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Summary of 2001 World Economic Forum Participant Affiliations
CFR 34 Socialist Int’l 2 Carnegie Endow 2 PWBLF 6 Knights
16 (not shown above) Trilateral 16 Bilderberger 1 Fulbright 2
RIIA 4 http://www.womensgroup.org/summary_20010311.html
- At The Top Of The World: Covering The World Economic
Forum
- How The Goliaths Of Globalization Groom The Media
- By Danny Schechter
When demonstrators packed the streets of Seattle last December
to scuttle the World Trade Organization meeting and shout about
their dissatisfaction with economic globalization, some journalists
described them as "politically correct" activists.
Reporters and pundits contended that the protestors offered simplistic
and one-sided solutions lacking any objectivity. Two months later,
scores of these same media commentators showed up in Davos, in
the Swiss alps, to cover the annual summit of the World Economic
Forum, a gathering of many of the most important corporate and
government leaders in the world. I joined them to watch top media
chieftains interact with the overlords of the global economy—only
to discover, ironically, that there was a PC quality to the media's
cheerleading at Davos.
In this case, "P" stood not for "political"
but for "participate"—and "promote":
many media people were invited to Davos as insiders, not outsiders;
to join, not to watch. The agenda of globalization requires public
acceptance of that model as the only viable strategy for economic
growth. That was the message that Bill Clinton brought to Davos.
The architects of the new global economic order need to market
this message; that's the role they've assigned to the media.
Media outlets have become willing promoters of globalization
and consistent attackers of its noisy critics. The media not
only spin global news to hype market values but are themselves
purveyors of products, which they bring to the world market.
They sell as they tell. In Davos, many media companies had displays
to demonstrate their wares and push propaganda via their information
technology and specialized services.
As for the "C" in "PC," I was struck by
how the media landscape was literally, physically divided along
class lines. The working press—the grunts who file daily
copy—were stuck in the dungeon-like basement of the high-tech
Congress Center, with its plethora of conference rooms, meeting
halls and executive lounges looming above. They were crammed
into small, smoky rooms in the area typically used, in Swiss
buildings, for fallout shelters. You had to squeeze your way
between the rows of computer screens and reporters babbling in
a cacophony of different tongues. There, behind bombproof doors,
many media drones seemed tethered to their computers, pounding
away to meet deadline cycles. It's important to note that all
of these working class journos had badges restricting their access
to certain Forum events. Thus, much of the copy they wrote was
based on reams of handouts, session summaries and the snatches
of the proceedings they watched on live, closed-circuit TV. The
whole building was quickly awash in tons of background documents
and company promo packets. The airlines would later rack up a
fortune in excess baggage charges for overweight luggage, stuffed
with forests' worth of Davos documents. I nearly suffered a hernia
hauling all my booty home.
A level up, some of the better-known media brands, such as
CNN, CNBC and Reuters, had their own suites and mini-studios,
designed to shuttle interviewees in and out for quick Q&As
and pithy soundbites. A state-of-the-art, user-friendly computer
conferencing system with scores of available terminals made requesting
appointments from the high and mighty easy and efficient—for
the media's high and mighty. Outside crews from lesser media
outlets were escorted in for limited shooting on the conference
floor.
Further up the media food chain, and not confined to offices
or routines, "name" correspondents were given privileged
"all access" white badges and full conference status.
The editors and star columnists were labeled "media leaders"
and invited to join key panels to share their punditry with the
crowds. Usually, these were globalization gurus such as the MIT
economist Paul Krugman and Thomas Friedman of The New York Times
op-ed page. The more skeptical among us were kept in the seats,
not on the stage. We could ask questions but not offer perspectives.
Finally, at the apex of the heap, were the big media bosses
and new media honchos who were there to do much more than report
on the schmoozing. They wheeled and dealed in separate meetings
in nearby well-guarded hotels and special offices. I met Microsoft
chief Bill Gates; Howard Stringer, the newly knighted head of
Sony; Michael Bloomberg of Bloomberg Media; Rob Glazer of Real
Networks; Shelby Coffey of CNN; and Robert Bartlet, the ultra-conservative
commissar of The Wall Street Journal's editorial page. I missed
AOL's Steve Case, News Corp's Rupert Murdoch, Barry Diller of
USA Networks, and other top players who were on hand to promote
their companies and explore new business alliances.
Significantly, and not surprisingly, there was no discussion,
at any level of the media pyramid, of the media's role and responsibility
in covering economic issues—nor did any media company take
part in the many discussions of corporate social responsibility.
As well, none of the handful of well-known critics of globalization
from non-governmental organizations, who were invited to add
spice and conscience to this year's debates, challenged media
practices or the largely uncritical coverage of the event. They,
like the policy makers they came to criticize, were happy to
get their 15 seconds in the media sun.
