The Invisible Hand of the Media
- Unknown author, Written 9/18/97
(Posted here by Wes Penre, May 13, 2005)
 

RULED BY MONEY NOT TRUTH

    Peter Phillips observes in his book, Censored 1997, why it is so difficult in this age of information to obtain true, pertinent facts that have a distinct impact upon the lives of this country's citizens?

    "Corporate-owned media outlets tend to ignore or dismiss stories that run counter to corporate interests...," Phillips observes. "Why does a particular story not receive the coverage it deserves in the media? While a variety of reasons may be at cause, foremost among them...seems to be conflict of interest issues involving the financial concerns of major media advertisers."

    Walter Cronkite, intimately aware that the news media is controlled by money, laments, "Those who permit such pressure to be exerted clearly are thinking purely of their pocketbooks and that alone -- not of the people's rights to know or necessity to know -- and I abhor it." Apparently, the hand that pays the news media controls the mouthpiece as well. It does not appear to be a question only of news gathering costs being supported by advertisers. The advertisers themselves are the apparent determiners of what is newsworthy based exclusively upon monetary considerations.

    When this ethic is applied to multi-national corporations whose yearly revenue arguably exceeds the national budget of most third world countries, the stakes are raised to a level that far exceeds merely the success or failure in the marketplace of a new model of automobile or a diet pill.

    "In the United States, in particular," says Benjamin Ginsberg, Director of the Center for Governmental Studies at Johns Hopkins University, "the ability of the upper and upper-middle classes to dominate the marketplace of ideas has generally allowed these strata to shape the entire society's perception of political reality and the range of realistic political and social possibilities. While westerners usually equate the marketplace with freedom of opinion, the hidden hand of the market can be almost as potent an instrument of control as the iron fist of the state." (FromThe Captive Public, New York: Basic Books, 1986).

    While news is driven by advertising sales, there is another aspect to the proliferation of media censorship. "...A significant reason...stories were not covered has to do with the conglomeration of the mainstream press," says Peter Phillips in his introduction to the 1997 volume of Project Censored. "This has resulted in fewer media outlets, increased pressure on news divisions to produce higher ratings and profits...."

    The Telecommunications Deregulation Bill, signed into law February of 1996 by President Clinton, generated significant opposition due to a piece of legislation tacked onto it called the Communications Decency Act (CDA). Most of the opposition to the bill resulted from fears of censorship, but few recognized that the CDA allowed for the creation of virtual monopolies in the communications arena from the purchase of multiple media outlets by large corporations. General Electric's ownership of the National Broadcasting Corporation with all its subsidiaries, for example, ensures that anything NBC airs will not run counter to GE's policies or conflict with its revenue base. The same principle would necessarily apply to Time Warner's ownership of Turner Broadcasting, Disney's takeover of ABC and Westinghouse's control of CBS.

MANIPULATORS OF THE MASSES

    "Those who manipulate the organized habits and opinions of the masses constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country", wrote Edward Bernays, assistant to William Paley, founder of CBS. "...We are dominated by a relatively small number of persons....

    "...Media corporations, practicing 'press release' journalism, have become dependent on established sources of information available through government and corporate channels. These channels sanitize and spin the news to reflect their special interests, and downsized news organizations do not expend resources to do the in-depth investigative news gathering necessary to counter these packaged versions of the news. Therefore, stories that run counter to major corporate or governmental messages tend to be ignored or discounted." Censored 1997.

    Does a larger portrait of corporate intent emerge from this? For example, would General Electric, previously one of the nation's leading manufacturers of nuclear reactors, have allowed NBC to disseminate accurate, in-depth news critical of nuclear power? Is it also realistic to think that a government bent on world dominion would allow news releases of national and international importance if that news would prove counterproductive to its political agenda?

    By observing history, can we not see that governmental and media censorship is greatest when efforts at major national control are being undertaken? Walter Cronkite addressed the issue of governmental control of the press and information flow when he said, "Limitations on press freedom are imposed by the government itself despite the very clear wording of the First Amendment that there shall be 'no law abridging the freedom of speech or of the press.'

