Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Public opinion surveys have consistently revealed that Americans like the idea of a government-funded health care option, like Medicare, to help solve the problem of the uninsured and underinsured in the United States. But news reporting by television and print media sources controlled by the nations’ largest conglomerates hasn’t reflected this favoritism for a single-payer plan, according to the media watchdog group Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting. For example, NBC News only broadcast one favorable mention of single-payer in the first six months of 2009.
What FAIR found was that all too often the boards that control large media groups include corporate representatives from health insurance companies that oppose the single-payer option because it would eliminate private health insurers.
Of nine major media corporations and their major outlets, FAIR determined that Disney (ABC), General Electric (NBC), CBS, Time Warner (CNN, Time), News Corporation (Fox), New York Times Co., Washington Post Co. (Newsweek), Tribune Co. (Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times) and Gannett (USA Today) had connections to six different insurance companies. In five instances an insurance company executive sat on the boards of two media corporations.
The FAIR study also discovered that media boards included directors from several large pharmaceutical companies, such as Eli Lilly, Merck and Novartis, which have been fearful of healthcare reforms that potentially could cut into their profits.
The FAIR study also discovered that media boards included directors from several large pharmaceutical companies, such as Eli Lilly, Merck and Novartis, which have been fearful of healthcare reforms that potentially could cut into their profits.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Single-Payer & Interlocking Directorates (by Kate Murphy, Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting)
Single-Payer Poll, Survey, and Initiative Results (Western PA Coalition for Single-Payer Healthcare)
Majority Favor Single-Payer and Higher Taxes on Cigaettes, Alcohol, Snacks and Wealthy (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
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