This is not to deny that critical and reflective reports on
the Forum did emerge in some outlets. The Wall Street Journal's
news pages exposed the business-related conflicts of interest
of Forum founder Klaus Schwab, while the International Herald
Tribune reported thoroughly on NGO concerns and gave op-ed space
to globalization critics like AFL-CIO President John Sweeney
and Malaysian environmentalist Martin Kohr. London Observer's
editor Will Sutton slammed the lack of critical voices in the
conference, noting that "the voices arguing that corporations
need to behave...socially responsibly, and with an eye on environmental
sustainability, are the weakest in the 11 years I have been coming
here. In over 70 sessions on business there are no more than
half a dozen in and around this territory—and they tend
to be undersubscribed. The 'hard' conversations are about how
to maximize shareholder value and how to be a winner in the new
economy." Nonetheless, there were many experienced and thoughtful
writers on hand who deserve credit for competent and balanced
takes.
Overall, however, the Forum did a good job of comforting—some
might say co-opting—reporters. I'll admit to enjoying media
dinners (paid for by Coca-Cola) and a special program for the
"Club of Media Leaders" featuring briefings by His
Majesty King Abdullah of Jordan and the billionaire King of New
Media, Bill Gates. It was hard not to feel a sense of importance
and entitlement when supping with kings and king-servers. These
"briefings" were largely superficial. Gates, for example,
sang the praises of Microsoft's 2000 product line, sounding like
a salesman, not a visionary. There was an unmistakably American
spin on all of this, too, evident in the cozy meals arranged
with U.S. trade-negotiator Charlene Barshefsky and Treasury Secretary
Larry Summers.
American officials dominated the Forum, perhaps reflecting
the still ballooning U.S. economy. President Clinton flew in,
along with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Energy Secretary
Bill Richardson, and National Economic Advisor Gene Sperling.
While other countries dispatched Presidents and Ministers to
lobby the corporate elite, none sent more big guns than Washington
did. This year, Davos was USA all the way.
While CEOs and monarchs wined and dined with the press, activists
got nowhere near this high-toned brand of access to the media—though
top U.S. financier George Soros, who has warned of a "capitalist
threat" as dangerous as yesteryear's communist threat, did
get his own meet-the-press luncheon. A watchdog group, Public
Eye on Davos, condemned the focus of the Forum and sponsored
a debate between NGO leaders and Forum officials, which I moderated.
It was poorly covered—perhaps because it was held at a nearby
asthma clinic, which would have required journalists to leave
the warm cocoon of the Conference Center.
TV crews did hustle into the streets when a smaller than expected
anti-globalization demonstration finally materialized. The protest
was quickly contained by the Swiss police, who physically limited
media access. I was in the right place at the right time, which
gave me a front-row seat when a handful of stick-wielding, slogan-shouting
anarchists trashed the windows of a local McDonald's. Unfortunately,
the fast-charging demonstrators—with their German signs
calling for victory for Mexico's Zapatista rebels and freedom
for American death-row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal—made little
effort, unlike their Seattle counterparts, to communicate their
ideas to the press, or even to translate them for non-German
speakers. Confused and incoherent, the messages and concerns
of the protestors were reduced to a side bar in most articles.
Some TV units did get pictures of the melee, which included snowballs
hurled at tear gas-toting police (two of whom were assaulted
by the protestors).
Often, media coverage snidely denigrated globalization critics.
Here's Diane Francis of Canada's National Post on John Sweeney.
"While some CEOs try to skimp, union chiefs live like kings.
Take John Sweeney, head of the 13 million-member AFL-CIO union
giant in the United States." After criticizing Globalization,
"he left for his spacious Davos apartment digs. No spartan
ski lodgings for this self-appointed champion of the working
class around the globe." Self-appointed? Of all the critics
in Davos, Sweeney was one of the few who was elected. He doesn't
deserve this type of cheap shot in a town where most corporate
CEOs were housed in far fancier luxury suites.
To their credit, many of the journalists and editorialists
I met at the Forum had thoughtful and critical insights to share
about their own media experiences, though it is doubtful many
of these critiques will make it into print. One of these conversations—an
informal discussion about media corruption worldwide among an
international group of journalists—will be the subject of
an upcoming "Dissector" column
For now, I am still digesting the dialogues and diatribes
I attended at Davos. Then, too, I've resolved to work hard at
losing calories from all those freebie, sauce-rich Swiss meals
as I sort through my piles of Davos detritus and watch the follow-up
globalization infomercials.
- Danny Schechter, "The News Dissector," is the
Founder and Executive Editor of the Media Channel and author
of News Dissector (Electron Press, February).
AS THE MEDIA WATCH THE WORLD, WE WATCH THE MEDIA.
- The Media Channel is a not-for-profit project of OneWorld
Online and The Global Center, and is produced by Globalvision
New Media.
- http://www.mediachannel.org/views/dissector/complicity.shtml
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