    "The government limits freedom of information through secrecy, the almost uncontrolled use of the document classification privilege," Cronkite continued in his introduction toCensored 1996. "It limits freedom also by limiting access to news sources. The government limits freedom when it, as the courts have from time to time, forces revelation of reporters' sources, a process which can cut off valuable, perhaps unique springs of information. And there is what I consider to be the greatest threat to freedom of information: the government licensing of broadcasting."

    "A 1975 study on 'governability of democracies' by the Trilateral Commission concluded that the media have become a 'notable new source of national power,' writes Noam Chomsky in his book, Necessary Illusions. Samuel Huntington, a professor of international politics at Harvard and the chairman of Harvard's Institute for Strategic Planning said, in his book, The Crisis of Democracy, "Truman had been able to govern the country with the cooperation of a relatively small number of Wall Street lawyers and bankers." (New York University, 1975). World bankers, by pulling a few simple levers that control the flow of money, can make or break entire economies. By controlling press releases of economic strategies that shape national trends, the power elite are able to not only tighten their stranglehold on this nation's economic structure, but can extend that control world wide.

    Those possessing such power would logically want to remain in the background, invisible to the average citizen. Expressing that very sentiment, David Rockefeller, founder of the aforementioned Trilateral Commission in June of 1991, addressed a meeting of that organization.

    "We are grateful toThe Washington Post, The New York Times, Time Magazine," Rockefeller told them, "and other great publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected their promises of discretion for almost forty years. It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world if we had been subject to the bright lights of publicity during those years. But, the world is now more sophisticated and prepared to march towards a world government. The supranational sovereignty of an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferable to the national autodetermination [read as "democracy"] practiced in past centuries."

    "...A handful of us," wrote Walter Cronkite, again from his introduction toCensored 1996, "determine what will be on the evening news broadcasts, or, for that matter, in the New York Times or Washington Post orWall Street Journal.... Indeed it is a handful of us with this awesome power....And those [news stories] available to us already have been culled and re-culled by persons far outside our control."

A SICK NATION

"WE ARE AS SICK AS OUR SECRETS" - Kitty Dukakis

    A national survey published inThe Day America Told the Truth, (Prentice Hall, New York, N.Y. 1991, Patterson and Kim) reveals the true character of the American people. The polls for the survey were taken assuring anonymity to the respondents so the public felt free to reveal itself. The results indicated that, "91% of us lie regularly....The majority of us find it hard to get through a single week without lying. One in five can't make it through a single day--and we are talking about conscious, premeditated lies....Lying does empower us to be people we aren't. It gives us the illusion of control. There are more serious liars right now (liars who do harm) than at any time in our nation's past. Lying has become a cultural trait in America. Lying is embedded in our national character. That hasn't really been understood around the world. Americans lie about everything -- and usually for no good reason." The book went on to say that of the remaining 9%, less than half would not lie because it was morally wrong. An obvious conclusion can be drawn from this data that it is not politicians, world bankers, FCC directors, presidents, the press or "someone else" who lie to get control. It is woven throughout the moral fabric of our society.

    The government cloaks its secrets under the guise of "national security"; world bankers keep secrets for economic gain; the media protects its "sources" and secrets to keep its "presses" rolling; advertisers censor the news to protect product sales from damaging publicity. Occasionally, those manufacturers allow certain negative information to reach the public about a product, as in the recent fen-phen and Redux drug revelation, because to do so gives the appearance of forthrightness--also to do otherwise, in some circumstances, would be more damaging than the truth. One can be assured, however, in the light of the 1991 survey, that concern for the welfare of humanity is not the driving force behind any spasm of necessary honesty by product manufacturers, or any other sector of U.S. culture for that matter.

    Can it not be concluded that the news that is finally released is so thoroughly sifted to protect government, corporate and media interests that "state cookies" and "bitten ears" are about the only substantive information that survives?

    With 91% of the public habitual liars, according to the aforementioned poll, can one expect anything but intense moral and national sickness from such pervasive national lying? When 91% of a nation is infected with epidemic dishonesty, should it be surprising to witness moral sickness and declination in every part of its society?

