The asset management firms that own large shares in companies that sell weapons of war also own large shares in mainstream media organizations that shape the way we think about war.
QUICK FACTS:
- BlackRock Inc. and The Vanguard Group, Inc. hold large shares in the world’s largest arms-producing company and in mainstream news media organizations.
- Lockheed Martin Corp.—a worldwide aerospace, arms, defense, information security, and technology company—made over $50 billion in 2019, making it the largest arms-producing company in the world, according to Statistia.
- BlackRock Inc. and The Vanguard Group—two of the world’s largest asset management firms—combined own over 39 million shares of Lockheed Martin. The two financial management companies together own over 14% of the weapons systems supplier.
- Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, and General Dynamics are significantly owned by BlackRock and Vanguard.
- Dr. Joseph Mercola has reported that BlackRock and Vanguard are also “the top two owners of Time Warner, Comcast, Disney, and News Corp,” which are “four of the six media companies that control more than 90% of the U.S. media landscape.”
- “[I]f you have control of this many news outlets, you can control entire nations by way of carefully orchestrated and organized centralized propaganda disguised as journalism,” says Dr. Mercola.
- Dr. Ron Paul suggests companies like Lockheed Martin and big media have common motives because they are both owned by the same companies.
BLACKROCK & VANGUARD-OWNED MEDIA EMPHASIZE CONFLICT IN AFGHANISTAN:
- News organizations owned by BlackRock and Vanguard are featuring multiple headlines criticizing Biden’s U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, whose war cost 20 years and trillions of dollars.
- Time‘s—owned by Time Warner, in turn owned by BlackRock and Vanguard—top headline reads “Joe Biden’s Botched Withdrawal.”
- All 13 of NBC News‘—owned by Comcast, also in turn owned by BlackRock and Vanguard—top articles have to do with the Afghanistan withdrawal, most of them critical of the decision and foreshadow future conflicts.
- ABC News‘—owned by Disney, in turn owned by BlackRock and Vanguard—top articles also cover Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal.
- CBS News—owned by ViacomCBS, owned by BlackRock and Vanguard—is also headlining multiple articles (here) about Afghanistan.
- Fox News‘—owned by News Corp, in turn BlackRock and Vanguard—website is also full of Afghanistan-focused articles.
RON PAUL CRITICIZES RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX AND MEDIA:
- Former Republican congressman Ron Paul (Tx.) pointed out in a recent article how mainstream media outlets who are repeating “propaganda of the military and political leaders about Afghanistan” are also “owned by defense industry-connected companies.”
- “The military-industrial complex spent 20 years on the gravy train with the Afghanistan war,” wrote Paul. “They built missiles, they built tanks, they built aircraft and helicopters. They hired armies of lobbyists and think tank writers to continue the lie that was making them rich. They wrapped their graft up in the American flag, but they are the opposite of patriots.”
- Paul went on to say, “The mainstream media has uncritically repeated the propaganda of the military and political leaders about Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and all the other pointless US interventions. Many of these outlets are owned by defense industry-connected companies. The corruption is deep.”
BACKGROUND:
- Lockheed Martin finished building its advanced manufacturing factory at the Skunk Works campus in Palmdale, California just days before the media broke news of Afghanistan. The 215,000 sq. ft. “intelligent” factory is designed to deliver solutions rapidly to support the US and its allies, reports Air Force Technology.
- Although the Biden administration “expected to focus on domestic priorities and put a lid on defense spending,” reports FX Empire, “That hopeful sentiment got blown out of the water…with the rapid fall of Afghanistan setting the stage for a resurgence of Middle East terrorism.”
- FX Empire goes on to predict, “Reverberations will be felt worldwide in the next few years, with the usual cast of ‘bad actors’ sensing American weakness and vulnerability.”
- Lockheed is the world’s largest defense contractor, with $1.36 billion in 2019 government contracts.
- Other defense companies such as Cobham—who also has financial ties to BlackRock—are currently seeking to expand their portfolio, reports Sputnik.
Jon Fleetwood is Managing Editor for American Faith and author of “An American Revival: Why American Christianity Is Failing & How to Fix It.“
