No, you are not being paranoid. Just being realistic.

It will interesting, now, to see where this "talk venture" goes from here.


----------
> From: brian j. callahan <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [CHOMSKY] Brian's removal from the CHOMSKY list
> Date: Monday, May 12, 1997 10:33 AM
>
> I want to thank everybody for their support.  The new list owner, Leon,
on
> CHOMSKY has given me full access back.  The previous owner, Juan, has
quit
> the list.
>
> I think the previous owner's actions might be an interesting case of an
> attempt to "manufacture consent."  It is a common aspect of humans that
we
> don't like to be criticized.  We may train ourselves to withstand it and
> learn from it, but there is always an unpleasant aspect to it.  Now, when
one
> person or a small group of people with similar interests control the
> dissemination of information, there is a natural tendency to want to
limit
> criticism of themselves.  When giant media corporation hire newspeople
and
> editors, it seems almost inevitable that those who are very critical of
giant
> corporations will not be hired or promoted. It's not a conspiracy, of
course,
> it's just the way things work when power is concentrated in a few hands.
>
> Which brings us to the internet and listservs like this.  Doesn't it seem
> likely that as the internet because more commercialized, listservs and
other
> means of discussion will become run by these same media corporations?
All
> that's needed is a change in the way payment for use is structured, and
> they've started pushing for that.
>
> Or am I just being paranoid?