    "In fact, the way some people talk about trying to do without lies," according to Patterson and Kim, "you'd think that they were smokers trying to get through a day without a cigarette." It appears that the paparazzi, advertisers, multi-national companies and the government all supply the nation with lies just to feed its insatiable hunger for entertainment and frivolity. The citizens of this nation apparently require frequent, routine injections of lies into their moral bloodstream in order to satisfy a growing addiction to this fantasy and make-believe. Truth has become as unpopular as cold turkey to an addict because it carries with it a natural tendency to sobriety and responsibility.

    From the Protocols  we find an almost prophetic description, written over a hundred years ago, of the lightning rush of society to the brink of eternal ruin:

    "Every man aims at power, everyone would like to become a dictator if only he could, and rare indeed are the men who would not be willing to sacrifice the welfare of all for the sake of securing their own welfare....In applying our principles let attention be paid to the character of the people in whose country you live....What is the part played by the press today? It serves to excite and inflame those passions which are needed [that already exist] for our purpose....It [the media] is often vapid, unjust, mendacious, and the majority of the public have not the slightest idea what ends the press really serves....Literature and journalism are two of the most important educative forces, and therefore our government will become proprietor of the majority of the journals. This will neutralize the injurious influence of the privately owned press and will put us in possession of the tremendous influence upon the public mind....

    "In order that the masses may not guess what they themselves are about, we further distract them with amusements, games, pastimes, passions, extravagance and wealth....Growing more and more disaccustomed to reflect and form any opinion of their own, people will begin to talk in the same tone as we because we alone shall be offering them new directions for thought."
 

THE MEDIA IS ONLY A MIRROR

    It is easy to point at a governor and laugh at his frivolity. It is easy to point at a large corporation as the perpetrator of media conspiracies. It is easy to point at the new world order conspirators and blame them for our social and cultural sickness. But should the citizens of this nation be looking at a source outside themselves for the problem when it is determined to be the national character--a condition for which the individual is ultimately responsible?

    Is it not true that one has only the government one chooses? Withholding the truth and telling lies for gain or security is not what is perpetrated upon us but, rather, what this nation has become. The invisible government is seen only by those with eyes to see. It is an unseen stamp in the forehead (the thinking) and upon the hand (what is done).

    "Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead....This calls for wisdom: let him who has understanding reckon the number of the beast, for it is a human number." Revelation 13:16 & 18.
 

When it was discovered that money from Saudi Princess Haifa bint Faisal had found its way, into the hands of Al Qaeda operative and advance man for the 9/11 hijackers Omar al-Bayoumi, the Saudi Princess put forward one of the worst alibis ever concocted. Princess Haifa claimed that she was giving the money to a woman named Majeda Ibrahin Dweikat so she could treat her thyroid condition ("The Saudi Money Trail," no pagination). The good Princess claimed she had no idea that Majeda and her husband, Omar Basnan, were passing the money to Omar al-Bayoumi (no pagination). The problem is that Majeda's husband, Osama Basnan, was known to be a "vocal Al-Qaeda sympathizer" (no pagination). According to a law enforcement official, shortly after the 9/11 attacks, Basnan "celebrated the heroes of September 11" and referred to September 11 as a "wonderful, glorious day" (no pagination). Basnan is also known to have "met with a high Saudi prince who has responsibilities for intelligence matters and is known to bring suitcases full of cash into the United States" (no pagination). Princess Haifa also connected to Omar al-Bayoumi through her husband, Prince Bandar bin Sultan. Omar al-Bayoumi had worked for Dallah Avco, the aviation services company owned by Prince Bandar's father, Prince Sultan (no pagination). All of this seemed to suggest that more connected Princess Haifa to Omar al-Bayoumi than just unintended charity.

However, the 9/11 Commission accepted Princess Faisal's alibi at face value. Why did the Commission give thumbs-up to such a flimsy explanation? The Commission never intended to find the truth behind 9/11. Its job was to cover up the fact that the United States government and the American aristocracy were intimately tied to the amalgam of terrorist financiers and criminals collectively referred to as the Saudi elite or Saudi Royals. This alliance goes back to the birth of the modern state of Saudi Arabia. This genesis story doesn't begin with a charismatic Arab leader, but with a member of British intelligence: St. John Philby, known also as Jack Philby. 
 

