Monday, October 29, 2012

Romney's Trick for Corporate Big Bird Treats!

(Before we begin, I hope that you honkered down and heeded Hurricane Sandy weather advisories.  Although  the information in this post is a serious matter, I tried to lighten it up a bit to help you weather the storm. Hope it works .)


When Romney threatened to fire Big Bird during the first presidential debate, I nearly fell off my chair reaching for my triple-lined Cookie Monster trash can  - Did Romney just threaten a  corporate takeover of Sesame Street!?!? It may seem far-fetched, but trust me on this....



ONE! -  One Big Bird for sale!
First, let’s get one vital point out of the way.  Romney lied when he stated that Big Bird programming is “funded by money from China”.  The lion’s share of Sesame Street funding comes from charitable donors who receive no paid advertising time for their contributions.   Romney, on the other hand, wants to hand Sesame Street over to corporate advertisers. In case you think I’m making this up, remember what Romney actually said during the debate -  “Sesame Street will be funded by ads”!


So, why is “paid advertising”  such a big deal?  For one thing, corporate advertisers can dictate what is being aired.  If advertisers don’t want Big Bird to talk about respect for the 47%, or if corporate advertisers  prefer the Jim Lehrer News Hour to be the Jim Lehrer Used to be the News Fabrication Hour, they won’t advertise on the network and it will be forced off the air.  


TWO! – Two Big Birds for sale!
Which brings us to the  second point regarding a corporate takeover of Big Bird - media bias. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which funds both PBS and NPR has strict regulations.    Unlike cable news  networks,  PBS  cannot air media bias or a blatant disregard for the truth in their news coverage or they run  the risk of losing their funding or be fined.

On the other hand, cable news  networks  like FOX News don’t have those restrictions. For example...

...Did you know that five FOX news program “contributors” – Karl Rove, John Bolton, Elaine Chao, Walid Phares and Pete Synder -  are actually “Romney Campaign advisors” and did you know that in a new survey from Farleigh Dickinson University’s Public MindFOX News listeners  were found to be  “the worst-informed on domestic and international current events, while NPR listeners are the best informed”?  (Note that the Farleigh Dickinson survey trend was also reported in seven other surveys.)


Before Mr. Romney transformed into  Mr. Moderate (wink - wink) during his final debate, the real Romney campaigned for nearly two years pledging to destroy educational opportunities available to the  47% - cuts to  government assistance for college, cuts to pre-kindergarten educational opportunities, cuts to school nutritional programs -  the list goes on and on.  Can you imagine what educational programming – if any – will take place if Romney and his Super Pacs score a corporate takeover of  Sesame Street…



THREE! - Three Big Birds for sale!
FOUR- Four Big Birds for sale!
FIVE - Five Big Birds for sale.....
HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA


Sources:
Sesame Street’s Funding” Shows Co Creator Slams Mitt Romney

Supporters Sesame Street

Yet another Survey: Fox News Viewers Worst- Informed, NPR Listeners Best-Informed

Seven Surveys make a trend for Fox and Viewers

Media Bias: Going Beyond Fair and Balanced

No Frills, No Bells, No Whistles (Jim Lehrer News Hour)




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