Kathy wrote:

> Anyone who thinks that the newspaper doesn't pay attention to what sells in
> terms of choosing articles and slanting them one way or another is
> seriously naive.  The writer of a particular article may have no axe to
> grind or may not care if the papers sell or not, but the editors and
>

Coming from the media business of ten years, I believe I can say that editors
and managers aren't DELIBERATELY misinforming the public about
breastfeeding/bottlefeeding. IMHO, these are people who are as steeped in our
cultural mythology as everyone else. The idea that a company can market a
product without regard to the consequences, twisting our notions of normalcy
and rightness to their collective monetary benefit, is terrifically hard for
journalists to grasp. They are, after all, humans who live in these great
United States.

We all live in this cloud of certainty that our capitalist system is truly
the best of all systems, that economic competition will weed out bad
products, keep prices low and reward companies that act in the public
interest.

Sadly, the media is a puppet of that notion. The reverence of the media as
guardian of truth, the Fourth Estate, is antiquated and naive. But not
necessarily because of some malicious desire to bend the public will.
Instead, it's simply because they (meaning managers and editors) don't know
anything else.

Death by formula is not an issue in our country. That's only a Third World
issue. And if someone ain't dying, there ain't no story. People must die
(e.g. Firestone tires) for anyone to actually call a good corporate citizen
to account. Otherwise, if it gives people jobs and makes shareholders money,
who's to complain?

On the other hand, we can surmise that perhaps individual writers might be
the ones with an ax to grind. Undertones in various articles can give us a
clue as to what the writer's personal experience might be. A journalist is
not above seeking some kind of absolution through their writing. I sometimes
sense in those "semi-pro-breastfeeding (but bottlefeeding is fine too)"
articles an underlying grief that feels to me like a failed breastfeeding
attempt. I've never actually seen a popular press article written by a man so
I can't comment on that.

One other important note, if a writer/reporter were to present an story
specifically and thoroughly standing against formula, and that medium was
owned in whole or in part by one of the formula manufacturers, you can bet
your bippy they'd have something to say about it. There is also the matter of
personal relationships among the owners and CEOs of all these companies.
Through their dinners, golf games, charitable hobbies, they give each other
messages about these things. In my mind, it is corporate America that has a
stranglehold on the public imagination, not strictly the media.

Just my .02.

Martha Schatzle
Breastfeeding volunteer, ad executive turncoat, mother of 2 and writer.

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