Entryism is alive and well

Summary: Microsoft pays the supposedly 'public' network to act as courier of Microsoft marketing, shrewdly disguised as 'information'

BIAS in the corporate media is not hard to buy. That's the business model of such media. Consider for example how this Bill Gates-funded (bribed) 'news' site complained one month ago that Microsoft might actually need to pay tax, having already dodged billions in taxes (illegally). Yes, The Seattle Times is paid by the Gates Foundation and for a number of years it acted as a mouthpiece for Bill, his father, and their massive tax-evading schemes (we have covered all this before). Now it's time for Microsoft. "They haven’t advertised it," wrote the author, "but the budget deal agreed to by state lawmakers this week quietly targeted Microsoft for a $57 million tax increase over the next two years."

The word "targeted" is a strong and misleading word. Microsoft is generally painted as a victim despite its tax evasion crimes, which are very well documented. Therein lies the value of bribed media. The criminal is presented as the victim. Hell is frozen and pigs surely fly. The power of money corrupts.

"Therein lies the value of bribed media."Four years ago we wrote about how Bill Gates had paid CBS in exchange for lobbying and favourable coverage (which we demonstrated thereafter). Now it's Microsoft's turn. "RIP PBS" called it one reader of ours, linking to this press release. It's about "PBS's announcement that it will air the Microsoft-funded 'reality' show Code Trip," wrote Slashdot yesterday. Well, like in the case of Koch-funded PBS or NPR pieces, we don't need to speculate about the outcome. PBS is a sham like the BBC (also bribed by Gates, on numerous occasions that we have documented), so maybe it should remove the "P" from the acronym (or change it to "private") because it works for the private secret, not the public. "Microsoft bought themselves a show on PBS," wrote Ryan in our IRC channels. "This comes after Walmart and the oil companies did the same thing. Of course, with everyday people losing their personal wealth and being left unable to donate, while PBS had their public funding slashed by more than two-thirds under George W. Bush, this was probably inevitable."

It sure is a huge disappointment which shows where press priorities really lie. "They've been like this for years though," Ryan explains. He is a former Microsoft MVP from Indiana. "Microsoft is just the latest "sponsor" that has hijacked PBS. It's not public broadcasting. It's just a zombie."

Meanwhile, as just revealed by the site which was created to replace Slashdot after Microsoft boosters had ruined it (this was the main Microsoft-hostile news site before it got trashed), "[a] new round of funding has increased Uber's valuation to around $51 billion. The New York Times cites anonymous sources in reporting that Microsoft contributed about $1 billion, "a substantial amount of the financing." As you may remember, Uber recently acquired mapping assets and talent from Microsoft's Bing search engine division. Microsoft's participation in the latest funding round may indicate a "strategic alliance" between the company and Uber."

It looks like Uber might be the next Nokia, but that's an entryism story better saved for another day and another article. Microsoft is still an extremely destructive force with zero ethics. ⬆