Jack Philby: Saudi Arabia's Founding Father

Many people are more acquainted with Jack Philby's son, the notorious Communist double agent, Harold Adrian Russell Philby, also known as Kim Philby. However, Jack's story is no less important. Jack could be considered the founding father of Saudi Arabia. Jack Philby was a British Civil Servant who was dismissed for sexual misconduct (Loftus and Aarons 25). From there Jack was picked up by British secret service MI6 in 1915 (25). The British secret service was known for its anti-Jewish ranks that viewed all Jews as secret communists (31-2). The anti-Jewish sentiments found in the British secret service had trickled down from the British power elite. The British saw the Balfour Declaration as merely a foreign propaganda tool meant to get American military support during World War 1 (29). The British actually favored more of an Arab presence in the Palestine territory with a small Jewish minority to placate America (29). This is why the Balfour Declaration of 1917 promised that Palestine would be "a national home" as opposed to "the national home" for the Jews (29). The Balfour Declaration's language would allow for a situation where the Jews would be insignificant in the Middle East.

Jack's involvement in British secret service probably helped shape his anti-Jewish mindset. John Loftus and Mark Aarons elaborates:

During the early 1920s, Philby and his secret service colleagues did everything they could to undercut Zionist immigration. Philby's secret service station organized anti-Jewish propaganda in Palestine. To be fair, he was merely carrying out a policy organized by his predecessors to stir up the Arabs against the Jews. According to several of our sources, Great Britain was the first modern country to use its intelligence service to organize terrorist acts against the Jews. (33)

However, Jack was more than just a Jew-hater. Philby's fanaticism went much further than the fanaticism of his colleagues in MI6 or the British power elite. While the British power elite and MI6 were anti-Jewish, they were still not supportive of Arab self-determination and political independence. From the perspective of the British oligarchs and MI6, the Arab world was to be divided into French and British spheres of influence. The secret Sykes-Picot agreement of 1916 was concocted for just this purpose (28-9). Jack Philby was fanatically pro-Arab. In 1917, Jack met with the chieftain of the Wahhabi sect, Ibn Saud (30). This was supposed to be just a minor political mission, but what came out of it was an alliance between Jack and Ibn Saud as well as Philby's adoption of Wahhabism (30-1). Philby passed intelligence information to Ibn Saud that allowed the House of Saud to defeat Sharif Hussein and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was born (35).

Did Jack Philby help found Saudi Arabia on behalf of the British power elite and MI6? In all likelihood, the answer is no. Philby's support of Ibn Saud was motivated by his hatred for Britain. When Philby realized that British promises of Arab independence were not genuine, he broke politically with England (28). Still, Philby's pro-Arab fanaticism buttressed the British power elite's anti-Jewish agenda. While he may have been a renegade, Jack Philby's work seemed to always help one or more faction of the power elite. This included the American elite. With the aid of Allen Dulles, Jack Philby would connect the Saudi elite to American elite. 
 

Dulles, Big Oil, and ARAMCO

In the 1930s, Philby was able to convince Ibn Saud to allow foreign investment in the Kingdom in the name of discovering oil. Philby convinced Ibn Saud to allow Charles Crane to facilitate exploration of Saudi Arabia's subsoil assets (42). In 1933, Standard Oil of California (SOCAL) negotiated with Philby for a 60-year contract that allowed SOCAL to have exclusive rights to explore and extract oil (42-3). This was the beginning of what would become the Arabian-American Oil Company (ARAMCO). The U.S. State Department classifies ARAMCO as the richest commercial prize in the history of the planet ("St. John Philby," no pagination).

