I wish Groklaw had been around...
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| phsolide Aug 01, 2008 8:54 PM EDT |
During the 1998-99 MSFT anti-trust trial. The "trade press" and the popular press totally reported the MSFT party line, when they bothered to report on the trial at all. Reading between the lines, I personally was not surprised that MSFT was convicted. I was surprised when the DoJ let them off the hook. Given that Judge Kollar-Kotelly is also a FISA star-chamber judge, it's hard not to believe that some TLA had a hand in that one. Anyway, if Groklaw had been around, and had reported on the trial, the popular view would probably be quite different today. |
| gus3 Aug 01, 2008 10:32 PM EDT |
During BayCon 2004, one of the panels was about the SCO lawsuit. Rick Moen was on it, as well as a few other Free Software luminaries, and a lawyer (whose specialty I forget). During the Q&A, one of the audience members, obviously a Brit by his accent, pointed out that the only time he had ever seen "journalists" applauding was during a SCO press conference. He was amazed to see people, whose stock-in-trade was supposed to be "question, question, and question again," uncritically swallowing whatever line SCO fed them. He was particularly dismayed to see this in a nation, whose press representatives enjoy Constitutionally-protected freedom to question, question, and question again. They had the freedom to do so, and they set it aside. |
| Bob_Robertson Aug 02, 2008 6:15 AM EDT |
> They had the freedom to do so, and they set it aside. That's why the anti-empire types refer to them as the "lap-dog press". There is nothing more effective than self-censorship. Well, maybe editorial bias disguised as "fair and balanced" comes close. Just because "freedom of the press" is enshrined in the constitution doesn't mean the papers don't remember how many editors Lincoln and Wilson imprisoned, or the TV and Radio station owners don't know who holds their broadcast licenses and can change those terms at will. |
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