Jonathan Cook on Nick Davies and the corporate media

Davies’ figure of 5-10% [proprietorial & advertiser influence on the media] is simply preposterous. It would be fascinating to know if he still sticks to this estimate or now accepts it was wildly off. And if it was wildly off, what does it do to his theory that journalism’s failure can be explained simply by the 10 rules of production - practical pressure and limitations on journalists caused chiefly by cost- and corner-cutting?

If Davies admitted strong proprietorial influence on the media, it would force him to examine structural constraints on “truth-telling”. Can he now bring himself to do that? If he can’t, it would be yet further proof of Chomsky’s view that the media filters out truly independent-minded journalists, the ones capable of understanding the intimate connection between corporate power and a corporate media.