In our current system, control over the media is a big deal. In 2011 the website ‘Frugal Dad’ carried out a survey and discovered that 90% of media produced and consumed in The United States of America was owed by 6 companies: GE, News Corp, Disney, Viacom, Time Warner and CBS. The UK doesn’t fare much better, sure we have the BBC attempting to keep screaming out on behalf of the free press but even that is under threat as the Conservative party is constantly attempting to privatise it.
Without a free press the people have no voice, if corporations own the media then we will only see the information that they want to be shared, a lot of the time it doesn’t even need to be true! This will not stand.
A truly free press
The main goal of the media these days is twofold.
- Make money
- Spread fear and misinformation in order to keep the populace suggestible.
Number 2 may sound paranoid but fear mongering and intentionally misleading the public are tried and true practices used throughout history in order to quell revolutions and to steer opinions. Thankfully for us, most of the motivation for doing this is in order to make more money. A motivation which will be lost under Aretecracy.
The following rules will be put in place
In order to ensure that a truly free press is established. The following rules will be put in place:
- News companies will not be allowed to accept any form of payment or incentive for running stories.
- News companies will not be told by anyone (including the government) what they are and are not allowed to print (however content must be appropriate for the target age-range).