A key player in the creation of ARAMCO was Dulles ally James Forrestal. Forrestal brought SOCAL and Texaco together in an agreement that formed Caltex, the parent company of ARAMCO (Loftus and Aarons 63). James Forrestal's ties to the Dulles brothers were extremely important. Not only was the Dulles brothers agents of the power elite, but Allen Dulles had also been in a criminal relationship with Jack Philby since 1921 (39). In that year, Philby, who was then the secret service head of intelligence for Transjordan, met Allen, who was then stationed in Istanbul (39). Allen helped Jack guarantee the economic and political survival of Ibn Saud through his connections to American oil companies (38). Together, Philby and Dulles helped build the modern state of Saudi Arabia and connect the American elite to the Saudi elite. 
 

The 9/11 Cover-Up

A real inquiry into the September 11th attacks would have proven disastrous for the American power elite. A genuine investigation would have revealed that the Saudi elite had their hands all over the attacks. This would have led to a deeper examination of the Saudi elite, which would have revealed that the American power elite has been connected to the Saudi criminal and conspiratorial infrastructure since Philby and Dulles created it. A bogus investigation had to be concocted. The first indication of a cover-up came when President Bush attempted to appoint Henry Kissinger to head the 9/11 Commission. Kissinger's consulting firm, Kissinger Associates, has had dealings with Saudi Arabia in the past (Scheer, no pagination). When the public and activists raised the roof over this move, Henry was replaced with Thomas Kean. Kean is the director of oil giant Amerada Hess (Hicks 76). At the time of the 9/11 hearings Amerada Hess was conducting a joint venture with the Saudi Arabian oil company Delta Oil (76). The idea that Kean would follow the Saudi money trail of 9/11 was laughable. 
 

Conclusion

The political landscape is filled with many discomforting truths that the common man must wrap his head around. One of those truths is that those who claim to be defending us are in bed with the very forces they claim to be defending us from. The connection between the American elite and the Saudi elite illustrates this point. It is time to take responsibility for our own protection, instead of leaving it in the hands of those who see us as cattle to be harvested. 
 

Sources Cited

• Hicks, Sander. The Big Wedding: 9/11, the Whistleblowers, and the Cover-Up. New York: Vox Pop, 2005.

• Loftus, John and Mark Aarons. The Secret War Against the Jews: How Western Espionage Betrayed the Jewish People. New York: St. Martin Press, 1994.

• Reno, Jamie et al. "The Saudi Money Trail." MSNBC.com 2002 Newsweek, Inc.

• Scheer, Robert. "Want a Cover-Up Expert? Kissinger's Your Man." The Nation 3 December 2002.

• "St. John Philby." Wikipedia 21 August 2007 
   

About the Authors

Phillip D. Collins acted as the editor for The Hidden Face of Terrorism. He co-authored the book The Ascendancy of the Scientific Dictatorship, which is available at www.amazon.com. It is also available as an E-book at www.4acloserlook.com. Phillip has also written articles for Paranoia Magazine, MKzine, News With Views, B.I.P.E.D.: The Official Website of Darwinian Dissent and Conspiracy Archive. He has also been interviewed on several radio programs, including A Closer Look, Peering Into Darkness, From the Grassy Knoll, Frankly Speaking, the ByteShow, and Sphinx Radio.

In 1999, Phillip earned an Associate degree of Arts and Science. In 2006, he earned a bachelor's degree with a major in communication studies and liberal studies along with a minor in philosophy. During the course of his seven-year college career, Phillip has studied philosophy, religion, political science, semiotics, journalism, theatre, and classic literature. He recently completed a collection of short stories, poetry, and prose entitled Expansive Thoughts. Readers can learn more about it at www.expansivethoughts.com.

Paul D. Collins has studied suppressed history and the shadowy undercurrents of world political dynamics for roughly eleven years. In 1999, he earned his Associate of Arts and Science degree. In 2006, he completed his bachelor's degree with a major in liberal studies and a minor political science. Paul has authored another book entitled The Hidden Face of Terrorism: The Dark Side of Social Engineering, From Antiquity to September 11. Published in November 2002, the book is available online from www.1stbooks.com, barnesandnoble.com, and alsoamazon.com. It can be purchased as an e-book (ISBN 1-4033-6798-1) or in paperback format (ISBN 1-4033-6799-X). Paul also co-authoredThe Ascendancy of the Scientific Dictatorship. 

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