Hightower Lowdown

The original idea behind public broadcasting was that it would present a non corporate view of the world. But in recent years more and more programming on PBS mouths the corporate line.

For example, a recent feature on NPR's "All Things Considered" news magazine told about the wonderful new "Stock Market Game" a blatant piece of Wall Street propaganda being directed at 11 and 12 year olds. Corporate friendly NPR broadcast the feature without an iota of journalistic skepticism.

In playing this "game," elementary school kids are given $100,000 each in pretend money to invest in the stock market. Who in the real world has $100,000 to invest? Maybe 5% of Americans but the reporter asked no embarrassing questions. Instead a perky proponent of the "Stock Market Game" was interviewed and gushed that it was a great way "to teach students about the American economy."

Yeah, if you want to teach them fantasy. If you want to teach reality, the game would include news that the profits the kids make on their stocks are based on massive downsizings of workers, on foreign sweatshop labor, on environmental contamination, on CEO greed, on corporate welfare, and on other abuses that would appall an 11 year old. But "All Things Considered" gave these nasty realities not a moment's consideration.