There really is nothing more amusing than members of the mainstream U.S. press getting on their high horses about the state of journalism in other countries. A classic case in point is the article written by Gary Marx of the Chicago Tribune on the new Latin American satellite channel, Telesur.

Marx, it seems, is very concerned over possible conflicts of interest at the new 24-hour channel, as evidenced by the title of the piece: "Will Truth go South on Telesur News?" (Ha! Ha! "Go South." Latin America! Get it???) The blurb under the title doesn't get any more subtle: "Billed as an indigenous alternative to CNN and others, the new channel has backing from Cuba and Venezuela, raising concerns over objectivity." Marx notes that, "critics say the station could become a propaganda tool for the region's re-emerging left," and that the general manager of the station, Aram Aharonian, is both "pugnacious" and "pony-tailed." Naturally, as Marx artfully sledgehammers home to his readers, objectivity (and possibly a marijuana-free newsroom) can never be achieved with hair below the collar.

To make matters worse, readers are informed that,"Telesur is a venture involving leftist governments in Argentina, Cuba and Uruguay, its main benefactor is Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a populist who derisively refers to the U.S. as "The Empire" and blames capitalism for the region's endemic poverty." As in most cases involving U.S. journalists reporting on international affairs, the crucial word "leftist" is never actually explained or defined, as doing so would involve the rather unfortunate task of doing research. As for the claim that capitalism just might have caused some problems in Latin America, Marx might want to Google the words "IMF Argentina" and see what he comes up with. (For background information on the Chicago Tribune's feelings about Chavez, see here.)

Nor, for that matter, does Marx explain why having"leftist" governments involved mean that the channel could not be of high quality. I spent a great deal of time in Sweden, where a "leftist" (by U.S. standards)state has indirectly supported radio and television for the past 75 years. The last time I checked -- which is every day -- those news programs were objective and of a very high standard, unlike the consumption-cheerleading celebro-porn produced by many "news" organizations in the United States. We ignore genocide in Darfur in favor of 24-hour Michael Jackson and The Runaway Bride, yet have the gall to critique the journalism of other nations?

Where Marx really makes his best joke, however, is when he asks whether or not Telesur will be able to criticize the Chavez government since the operation will be based on the grounds of Venezuela's state-run television station, Channel 8. In other words: will their journalistic integrity be compromised by political and economic pressures?

That a journalist from the Chicago Tribune would worry about conflicts of interest at Telesur -- or any other media outlet, for that matter -- really shows some major-league chutzpah. Perhaps it would benefit Marx to come back to the United States and do a little investigative reporting on the political economy of his own employer: the Tribune Company.

Let's start with what the company controls (from the Tribunecorporate website): "Tribune Broadcasting owns and operates 26 major-market television stations and reaches more than 80 percent of U.S. television households. The group is anchored by Superstation WGN, which can be seen in more than 57 million homes outside Chicago via cable and satellite services. Nineteen Tribune stations are affiliates of the growing WB Television Network, in which Tribune holds a 22 percent equity investment."

And...

"The company's market-leading newspapers include the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune and Newsday in New York. Tribune is the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher in terms of revenue and No. 3 in total circulation. The company's publications are known for award-winning journalism, multimedia reporting and technological innovation. Newspapers currently owned by Tribune have won a combined 91 Pulitzer Prizes. They are read by about 9.3 million people on weekdays and 12.5 million on Sundays."

So, Marx is working for one of the largest media conglomerates in the United States, and an organization with operating revenues in 2004 of just over $5.7 billion. Let's couple this with a quick look at some of the objective news people who sit on the board of Tribune Company:

• Enrique (Rick) Hernandez, Jr: Chairman and chief executive officer of Inter-Con Security Systems Inc.; on the board of McDonald's Corporation, Nordstrom Inc. and Wells Fargo & Company.
  
• Betsy D. Holden: President of global marketing and category development at Kraft Foods, Inc. from January 2004 through June 2005; co-CEO at Kraft from 2001 to 2003; president and CEO of Kraft Foods North America from 2000 to 2003; on the board of directors for Kraft Foods and Tupperware Corporation; on the Advisory Board of Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management and serves on the boards of the Grocery Manufacturers of America and Evanston Northwestern Healthcare.
  
• Robert S. Morrison: Retired vice chairman of PepsiCo, Inc.; retired chairman, president and chief executive officer of The Quaker Oats Company; from 1994 to 1997 served as chief executive officer of Kraft, Inc.; serves as a director of Aon Corporation, 3M Company, Illinois Tool Works, Inc., the Economic Club of Chicago and the Grocery Manufacturers of America.
  
• William A. Osborn: Chairman and chief executive officer and a director of Northern Trust Corporation and its principal subsidiary, The Northern Trust Company; a director of Caterpillar, Inc., Nicor, Inc. and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

In sum, while owning 26 major-market television stations that reach 80 percent of U.S. television households, and newspapers that are read by 9.3 million people on weekdays and 12.5 million on Sundays, the Tribune Company also has board members who work (in various capacities) for McDonald's, PepsiCo, Kraft, 3M, Nordstrom, Wells Fargo, Quaker Oats, and the Grocery Manufacturers of America (GMA). The GMA, by the way, is the lobbying arm of the retail food industry (motto: "The Power of Brands").

So, journalists such as Marx are worried about the influence of people such as Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro and other pony-tailed Latin American lefties on the news services of Telesur? This would be a noble sentiment were it not for the fact that Marx and other U.S. journalists daily ignore the fact that they work for horizontally- and vertically-integrated mega-companies whose board members are made up of individuals representing industries that provide the bulk of the advertising revenue for companies such as Tribune.

Do I think that Hugo Chavez is the ultimate champion of free speech and objective journalism? No. Do I think that Fidel Castro orchestrates ideologically-driven propaganda campaigns? Yes. Do politicians and business leaders use the media to their own, anti-democratic ends? Only an idiot would argue otherwise. The problem is, when we frame discussions on Latin American media in terms of possible "left-wing bias" and conflicts of interest, we deflect attention from the fact that our own non-left-wing media are a far cry from paragons of "balance" and "objectivity." For some reason, journalists do not equate political interference (a la Castro in Cuba) with corporate interference (a la McDonald's and Kraft in the U.S.), as if the latter were an acceptable price to pay for living in a free-market economy. It is not.

I wouldn't want Hugo Chavez to interfere with my news any more than I want a representative of PepsiCo on the board of one of the largest news corporations in the U.S. If we are really worried about issues of "truth" in journalism, let's start with uncovering some home truths...as dirty and unpleasant as they may be.

Christian Christensen is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Communication at Bahcesehir University in Istanbul, Turkey. He can be reached at bahcesehircc@yahoo.com

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