Marking the Demise of the Late, Great PBS NewsHour

For the last several decades MeanMesa has almost religiously joined Jim Lehrer each evening before dinner in hope of retrieving some tantalizing bit of "deeper reporting" on current issues.  In fact, spending an hour and a half with a nice, fruitful session with the PBS News Hour followed by the US broadcast of BBC World News (cable channel 5, KNME, 5:30 to 7:00 PM week days, Albuquerque) has served as a reliable way to stay somewhat informed about the developments of the day.

The News Hour has previously always offered a refreshing alternative to the failed reporting on the corporate media fraud versions of the "news."

Oh sure, there have always been a few rather "stinky" foundations passing along their monthly checks, but the News Hour has traditionally maintained an admirable objectivity in its subtle editorial responses.  However, an unfortunate new profile of the News Hour has been slowly introduced over the past few months.  Interestingly, this "re-configuration" of reporting has been accompanied by a very suspicious "re-configuration" of advertisers and "sponsors" -- and, unhappily, the back ground atmosphere for the "news" being reported there.

Is MeanMesa drifting into another one of those troubling, geriatric "everything is a conspiracy" tirades?  Maybe not.

Let's make a short list of some of the more interesting "world reality" events of the last few months and compare that list to the "sponsors" who now seem to be subsidizing the PBS News Hour. There seems to be a growing connection between "stories" and "sponsors."

Sponsor:  Toyota

Story:  The recall of millions of Toyota automobiles for design flaws.

Sponsor:  Bank of America

Story:  The lack of banking regulation which caused the economic collapse.

Sponsor:  British Petroleum

Story:  The catastrophic pollution nightmare in the Gulf.

Sponsor:  United Health Care

Story:  The criminal behavior -- and reputation -- of the "biggest pig" in the health insurance industry.

Sponsor:  Chevron

Story:  The public's growing understanding of the full story of the criminal Iraqi Hydrocarbon Treaty secured by the US military invasion.

Sponsor:  The Republicans

Story:  The relentlessly repeated "reporting" that the mid-term elections will be a Democratic "blood bath."

The list of "players" is, almost certainly, even longer than these few examples offered here, but MeanMesa visitors can get the idea.  The News Hour, to its credit, has traditionally avoided the unchallenged "interviews" with the likes of the "Orange Boner" and his eager adolescent hit man, little Eric Cantor,  or Senators "Rat Face" and "McChinless," but MeanMesa predicts that this will be the next "adjustment" to its reporting policies.

Sorry, MeanMesa has no good suggestions for an alternative news source.  It seems to have actually been another "battle" in the class war, and we have lost.