What is unfolding between Paramount and Warner Bros. is not just another corporate merger. It is a full-blown power grab led by Jared Kushner and Saudi investors who are now bankrolling the takeover. The idea of people this politically connected and this unaccountable gaining control of what Americans watch and read should set off alarms everywhere. The deal would give them influence over titans like CNN, HBO, Warner Bros. Pictures, Cartoon Network, Discovery Channel, and even streaming platforms like Max and Paramount Plus.

It goes far beyond entertainment. The Saudis have quietly pumped billions into global culture for years, buying into tech companies, sports leagues, and now American media. They are reaching into the heart of how stories are told, from CNN to DC Studios to digital brands like Bleacher Report and Max. The silence from regulators and politicians is unnerving. This is not healthy competition or free-market growth. It is something closer to cultural capture.

The financial logic is almost as disturbing. Paramount is buried under billions in debt and Netflix owes around fifteen billion, yet both somehow keep getting greenlights for massive deals they cannot afford. The money flows anyway, and the same global investors keep showing up. What is taking shape is not just media consolidation. It is a takeover of the national imagination by the people with the deepest pockets and the least accountability.

#Media #Narative #UnitedStates

@lavaeolus @histodons Yes, I agree. Developing a "grand scheme", believing in it, and making inference based on it, is part of what makes us human. For that we need language, more than for anything else. It also boosts tool usage far above what can be observed in any other social species: all technologies are grounded in their own minor scheme of things. I've the link below as an example of what I mean.
#history #technology #narative #anthropology #wehaveneverbemodern
https://austhrutime.com/food_preparation_poison.htm
Food Preparation - Poison

Food Preparation - Poison

Sara president rebukes LGBTQ rights and indecent uniforms in schools

The South African Rainbow Alliance (SARA) is strongly opposing the introduction of gay rights in schools, by advocating for decent and modest uniforms for learners. School learners should adhere to schools' dress code of conduct.

IOL | News that Connects South Africans

"Without professional historians, history education will be left more and more in the hands of social media influencers, partisan hacks and others unconcerned with achieving a complex, empirically informed understanding of the past. Take, for example, Bill O’Reilly’s 12-books-and-counting “Killing” series — the best-selling nonfiction series of all time, according to Mr. O’Reilly’s publishers"

#history #usa #america #slavery #race #crt #identity #narative #WhoWeAre #NYT today.

L’anglais et le français sont vraiment trés semblable. Le mot naratif que j’entends de plus en plus souvent existe aussi en anglais avec la même signification

https://providencepost.com/washington-has-prepared-an-invasion-narrative/

histoire récit #naratif

Washington Has Prepared an Invasion Narrative - The Providence Post

The other day I asked, “What is Washington up to?”  It is already time to ask that question again.  While writing my article suggesting that only…

The Providence Post