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Inside the New Print Edition of Our Subscriber-Only Newsletter! Drug Companies and Psychiatrists
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Inside the New Print Edition of Our Subscriber-Only Newsletter!
Drug Companies and Psychiatrists
Partners in CrimeEugenia Tsao reports on the upcoming revision of one of the most important books in America, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Here’s where the drug lords, the shrinks and the insurance companies collude in establishing hundreds of bogus psychic conditions requiring the psychotropic drugs from which they reap billions every year. There are about 250,000 migrant laborers in Israel, mostly from the Philippines and Thailand. Meanwhile tens of thousands of Palestinians can’t find work. From Tel Aviv, Yonatan Preminger reports on Israel’s vicious employment strategy. Also in this latest newsletter Andrew Cockburn updates his CounterPunch world exclusive on how the U.S. has secretly helped build Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal. Get your new edition today by subscribing online or calling 1-800-840-3683 Contributions to CounterPunch are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! CounterPunch books and t-shirts make great presents.
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Today's Stories July 10-12, 2009 Alexander Cockburn José Pertierra John Ross Conn Hallinan Nikolas Kozloff Clifton Ross / Carl Ginsburg Michael Neumann Gilad Atzmon Ellen Hodgson Brown Jim Goodman Christopher Bickerton Wendell Potter Raymond Lawrence Walid El Houri Stephanie Westbrook July 9, 2009 Ronnie Cummings Jonathan Cook Nikolas Kozloff James Bovard Norman Solomon Afghanistan: the Escalation Scam Allan Nairn Andy Worthington Tomas Borge Nadia Hijab Paul Krassner Website of the Day July 8, 2009 Saul Landau Dean Baker Winslow T. Wheeler Eric Walberg Ray McGovern David Rosen Dr. Mona El Farra Ron Jacobs Benjamin Dangl Alan Farago Website of the Day July 7, 2009 Alexander Cockburn Uri Avnery Brian M. Downing Gary Leupp Gregory A. Burris David Macaray Laura Flanders Alan Farago Greg Moses Dan Bacher Website of the Day July 6, 2009 Patrick Cockburn Diana Johnstone Nikolas Kozloff Gary Leupp Jonathan Cook Tim Wise Franklin Lamb Charles R. Larson Carlos Benemann Shepherd Bliss Jerry Kroth Karyn Strickler Website of the Day July 3-5, 2009 Alexander Cockburn Eamonn Fingleton Jeffrey St. Clair Mike Whitney Pam Martens George Ciccariello-Maher Paul Craig Roberts Patrick Cockburn Anthony DiMaggio Roger Burbach John Ross Nikolas Kozloff Gareth Porter Andy Worthington Saul Landau David Macaray Adam Federman Jane Slaughter Labor's Vague Rally for Health Care Russell Mokhiber Black Caucus Muzzled on Israeli Kidnapping of McKinney Robert Jensen Robert Bryce Belén Fernandez Missy Comley Beattie C. G. Estabrook Stephen Martin Charles R. Larson Lorenzo Wolff Kim Nicolini Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend July 2, 2009 Andrew Cockburn Nikolas Kozloff Wendell Potter Ellen Hodgson Brown Christian Christensen Iran: Networked Dissent? Patrick Irelan Binoy Kampmark Returning Iraq Nicola Nasser Brian Tokar Dan Bacher Website of the Day July 1, 2009 Vijay Prashad Alberto Vallente Thorensen Paul Craig Roberts Robert Weissman Manuel García, Jr. Victor Figueroa-Clark / Pablo Navarrete Norman Solomon Franklin Lamb Martha Rosenberg Diane Rejman Website of the Day June 30, 2009 Michael Hudson Esam Al-Amin Benjamin Dangl Jonathan Cook Franklin Lamb George Wuerthner Todd Gordon Ron Jacobs Kenneth Libby Julian Vigo Website of the Day
June 29, 2009 Ishmael Reed Nikolas Kozloff Clifton Ross Patrick Cockburn Uri Avnery Conn Hallinan James G. Abourezk Ralph Nader Carol Miller Greg Moses Website of the Day June 26-28, 2009 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Doug Peacock Daniel Wolff Mike Whitney John Ross David Rosen Emily Ratner Gareth Porter Farid Marjai Nadia Hijab Paul Craig Roberts Fred Gardner Carl Ginsburg Paul Watson David Ker Thomson Farzana Versey Geoff Berne Todd Alan Price Ramzy Baroud Jeff Sher Dr. Carol Paris Despite My Arrest by Max Baucus, I Will Continue to Advocate for Quality Health Care for All Walter Brasch Adultery as Family Value? Glen Johnson Charlotte Laws Charles R. Larson Kim Nicolini David Yearsley Lorenzo Wolff Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend June 25, 2009 Kathy Kelly Jack Bratich Wendell Potter Charles R. Larson Alan Farago Jonathan Cook Gareth Porter Bitta Mostofi / David Macaray Mark Schuller Website of the Day June 24, 2009 Andrew Cockburn Dean Baker Andy Worthington James Bovard Diana Gibson / P. Sainath Gareth Porter Robert Alvarez Dave Lindorff Steven Colatrella Remembering Giovanni Arrighi Website of the Day
