Re: "Fix CNBC" petition gathering steam


"Rob Jensen" <ShutUpRob@xxxxxxx> wrote in message news:9ddur452684nt0jlcgb22p2ftvtrug8ak3@xxxxxxxxxx
On Mon, 16 Mar 2009 18:18:01 -0400, David <dimlan17@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/190059-_Fix_CNBC_Push_from_Progressive_Change_Campaign_Committee_Gathering_Steam.php

"Fix CNBC" Push from Progressive Change Campaign Committee Gathering
Steam
Petition has more than 1,700 signatures
By John Eggerton

According to the Progressive Change Campaign Committee PAC that is
sponsoring it, an online petition prompted by Jon Stewart's savaging
of its Wall Street coverage is receiving about 400 signatures an hour.

The petition, labeled "FixCNBC! Jon Stewart made the case. Now we're
demanding action," called on the network to ask tough questions of the
financial community.

Among those listed as sponsoring the letter were representatives for
FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting) and Free Press.

At press time, the petition had gotten 1,744 signatures.
http://fixcnbc.com/

Okay, I'm a flaming liberal,

I think -- or at least hope -- that this transcends the fixed republican/democratic or conservative/liberal dichotomy that hypnotizes so much political discussion.

Nobody seems to have any idea how to tackle the arrogant invulnerability of interlocking boards of directors, CEO's, and Wall Street analysts, for whose benefit corporations are primarily run. Although stockholders have the theoretical power of voters, it is impossible for them to exercise their power.

This attack on CNBC and Cramer seems to be, in large part, because they are the only people who might be able to do something about it.

The problem is what sociological economists call the "unsplit check" problem. If a couple has dinner and the waiter serves them a $100 bottle of wine they don't want, they send it back and/or refuse to pay for it. If 20 people are having dinner and the waiter serves them 10 bottles of $100 wine that nobody, or only one person, wants, they are a lot more likely to get away with it. Or even more aptly, if the restaurant serves them 8 bottles of wine and charges them for 10.

Trying to get a block of proxies in a corporate vote is tantamount to bringing a major lawsuit (and is likely to involve one). The idea that large corporations are ultimately run by the shareholders is a fiction. In fact, the idea that large corporations are even for the *benefit* of the shareholders is largely fictional.

I'm seeing the "fix CNBC" movement as a wedge into the problem. Having some independent journalists willing to report the self-serving nonsense would be a major step to alleviating the problem, AND there is a huge block of the "conservative" and "Republican" segment of the political spectrum that would welcome it.

.

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