The price of freedom is constant vigilance
OCTOBER 20, 2007 (SATURDAY) – I speak with no real data to back me up, so I guess this is just a whining blog, but I don’t like what I am hearing here and there about ownership of media. As I understand it, ownership of the organizations that we rely upon to share information with the public is moving into the hands of a few big corporations.
We may need to be reminded that the writings of patriots fueled the fires of revolution. Some of these writings were sermons or books, and some were small papers, hardly more than what would be considered a “flyer” today. Had these writings been under the ownership and control of corporations loyal to the British Crown, the patriots would never have been able to publish the truth and place it in the hands of citizens. Having said that, it must also be acknowledged that the writings and speeches and other such involvement in seeking personal freedoms were considered subversive by Great Britain.
The latest announcement from the FCC is that one company may be allowed to own both television stations and newspapers within a city. It doesn’t take a genius to see the dwindling of dissent inherent in such an arrangement.
I’m reminded of the last line of the old song by Tennessee Ernie Ford: “I owe my soul to the company store.” Media outlets are not likely to be encouraged to publish news that might affect their owners’ profits, even if the news is true and reveals actions that are injurious to the public.
As I said, this is probably more whining than information, but I think that’s what blogs are sometimes. So I guess I’ve joined the crowd.
The commercialization and central ownership of media outlets should make us all grateful for the internet and the freedom it promotes. Blogs like this are examples of what I mean by that. We should all be suspicious of efforts to control genuine, responsible freedom of speech. If dissent is squelched, can totalitarianism be far behind?
“The price of freedom is constant vigilance,” said Thomas Jefferson.
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Sermon outlines for tomorrow, October 21, 2007