, as these communications passed through the AT&T system. This program, which appears to have been approved by the President, first came to light in 2005 when an AT&T employee at the San Francisco hub blew the whistle on the program. The whistleblower (who produced photographs and other pertinent documents) claimed that AT&T kept a "secret" room requiring NSA clearance. As millions of phone and e-mail messages entered the hub, wires were spliced to reroute them through this room. The messages were then parsed for key language related to whatever the government was searching for -- presumably, terrorists. Other whistleblowers eventually reported similar secret rooms at other AT&T hubs in other U.S. cities, including St. Louis, Seattle, Atlanta, and Los Angeles.

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The answer probably lies in the ever-increasing trend toward corporate media consolidation in America. First, the MSM corporations including News Corp (FOX), General Electric (NBC), Time Warner (CNN), Viacom (CBS), and Disney (ABC) have all enjoyed joint ventures with AT&T. Since these few giant media corporations that control network news in America are driven largely by their bottom lines, they are not likely to persist in exposing a serious business partner to bad press. Consequently, such stories are played down or not covered at all.

Second, the behemoth media and telecom companies have strong monetary incentives to cooperate with the government -- such as the receipt of lucrative military defense contracts, tax breaks, and relaxed ownership and antitrust rules. For example, the recent merger of Bell South with AT&T was possible only because the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), presently chaired by Kevin Martin, a Bush appointee with close ties to the White House, approved the merger.

It is therefore easy to see how these giant corporations have allowed themselves to become pawns of what may be the most powerful and controlling White House in American history. In the present situation, the Bush administration has exploited their voracious appetites for profit in order to eavesdrop on American citizens. Sadly, it is the American experiment in democracy that has paid the price.

In the end, democracies stand or fall on the collective, unified power of the people. If the American people, in substantial number, refuse to use (or reduce reliance on) the services of giant telecommunication corporations that cooperate with government in undermining our constitutional rights (enlisting when we can the services of other companies that refuse to cooperate), then these giant companies will be likely to listen -- since to do otherwise would mean lost revenues. Similarly, if we are willing to seek alternative, independent media to keep informed (and we must keep informed), then giant media companies such as News Corp, Time Warner, and General Electric will be less likely to censor and play down the stories that independent media are now competently covering. Unfortunately, most Americans get their news from the MSM, not from independent media such as Web-based sites. This would need to change if democracy in America is to survive.

A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION