The commercial media … help citizens feel as if they are successful and have met these aspirations, even if they have not. They tend to neglect reality (they don’t run stories about how life is hard, fame and fortune elusive, hopes disappointed) and instead celebrate idealized identities – those that, in a commodity culture, revolve around the acquisition of status, money, fame and power, or at least the illusion of these things.
The media, in other words, assist the commercial culture in “need creation”, prompting consumers to want things they don’t need or have never really considered wanting. And catering to these needs, largely implanted by advertisers and the corporate culture, is a very profitable business. A major part of the commercial media revolves around selling consumers images and techniques to “actualize” themselves, or offering seductive forms of escape through entertainment and spectacle. News is filtered into the mix, but actual news is not the predominant concern of the commercial media.
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Roque Cinchado (Stone Tree) on the Spanish Canary Island of Tenerife
Image Credit & Copyright: Daniel López (El Cielo de Canarias)
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“The House of Lords debated and approved new S75 regulations which force the NHS to put all but a tiny minority of its services out for competitive tender. The MPs and Lords voting through this legislation were effectively voting to increase their own fortunes. The excellent work of Social Investigations demonstrates this legislation has been prepared and voted through by MPs, Lords and Ladies with a personal financial interest in the outcome.
This should be a scandal. It should be on the front page of every newspaper and the leading item on every news channel in the UK: CONFLICT OF INTEREST IN NHS SELL OFF!
Instead, silence.”