The FOX news affiliate in Las Vegas (KVVU) now has McDonald's product placement right smack in the middle of news programming.

The consolidation of our broadcast stations into large conglomerates, like that of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, means that it's more difficult to tell when they are doing something they shouldn't be, like putting McDonald's iced coffee in front of newscasters.

Who's going to call them out? The other broadcast station, also owned by a large media conglomerate, that is or has plans to do the same thing?

If most of us are getting our news from hundreds of outlets, but they are owned by only a handful of corporations, the watchdog media has morphed into an excited lapdog for wealthy special interests.

Take Action!!

Today there was a House Judiciary subcommittee meeting which has been described by Keith Perine of CQ as "political theater." Douglas J. Feith, former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, was defending his role in developing the interrogation policies used on detainees by the current administration.

Many critics of the current administration have asserted that the "harsh" interrogation practices are equivalent to torture. This Thursday, there is to be a hearing held by the House Judiciary Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties subcommittee to further investigate the legality of the current (and former) techniques.

There has been effort to disrupt the hearing and prevent new information from coming to light, and it has been said that Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey refused a request to appoint a special counsel to investigate the roles of administration lawyers and policy makers.

Last week, Common Cause launched its Recapture the Flag campaign urging congressional and presidential candidates to sign a pledge to:
*End torture, respect human rights and restore America's reputation in the world.
*Respect the rule of law and fiercely challenge anyone who seeks to undermine the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
*Root out corruption, special interest abuses and partisan prejudice in the administration of justice.
*Hold to account - without exception - anyone who breaks the law or violates the public trust

Failing to investigate the legality of interrogation techniques is an abuse of power. Our system of democracy is based upon the ability to question in order to maintain a healthy balance of power.

Special thanks to Common Cause intern Grace Campion for attending an important event at the New America Foundation for me this morning on the release of an interesting book by Jane Mayer.  Grace is a rising senior at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA.  Here is her take on the event and the book below.

 "Zealots, Fools and Monogrammed Towels: News on The Dark Side" 

With The Dark Side, Jane Mayer adds to the growing number of independent investigative reports into the shadowy seven years of the Bush-Cheney Administration.  She focused her reporting on the oft overlooked figure of David Addington, legal counsel to the Office of the Vice President.  Back in July of 2006 Mayer wrote an article for the New Yorker entitled "The Hidden Power: The Legal Mind Behind the White House's War on Terror" which consequently led her, with this book, to delve deeper into the White House chain of command and flesh out the role that Addington played.  She found that Addington meticulously maintained a low profile while becoming "one of the most powerful unelected officials in the government - `Cheney's Cheney.'"  Addington is the new face of unelected American politics and a soon-to-be-household name. 
Moderator Steve Clemons, from The New America Foundation, began the morning's discussion by reading the final sentence of Mayer's book.  Philip Zelikow, executive director of the 9/11 Commission and former Counselor of the US State Department, responds to Mayer's question regarding the historical legacy of the United States' new stance on torture.  He likens it to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II and sums up the past seven years with one sentence, "Fear and anxiety were exploited by zealots and fools." 

A recent story in Broadcasting and Cable titled "Investigative Journalism Under Fire" highlighted so many reasons why we at Common Cause are concerned about media consolidation.

A key passage in the article is as follows:

"Peering under proverbial rocks to bring corruption and abuse of power into the searing light of public scrutiny has always been the role of the watchdog press. And while it is true that the head of a state or federal agency may still end up on the hot seat being grilled by a network correspondent, the genre is on life-support compared to what it once was.

About $250,000, apparently.  The Times of London did an undercover investigation into prominent Republican fundraiser Stephen Payne.

They caught Payne on video saying that, in exchange for a contribution of $250,000 to the Bush presidential library fund, he could help coordinate this "former President" of a central Asian country (actually an undercover agent working for the paper) meeting with Vice President Cheney and perhaps Secretary of State Rice. (emphasis mine)During an undercover investigation by The Sunday Times, Payne was asked to arrange meetings in Washington for an exiled former central Asian president. He outlined the cost of facilitating such access.

"The exact budget I will come up with, but it will be somewhere between $600,000 and $750,000, with about a third of it going directly to the Bush library," said Payne, who sits on the US homeland security advisory council.