June 23, 2009 David Price Patrick Cockburn James Ridgeway / Dave Lindorff Carmelo Ruiz-Marrero Gary Leupp Brian M. Downing Robert Bryce Nicholas Dearden Yousef Munayyer Website of the Day June 22, 2009 Michael Hudson Esam Al-Amin Chris Floyd Jack Z. Bratich Atash Yaghmaian Laura Carlsen Paul Craig Roberts Vijay Prashad Fred Gardner Andy Thayer David Macaray Website of the Day
June 19 - 21, 2009 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Patrick Cockburn Al Giordano Henry A. Giroux Anthony DiMaggio Paul Craig Roberts John Ross Gareth Porter Carl Ginsburg Tommi Avicolli Mecca Joe Bageant Serge Halimi P. Sainath Jim Goodman Dave Lindorff Rannie Amiri Robert Fantina Harvey Wasserman Walter Brasch David Ker Thomson Charles R. Larson David Yearsley Kim Nicolini Ben Sonnenberg Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend
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Weekend Edition Don't Stop 'Til You Get EnoughThe Michael Jackson Feeding FrenzyBy ANTHONY DiMAGGIO Michael Jackson’s death set off an explosion of media attention. Reporters can’t seem to get enough of the “King of Pop” as they reaffirm our media’s morbid obsession with celebrity death and tragedy. Journalists update often unwilling audiences with the most minor of details on Jackson’s life, death, and now, his legacy. The top three stories on CNN.com for July 8th, for example, inform readers of the latest news: “Michael’s Daughter: ‘Daddy has been the best,’” “Goodbye Michael: Star, brother, friend, father,’” and “Jackson still ‘King of Pop’ on Billboard charts.” On the same day, Fox News featured “breaking news”: “Jackson’s Death Sparks Fierce Debate in Congress,” “Doctor Denies Giving Jackson Sedative,” and “Blanket Jackson Exposed.” Analysis from the Project for Excellence in Journalism reveals that Jackson’s death is effectively competing for attention with other stories such as the Iranian election and protests. For the June 22-28th week, attention to protests in Iran accounted for 19 percent of all news coverage, with Jackson’s death comprising 18 percent. At its height from June 25-26th, coverage of Jackson accounted for 60 percent of all news programming, with Iran coverage dropping to 7 percent. The mass media’s fixation on celebrity news necessarily desensitizes Americans to political news stories. Americans who consume greater amounts of celebrity news inevitably end up spending less time following political news. Celebrity news stories have long been most popular with wealthier, younger audiences, as well as with women and minorities. In the case of coverage of Michael Jackson, a systematic review from the Pew Research Center finds that African Americans are far more likely to follow the story closely than white Americans. The Pew study finds that the rapid increase in coverage of Jackson encourages consumers to follow this story at the expense of political news. Jackson’s death during the June 22-28th week was the “most closely” followed story by news audiences, finishing above political issues such as health care reform, Iran, a Congressional bill to reduce greenhouse gases, and the recent D.C. train crash. Many journalists and academics defend the media’s heavy reliance on celebrity junk food news. They claim that the media simply empowers consumers by giving them what they want - in this case increased coverage of Michael Jackson at the expense of stories on Iran, health care, and environmental conservation. It is certainly true that the media’s Jackson frenzy is captivating a small, but determined number of consumers who demand hourly updates of Jackson news. News consumers who are strongly interested in celebrity news do tend to follow these stories with greater frequency than consumers with other priorities. Additionally, a sizable minority of Americans (slightly less than a third) were generally happy with the volume of Jackson coverage. However, we should never forget that the vast majority of Americans express little interest in celebrity news, despite most peoples’ intimate knowledge of these stories. In the case of Michael Jackson, 64 percent of Americans feel that the media covered his death “too much,” compared to just 3 percent who said there was “too little” coverage, and 29 percent who said attention was “the right amount.” Other indicators