The media has become gossip, clickbait and punditry. This threatens democracy, says Bernie Sanders.
For example, two Silicon Valley corporations – Facebook and Google – control 60% of
the entire digital advertising market. They have used monopolistic
control to siphon off advertising revenues from news organizations.
A recent study by
the News Media Alliance, a trade organization, found that in 2018, as
newspaper revenues declined, Google made $4.7bn off reporting that
Google did not pay for.
At
the same time, corporate conglomerates and hedge fund vultures have
bought and consolidated beleaguered local newspapers and slashed their
newsrooms – all while giving executives big payouts.
Gannett’s proposed merger with Gatehouse Media, for instance, will consolidate hundreds of publications under one mega-corporation’s control and slash $300m worth of “synergies” – which is often corporate-speak for layoffs.
Matt Pearce, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, notes that “the new Gannett/Gatehouse chief executive is getting $4.5m in bonuses and stock just for walking in the door.”
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