Why Should I Delete My MySpace?
. . .Rupert Murdoch, owner of The News Corp & MySpace. . .
Enough is Enough: an Argument to Radicals and Progressives
The question: Why should I quit using MySpace? The answer to this is most importantly the fact that by patronizing MySpace you are essentially propping up and giving your support to the Conservative Republican right wing. So, this is a no go for you. What can you do?
Delete your MySpace. I understand that there are many, very important considerations that one must take in to account when confronted with this bold statement, and I can’t believe I am even suggesting such a thing myself, really, but let’s get down to one certain fact: we need to stop being a bunch of babies about MySpace!
We need to stop whining about how easy it is to book a show on MySpace or how easy it is to reach out to an audience that we’d otherwise have a difficult time reaching. We need to stop sucking on the breast of multinational conglomerated right wing media and propping up the tyrants and policies we so passionately protest against. We need to quit this lifestyle and attitude of “convenience is supreme” right now.
We need to do things the way we always have, and that does not include getting offended by or whining about the abrasive tone of this article. It’s about time we get seriously pissed off about the catastrophe of MySpace.
We must realize that it is in the old spirit to go against the grain and forge our own pathways into the future, not following suit down a road that is laden with cheapness, convenience, and corporate takeover. What has happened to the DIY ethic that characterizes our very existence and progressive movement?
Today we’ll discuss the numerous reasons why it is in all of our best interest to immediately sever Conservative right wing America’s intravenous feed into our daily lives and be the true paradigm shifters of today and intellectual shapers of tomorrow that we have always been and are meant to be. What we then have got to do is begin to create our own socially responsible network of informed global citizens.
Let’s start this off with a short and simple true-false questionnaire. If you answer true to these questions, well, then you may feel free to forget about this silly article and resume your sequestered life. If you find that you end up with a bunch of false statements, I say let’s move ahead and see what great feats we can accomplish.
1. Homogenization of the internet and all other forms of mass media is all right with me.
2. For convenience sake I’ll sign up for whatever you send my way.
3. Right wing conglomerated control of the media is not a threatening state of affairs.
4. The internet suffering the same fate of privatization as television and radio is none of my concern.
That was easy. I think it should be clear now to all of us who not to trust.
The point is that it should be as clear as crystal why it is entirely wrong and hypocritical of a radical, progressive minded person to patronize MySpace. MySpace, which is fully owned and operated by The News Corporation, would love to see the internet, as well as all other forms of mass media, homogenized and privatized by right wing conglomerates for the sake of convenience. In this article I will outline two main points: one, why we must quit being such big babies about kicking the old MySpace habit, and two, how we can quit being such big babies about it and kick the old rotten habit.
For those of us who are newcomers to the MySpace and News Corporation Resistance let us begin to answer the question of why with a crash course in News Corporation 101.
The News Corporation is the second largest media conglomerate in the entire world after The Walt Disney Corporation. On television in the United States News Corp. is National Geographic, FX, Fuel TV and anything FOX. The News Corp. can be found on television around the world in Serbia, Turkey, Georgia, Israel, Indonesia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Australia, Italy, Latin America, Germany, Asia, India, China, and Taiwan. In movies the News Corp. is Twentieth Century FOX/FOX Searchlight. In books: Harper-Collins. In news print: The New York Post, The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and Marketwatch. On the internet: IGN Entertainment, Hulu, Photobucket, and of course, MySpace.
Wow. That’s a staggering bit of influence, and that’s not quite all either. The News Corporation still has a lot more to boast.
In 2004, Businessweek Magazine reported that in the United States The News Corporation owned “TV stations that reach more than 40% of the country.” According to the film OUTFOXED, The News Corporation reaches 4.7 billion of nearly 7 billion people worldwide. During 2006 MySpace was the #1 most visited website on the internet. FOX News’ The O’Reilly Factor is the nation’s #1 most watched nightly news program, with 7 of the other 10 most watched nightly news programs also being claimed by FOX. If you know anything about Bill O’Reilly you know that the “spin” does not stop on his program, nor does it stop on any other FOX News show. Are you beginning to get the point?
In a democracy the function of the mass media is exceedingly crucial. The mass media in a democracy acts as the central nervous system to the whole in that it functions as the source for its citizens to found and make informed decisions upon. When we have a breakdown in this process, much like the one we have been experiencing for many, many years now, we are left with misinformed and uneducated masses. Through misinformation we are led down pathways to food, environmental, health, and economic crises.
As for the radicals who refuse to “participate in the system?” Well, you sure have quite an influence and a significantly negative impact upon it.