reveal a similar pattern across many celebrity news stories. Large majorities feel that junk food news is covered, including O.J. Simpson’s 2007 arrest, Eliot Spitzer’s 2008 prostitution scandal, the 2007 Don Imus firing, Michael Vick’s 2007 dog fighting incident, 2007 coverage of celebrity starlets such as Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, and Lindsay Lohan, and Ellen Degeneres’ 2007 pet adoption controversy. What’s going on here? How can people consistently claim that they don’t want celebrity news, while these incidents consistently top the list of each week’s most covered and most consumed news stories? There are a few simple answers to this question. For one, Americans don’t have much choice on what stories are covered. Media corporations don’t bother to ask Americans what they want to read or hear about, as these decisions are made in a top-down manner, with consumers merely reacting to news content through limited mediums such as the Nielson ratings. Celebrity news stories also turn out to be far cheaper to produce than investigative reporting, which requires more resources and longer time commitments. Media producers and owners would rather fill their time slots with inexpensive fluff than cut into their profit margins with real reporting. On another level, most Americans understand that junk food news is toxic, but they are socialized to want these stories regardless. This is what makes the junk food analogy so appropriate. As with McDonalds or Wendy’s, Americans know that consumption of celebrity news is bad for them, but they continue to watch these stories due to a lack of meaningful choice. In other words, people become addicted to these stories despite their better judgment telling them to stay away. The power of media to socialize and indoctrinate consumers - often against their will - should not be underestimated. Young viewers who have grown up in the celebrity news era are more susceptible to this type of programming. Those under 30 years old are more likely to blame the public, rather than the media, for the prevalence of gossip news, whereas those over 30 are more likely to blame media corporations instead of the public. Growing up at a time when celebrity news was not the norm, older Americans know the difference between serious news and news without substance, and they are reacting skeptically to the growth in fluff. Many on the left - including myself - traditionally attack the mass media for keeping Americans ignorant of important political issues. To say that media corporations create apathetic audiences, and that such apathy serves their profit motives, is not a conspiracy. The goal of any corporations is to make as much money as possible, and this is historically done through top-down, one way communication of advertising. This process inherently depends on passive consumers who will not challenge the possible drawbacks of consuming advertised products (for example, the negative effects of over consuming fast food or relying on gas guzzling, polluting SUVs). It is not the case that media corporations’ primary goal is to create ignorant, depoliticized Americans. However, this is the inevitable consequence of single-minded profit motives that push junk food news at the expense of other programming. I continually encounter the problem of American political indifference in the classroom. Students are usually able to provide me with the most recent updates on the lives of celebrity superstars, but most are unaware of recent developments in Iraq, Iran, or in domestic politics. This is a dramatic contrast with my foreign students, who usually are far more interested in politics and often times more knowledgeable about American government than my American students. Sadly, most Americans are abysmally ignorant of current events, with only 20-25 percent regularly following national and international politics. This doesn’t have to be the case. The sooner we question the mind numbing programming promoted by corporate television, the easier it will be to mobilize citizens to care about issues that really matter. Anthony DiMaggio teaches American and Global Politics at Illinois State University. He is the author of Mass Media, Mass Propaganda (2008) and the forthcoming When Media Goes to War (2010). He can be reached at adimagg@ilstu.edu
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Now Available from CounterPunch Books! Yellowstone Drift:
Spell Albuquerque:
Waiting for
Lightning
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