By Ben Cohen

A reader writes in response to my article on the sad state of journalism in America:

I

remember when news-anchors on tv would show no personal bias, but

report FACTS of the news--all sides. The stations and newspapers had to

compete with multiple competitors, so stuck to news facts and not

"personal bias" to avoid alienating viewers or buyers. With such

monopoly now, news is too often a brainwashing attempt for the powerful

to bend the public to their will without full information disclosure.

They broke up the phone companies many years ago. We need to break the

news monopolies now so that competition can grow again. How can we get

legislation to depower the present-day news conglomerates?

A very good question. I did an interview with Paul Jay of 'The Real News' whom I think is trying to build a model that could represent a real threat to corporate conglomerates (IF he gets the funding). However, legislation to stop the incessant monopolization of media companies by a few big ones is absolutely necessary to protect independent journalism.