NEWS
EVENTS
The Line Between Good and Evil Blurs: Media
Other | Friday 9th January 2015 | Osh
I fucking love Vice but...
In a world where mainstream media is riddled with corporate influence and private agendas where do you turn to for news and information? Once we leave the comfortable surrounds of mum and dad, who guides our moral compass?
I, like other Shoreditchy types that were around when people would smoke marijuana in Cafe 1001, was one of Vice Magazine's most ardent advocates. I’d ask someone to go and pick up Vice mag (I couldn't go inside the shop myself, I just wouldn’t look right. If you know the kind of shop) Why did I love it? It was edgy, it exposed shit and I relied on it as my alternative to the mass media landscape.
An early issue of Vice Magazine
It was like look how fucked up this government is, how corrupt that government is, the video docs stood out as exceptional. Vice was the shit.
Fast forward to 2015 and after completing a further round of funding to the tune of $500 Million, with a valuation of $2.5bn and it looks like everyone else loves Vice too.
After investing heavily in news, Vice News amassed 2 million YouTube subscribers in 6 months, but are we still getting the underground media we know and love? On the face of it yes, there’s the edgy Ukraine coverage, commentary from Egypt and we get news from Syria in that edgy "omg it's so violent here", "Oh shit it's a war zone", way that Vice does best. We still get that cool as fuck music on Thump, Noisey is first up with all the hot rap shit. Man, this is so not mainstream media AND they have cash now - this can only get better!
Or not. Guess who was one of the investors. Newscorp. Yes that's right, Fox News and our old friend Rupert Murdoch. The man who asked all Muslims to condem the Charlie Hebdo attacks. WTF. The Fox News that is basically racist, islamophobic, the one that broadcasts dumbed down indoctrination that can be blamed for the perception or American intelligence or lack of. The same Fox News Nas called out. The same Fox that goads America into war at the drop of an arrow on the other side of the world. Yes that one.
Nas - "Sly Fox"
Now Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox paid $70m for a 5% stake in Vice before the last round of funding and with James Murdoch on the board probably has more than the ear of the person in charge. With Murdoch’s relationship with Israel, what does that mean for Vice's reporting of the conflict in Palestine and the Middle East? We are seeing less about the suffering of Palestinian people and more like “Islamist Militants on Israel's Doorstep: The War Next Door”
We all know Rupert. Murdoch's Fox owns the Simpsons, and he lets The Simpsons take the piss out of him. But ask yourself, do we ever see and if the real bad shit he does on the Simpsons ... I don't think so. Someone, somewhere would pull the plug on it before you could say phone tapping scandal.
Vermont High Schoolers Just Destroy Fox News About The Ethics Of Journalism
Alongside James Murdoch, there is another interesting addition to the Vice board of directors. Alyssa Mastromonaco, former deputy chief of staff to Barack Obama in the White House is now Chief Operations Officer of Vice.
So next time you are thinking fuck the government and don't know what to believe on TV you may think twice before turning to Vice. Can you be the voice of of the youth in the UK and be part Fox News/part White House?
So, I turn to my older brother, The Guardian. The one my mother always had at the breakfast table. The one that worked with Wikileaks exposing corporate and government misdoings, the one with the green insulation guides and hippy Xmas presents and what do I see? A huge advert for Coke life. So Coke is now the giver of life? They take it on but they are still pushing it to me. Guardian, shame on you, I came to you because The Sun wanted me to join the army, hate immigration and objectify women and now you are trying to fuck up my life too? Shall we attend The Guardian's "flagship" event "The Guardian Changing Media Summit 2015" and gain insights from De beers, Coca Cola and Sky so we can learn how to make the world a better place? I don't think so. If companies are so bad you need go no further than wikipedia to see thier misguided ethics, I think ill fair better on a seperate path, but thanks Guardian.
Coke "Life"
How about Google? They used to be the good guys didn't they? Free, clean, shiny white pages with a rhetoric of free speech and privacy blah blah blah...now after finding out that Google is not what it seems I feel I have been browsing the web through the technology arm of the White House. Google, who will soon be collecting your data from refrigerators and microwaves, are also the top lobbyist in Washington DC in dollar contributions. It all leaves a rather sour taste in your mouth.
Google watching
Who now can guide my moral compass? Priests? Tory MP's? Aaah It's not even the same listening to Cliff Richard anymore. So can I rely on the media to protect me? Protect me from dodgy members of parliament, false flag ops and will it still be investigating all the bad people in the world with impartiality?
Who wants to be a party to a Fox News, US Government or the Coke agenda. Give me news, give me kittens but if you're going to slide something in, make it question everything I will hear, everywhere else. Maybe one day I can create the true voice of the people. I promise, if I can make it a success without selling my soul to the devil, your news will be safe with me.
Obviously you need to take in info from many sources, RT for the Russian take on things is always funny due to their distain for America. Those furthest from power are probably the most real and safest to listen to... try the Rastafari News or Hindu Times if you can find such gems.
