Jewish World Review June 18, 2003 / 18 Sivan, 5763

Joe Scarborough

Joe Scarborough
JWR's Pundits
World Editorial
Cartoon Showcase

Mallard Fillmore

Michael Barone
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Don Feder
Suzanne Fields
James Glassman
Paul Greenberg
Bob Greene
Betsy Hart
Nat Hentoff
David Horowitz
Marianne Jennings
Michael Kelly
Mort Kondracke
Ch. Krauthammer
Lawrence Kudlow
Dr. Laura
John Leo
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Chris Matthews
Michael Medved
MUGGER
Kathleen Parker
Wes Pruden
Sam Schulman
Amity Shlaes
Roger Simon
Tony Snow
Thomas Sowell
Cal Thomas
Jonathan S. Tobin
Ben Wattenberg
George Will
Bruce Williams
Walter Williams
Mort Zuckerman

Consumer Reports


CBS courtship of Pfc. Lynch: Big media tries to win the heart of a teenage girl


http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | CBS news has been caught red-handed, trying to buy off private Jessica Lynch so they can get the most sought after interview in America. What it says about CBS news, the FCC, and media conglomerates is frightening.

A FEW WEEKS BACK, I explained how the Republican-led FCC was turning over the keys of free speech to a few international media monopolies. And how one or two multinational corporations could soon decide what you watched on TV, listened to on the radio, read at bookstores, and saw on movie screens. Less than two weeks after Michael Powell surrendered to the media conglomerates, CBS news proved me right, and chairman Powell wrong.

CBS news, owned by Viacom, tried to buy off Private Lynch by promising her a free run through Viacom's media playhouse. If she would just sit down and talk with their news division, CBS would make sure that Jessica and her friends could host an hour of videos on MTV2 (cool), and host a special edition of the teen favorite, Total Request Live with Carson Daly (way cool), and a concert in her hometown with Ashanti and Ja Rule (totally, totally way cool). Plus, tell mom and dad we'll talk to the big boys at Viacom's publisher, Simon and Schuster, and do the movie thing with CBS entertainment or Viacom's paramount pictures.

Hey, CBS news dudes! Way to win the heart of a teenage girl. Too bad you needed teenyboppers at MTV to try and get your news interviews for you.

Now CBS, of course, huffed and puffed that their independence was without question. Oh really? Then why did they even bother bringing up MTV, Simon and Schuster, CBS entertainment and all the other pretty horses in Viacom's stable?

Why? Because Viacom is working on a monopoly of sorts, and neither the FCC nor politicians on Capitol Hill dare to stand in their way. After all, the bigger the monopoly, the bigger the campaign checks.

Soon, a few international conglomerations will control American media, and everything you watch on TV, read in your local paper and buy at the bookstore. Free market be damned. When it comes to media monopolies, there is no room for free enterprise, and little toleration for free speech. If Washington continues to sit back and do nothing, big brother won't be watching you. You will be forced to watch him.

Enjoy this writer's work? Why not sign-up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.




Former Congressman Joe Scarborough (R-Fla.) hosts “Scarborough Country,” 10 p.m. ET, weeknights on MSNBC. Comment by clicking here.



06/13/03: ‘The Real Deal’ on White House hypocrisy
06/12/03: What's wrong with the way policy is made in Washington, D.C.?
06/11/03: ‘The Real Deal’ on Hillary and media double standard
06/09/03: Not in Babs' backyard!
06/06/03: 'The Real Deal' on Hillary's book deal
06/05/03: The way we get our news has been altered forever
06/04/03: 'The Real Deal' on the Martha Stewart witch hunt: Making a big deal while others get away
06/03/03: ‘The Real Deal’ on Sean Penn’s screed
06/02/03: “Alternative-lifestyle bachelor”?
05/30/03: Amnesty International makes U.S. the number one human rights villain
05/29/03: Why do we ignore home grown terrorism?
05/23/03: Bizarre Blair
05/21/03: ‘Capitol Offense’
05/20/03: A life in jail for 'conduct unbecoming'!?
05/19/03: You spoke, MCI listened
05/16/03: ‘The Real Deal’ on the Democrat attacks: Tasteless, and also untrue
05/15/03: ‘Capitol Offense’ goes postal
05/14/03: L.A. Times Book awards honor a child abuse manual
05/13/03: Reporter spills the beans on media's bias in covering Iraq
05/12/03: Danny Glover's supporters start letter writing campaign with ugly, racial overtones
05/09/03: Berkeley's Center for Middle East Studies funded by al Qaeda financial supporter?
05/08/03: Why they love Castro
05/07/03: Book industry finally opening doors to conservatives
05/06/03: ‘The Real Deal’ on ABC News: Another media insider expose
05/05/03: Why, despite recent successes, re-election is not a sure thing
05/02/03: ‘Capitol Offenses’
05/01/03: ‘The Real Deal’ on Hillary Clinton
04/30/03: The Iraq-al Qaida link: The elitists were wrong
04/29/03: Shiites biting the hand that released them
04/28/03: What the capitulation of Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister, Tariq Aziz, means for the rest of the world's tyrants
04/25/03: Noble-sounding names mask political motives
04/22/03: Bill Clinton should heed Paul McCartney's advice
04/21/03: The president with an I.Q. of a pot of clay has made New York City elitists look like a bunch of bumbling idiots
04/16/03: Russia, France and Germany: Not stupid, just immoral
04/15/03: CNN's too little, too late apology
04/14/03: Who's the first elitist to admit they were wrong about the war?
04/10/03: He's baaack --- and his terror tactics deserve an 'F'
04/09/03: Iraqi lawyer and American teenaged girl proved themselves to be 'The Real Deal'

© 2003, MSNBC