Kalle Lasn’s Adbusters company has again been suing media companies who refuse to carry Adbuster’s TV commercials which attacks big corporate greed or consumerist behaviour. This time they sued CBC – and lost. The Canadian legal system decided the TV networks can choose which ads they run and which they don’t. Which basically means if the TV networks decide they don’t like your message or that your message might upset other advertisers, they can refuse to take your money.
Now – as a capitalist (surprised I’m still one of those?), I think that’s fair enough. Nobody should be able to force a business owner to accept money for a product they don’t think is a good fit for their business.
The key point for us to understand though is that this is another form of censorship and propaganda. This is how BIG MEDIA works in harmony with BIG CORPORATE and BIG GOVERNMENT to make sure you only get certain messages broadcast to you day in and day out.
So don’t tell me we have “free media” in the West. What we see on TV is very closely controlled by a small group of wealthy individuals and what they allow you to watch is only what they decide is in THEIR best interests, not yours.
From Adbusters:
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Amen brother, good for folks to remember. On a related note… the internet is a great boon for our species, lets continue to fight to keep it neutral and accessible for all.