tagged w/ General Electric
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I want to return to the subject of GE's silencing of Keith Olbermann both because there are new facts I've obtained that shed light on what happened here and because this is one of the most blatant examples yet of pernicious corporate control over America's journalism. The most striking aspect of this episode is that GE isn't even bothering any longer to deny the fact that they exert control over MSNBC's journalism. They've brazenly dispensed with the long-held fiction of the sanctity of journalistic independence from interference by the corporate parents that own America's largest news organizations.
Instead, GE is now openly and proudly boasting of their editorial control over the news organizations they own, and publicly rubbing it in the faces of NBC News journalists that they're subservient to GE's corporate agenda. Look at this smug, creepy quote from GE executive spokesman Gary Sheffer explaining in The New York Times why GE issued its gag order preventing Olbermann from criticizing Fox and O'Reilly, all but mocking NBC and MSNBC journalists as nothing more than GE's office of corporate spokespeople:
"We all recognize that a certain level of civility needed to be introduced into the public discussion," Gary Sheffer, a spokesman for G.E., said this week. "We’re happy that has happened."
Why is GE even speaking for MSNBC's editorial decisions at all? Needless to say, GE doesn't care in the slightest about "civility" in general. Mika Brzezinski can spout that people who dislike Sarah Palin aren't "real Americans" and Chris Matthews can say about George Bush that "everybody sort of likes the president, except for the real whack-jobs," and GE executives won't (and didn't) bat an eye. What they mean by "civility" is: "thou shalt not criticize anyone who can harm GE's business interests or who will report on our actions." Thus: GE's journalists will stop reporting critically on Fox and its top assets because Fox can expose actions of GE that we want to keep concealed.
Does anyone need it explained to them why it is so dangerous and destructive to have our political debates controlled by GE executives, sitting in their offices censoring the journalism of our leading media outlets in the name of "civility," code for: you will respect those who can harm us? Our entire political culture is already designed to ensure corporate control of our political institutions. Their lobbyists literally write the laws enacted by Congress and control their implementation. The reason the journalism industry insisted for so long on the ludicrous fiction that corporate parents never violated the sanctity of journalistic independence is precisely because everyone understood why that would be so dangerous. Apparently, they no longer feel a need to maintain that fiction.I want to return to the subject of GE's silencing of Keith Olbermann both because... more
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In a nutshell, Keith Olbermann of MSNBC and Bill O'Reilly of Fox have been going at it. For months, Olbermann's called the Fox host out for his lies and smears, regularly dubbing him "Worst Person in the World," while O'Reilly's raised questions about MSNBC's corporate owners, General Electric.
The on-air feud was good for ratings. It wasn't even bad journalism, for these kind of programs. Olbermann held Fox's O'Reilly to account for dubbing Dr. George Tiller "baby killer" in the run up to Tiller's assassination. O'Reilly sent a producer to a GE shareholder's meeting to raise questions about company business in Iran.
The feud wasn't bad for ratings, but it was perceived as a potential threat to other corporate interests. And so it was that some time this May, the chairman of General Electric (which owns MSNBC), and Rupert Murdoch, the chairman of News Corporation (which owns Fox News), were brought into a "summit meeting" for CEOs where Charlie Rose played peacemaker.In a nutshell, Keith Olbermann of MSNBC and Bill O'Reilly of Fox have been going... more
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GRITtv
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2 years ago
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General Electric Co. said Friday its first-quarter earnings fell 36 percent on sharply lower profits at its troubled finance arm, but the results beat Wall Street forecasts in a glimmer of good news for the struggling company.General Electric Co. said Friday its first-quarter earnings fell 36 percent on sharply... more
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Conglomerate posts first-quarter profit that's much weaker than last year's, but earnings still best analysts' expectations!!
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com - http://linkbee.com/GE-Profits) -- General Electric Co. posted a first-quarter profit Friday that fell substantially from year-ago results, dragged down by weak earnings at its embattled finance division, but the results still beat Wall Street's expectations.
The conglomerate's net income fell 35% to $2.9 billion, or 26 cents per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had forecasted earnings of 21 cents per share.
Revenue for the Fairfield, Conn.-based company fell 9% to $38.4 billion, which missed analysts' forecast of $39.8 billion.
GE's (GE, Fortune 500) shares rose 3% in pre-market trading.
The company's troubled finance division, GE Capital earned $1.1 billion in the quarter. Though those profits are down 58% from a year ago, the company maintained the division is on track to be profitable for the full year.
(Continue Story at: http://linkbee.com/GE-Profits)Conglomerate posts first-quarter profit that's much weaker than last year's,... more
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Viper7
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3 years ago
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General Electric says Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt declined his 2008 bonus as the company's stock price has dropped amid deteriorating economic conditions.General Electric says Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt declined his 2008 bonus as the... more
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DUBAI (Reuters) - Iraq has signed preliminary deals worth billions of dollars with General Electric Co and Siemens for equipment to almost double electricity generation capacity, an energy official said on Saturday.
The deals with GE, Siemens and a third company would be worth a total of $7 billion to $8 billion, Iraq's Electricity Minister Karim Waheed told Reuters.
Years of war, sanctions and neglect have battered Iraq's power grid and the country suffers chronic power shortages. The capital Baghdad receives only a few hours of electricity a day. The deals would mark a big step in the country's reconstruction, Waheed said.
"These deals will help us to end the electricity supply problem by 2012," Waheed said on a private visit to the United Arab Emirates.
Iraq signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) earlier this month for U.S. giant General Electric to supply turbines to generate 6,800 megawatts of power, Waheed said.
He declined to say how much Iraq would pay GE for the equipment, but said each megawatt would cost between $700,000 and $800,000. That would give a value of between $4.8 billion and $5.4 billion.
The country has signed a second MOU with Germany's Siemens to supply equipment to generate another 2,000 MW, he added. That deal would be worth between $1.4 billion and $1.6 billion.
Baghdad was negotiating with a third company for another 1,000 MW, he said, declining to give further details. Continued...DUBAI (Reuters) - Iraq has signed preliminary deals worth billions of dollars with... more
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Bill Moyers sat down with MSNBC?s Keith Olbermann to discuss his breakout from the rest of the mainstream media with his Special Comments.
BILL MOYERS: ?You have some strong things to say about politics.
KEITH OLBERMANN: It became necessary.
BILL MOYERS: Why?
KEITH OLBERMANN: I was sitting on a plane in Los Angeles reading in August of 2006 about Don Rumsfeld talking to the veterans and talking about how every? everyone who was in opposition to the Iraq War policy, the so-called war on terror, even to some degree the Bush administration, was the equivalent in his mind to the Nazi appeasers of the 1930s. And he went on at length about how, you know, here?s the? we?re doing the Churchillian role. And I thought, you know, sir, I took history classes. Your group is not Churchill. Your group is Neville Chamberlain because Neville Chamberlain minimized and marginalized anybody who disagreed with him. Reading this ridiculous remark and waiting to see somebody respond to it. And no one did. I?m thinking, well, you know, somebody with a platform ought to be talking about this. Somebody with a? with an avenue to respond should be? oh, yeah, I have a platform.
The entire interview is available at PBS.Bill Moyers sat down with MSNBC?s Keith Olbermann to discuss his breakout from the... more
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