What O’Reilly and the other news anchors at FOX News do best is avoid discussing and shedding light on important issues that affect each of us, such as health care, environmental and economic issues. Instead what we are left with is a flood of celebrity drama, fabricated news snippets, and loud, in-your-face news anchors obnoxiously spewing their perfectly-in-line-with-the-right-wing-Conservative-Republican-agenda opinion labeled as news right in your face.
The “news” featured on The O’Reilly Factor and other FOX News programs is nothing but a discombobulating mess of opinion, commentary, and smear campaigns, rarely ever seasoned with the slightest hint of truthful, pertinent, or relevant news. To reinforce this, employed are fear and hype tactics designed to divert the public’s attention away from issues that really matter.
With that we know how far and wide the News Corporation’s Empire of Terror is stretched, but we do not know exactly who orchestrates the whole thing. Behind The News Corporation we have one single man, and that man’s name is Rupert Murdoch.
If you have guessed already that Rupert Murdoch is a staunch supporter of and contributor to the Republican Party you would find that you were right. In regards to the Iraq war Murdoch has been quoted as saying, “I think Bush is acting very morally, very correctly.” Murdoch had put his full faith in our ex-President and expressed his hopes for the war when he said, “The greatest thing to come of this to the world economy…would be $US20 a barrel for oil. That’s bigger than any tax cut in any country.” Murdoch takes heavy strides in pulling his media empire to the Conservative right all the while employing dictatorial tactics.
A daily “memo” sent out each day to all FOX News employees strictly outlines what is to be and what is not to be covered as news. This fundamentally undermines the function of unbiased news reporting in the mass media.
Are you getting pissed off yet? Now we tie it all together. Again, to simply reiterate, by patronizing MySpace you are essentially propping up and giving your support to the Conservative Republican right wing.
Doesn’t sound very radical, does it? As extreme as that statement seems, there is no way around that fact.
Undoubtedly you’ve noticed that MySpace is a service that anyone can use free of charge. Well, no business is going to offer a service that it does not get paid for. As this is true, the way MySpace (The News Corporation, Rupert Murdoch, the Conservative Republican right) makes money from the website is through advertising. Advertising rates on MySpace are based on the amount of page hits, or the amount of people that it receives. The more page hits that MySpace takes, the higher the advertising rates are boosted, the more money The News Corporation makes. The more people click on MySpace.com, the more large amounts money will be funneled into the pockets of those we oppose and tirelessly work to remove from power.
So, the solution is simple then, don’t you think? Delete your MySpace! What could be easier when your very presence on the website puts money and power in the hands of those right wing liars and sickos you want nothing to do with?
With the easy part out of the way comes…the easy part! That is building our new network of socially responsible and informed global citizens. This should not really be that hard and neither should it be viewed as a daunting task to deal with. What we need to employ is our always impeccable do-it-yourself ethic and attitude. We need to get creative in our efforts and excited about our clean break.
Simple suggestion: How about once a week instead of buying beer, going to the bar, or eating out you save that $5 or $10 bucks and put it into buying and maintaining a web site for your band or organization. I know that .com’s cost no more than $8 a year, and that to maintain a website entirely for a whole year you do not have to spend more than $20 bucks. That’s a little over $1.50 a month. With the technology in web design today you could have a personalized website up and running with your bands music, pictures, and contact information within minutes. I can attest to this whole-heartedly as I have produced my very own website of such a sort more than once.
From there on the networking possibilities are endless. I know that within our intelligent and intellectual community there are among us those who have the slightest bit of web design know-how needed to get the foundations of a larger network set in place. It will only take effort, hard work, and time. I think that once the first step has been taken to sever our ties with this boring, and bland reality that prides itself on convenience we will quickly start to find a new and better system emerge.
When making this argument in the past I have been told that it is better for people like us to work together toward our common cause than to nitpick and judge each other’s actions. I would agree with that statement applied to most other instances, but I do not believe in the least that that can be justified in this case.
As it is horrifyingly easy to see, The News Corporation has an intense strangle hold on the world and it’s free flow of information. With an influence as massive as News Corp.’s no one should be turning a cheek. Does it mean nothing when one single person controls nearly 50% of all television that is watched in the United States? Or what about when one single person has influence over more than half the entire planet?
This is NOT an issue that can be taken lightly, and, frankly, I am utterly and completely revolted by the increasing number of radical, and progressive individuals making use of The News Corporation’s facilities.
The good that may come from our common message reaching an extra few thousand people through MySpace is in no way at all a match against the fierce power and magnitude of The News Corporation. The politics of the plane on which News Corp. functions is something most of us can not even begin to comprehend. The power dynamics and influence within their system is not something most of us will ever understand.
Change in this case will never come from within. If we are determined to win this battle, and positively affect the rest of the world we must strike hard and precisely from the outside.
We’ve got work to do and it all begins right now with you.