American people's apathy reflects my own

Chapter 8 continues on the same topic as Chapter 7. Thomas discusses in detail the FCC and continues to talk about the powerful influence corporations have on the media. The FCC is a very powerful agency. The FCC has the power to shut people down and censor what they say. And when corporations influnece the FCC, who knows what citizens will be allowed or not allowed to listen to. I think Thomas asks some very important questions at the end of the chapter. "...Where are the American people today in demanding diverse ownership of the airwaves? And where is Congress when they should be stopping the overreach of the giant broadcasting conglomerates?" I lost total faith in the President a while ago, but just recently I have also lost faith in Congress with the passing of the new war funding bill. It feels like there is no one in power who is really representing the voice of the American people. Journalists need to inform the American people about this so they can be a free and self governing people. Or say hello to "1984." I just recently watched All the Presidents Men and I kept on having Deja vu moments. It's crazy how the political atmosphere during the Nixon era is hauntingly similar to the current atmosphere.

"Newspapers are a Business, too" and the business is owned by just a few

I think Chapter 7 hits upon one of the biggest issues of modern news. News(written, radio, and TV) is owned by just a few companies, and they are buying more. The Oregonian for example is owned by Newhouse News Service, which owns 26 different newspapers around the country, and Newhouse is based in Washington, DC. The news on TV is pretty much a joke, and most of it is owned by three companies. The consolidation of media, in my opinion, is a big threat to this country. If independent and privately owned newspapers and other news sources don't fight to be their own thing and fight for their rights, then soon we will be hearing just what big companies want us to hear. It will become difficult to hear opposing viewpoints.
But now that I think about it, it is difficult to do anything nowadays without money and you need a lot of it. It seems like you can seek and report the truth all you want but Bill O'Reilly is going to have a bigger audience. It is very unfair and unbalanced battle and it almost looks impossible. I think it needs to be fought, though.

Hail to Snitches and Bitches and the Journalists that protect them.

I don't really believe in what my title suggests. I just thought it sounded good. I believe when someone sees an injustice or something wrong going on that they should tell someone about it. Not speaking up about it would be the greater evil. I also am aware that many of the people in these situations are afraid of losing there job or even going to jail. That is why they don't tell anyone in the first place. I think a journalist should respect these individuals wishes to be anonymous. I think this whole issue about privacy, however, reveals how convoluted our modern society really is. It really shows how much power the government and corporations have. Even though Jeffrey Wigand followed his conscience and disclosed information on how executives of tobacco companies knew that tobacco was harmful, he was fired from his job and his wife divorced him. Many people who do the right thing get thrown in jail. I agree with Thomas when she wrote, "Gratitude comes later-sometimes too late." This reminds me of Fast Food Nation and how there is crap in hamburgers. How many people have known about this and been afraid to say anything? What else is going on? The Government and corporations have a lot of power. A journalist's duty is to seek out and report the truth. Journalists should encourage others to speak out the truth too, so we can keep the citizns informed about things they should know about. When a person sticks their neck out for the truth, a journalist should do the same to protect them. So the title should be hail to the snitches but not the bitches, because the bitches are doing what they are told and are too afraid to stick their necks out.