Re: Financing media/effectiveness of advertising

[Trond Andresen <Trond.Andresen@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I have been away for 3 days - among other things hiking to the top of
"Galdhoepiggen" - 2469 m - Norway's and Nortern Europe's tallest
mountain (brag, brag).  I am recuperating and somehow managing to
stiffly creep into the office on a Sunday afternoon to look into the
e-box. It is hot, and i am not staying here for long, so just a comment
to one remark from Herb:

	I find it strange and disconcerting that so many progressive
	economists have such faith in the old left-asceticist notion
	that people like to consume because they are brainwashed by the
	capitalist.  I think the whole idea is not worth much, and
	certainly should not be taken seriously without evidence.

This does not apply to me at all (does it apply to anyone in this
discussion or is Herb firing at a straw figure)? Of course people
consume mainly because they need products. If it is true that
commercials mainly have the function of getting people to move from one
brand to another, instead of increasing consumption generally, this
does not in any way influence my analysis.

My point was - for the fourth time ;-)  - that financing of media
through advertising impairs the EDITORIAL, JOURNALISTIC parts, i.e.
what to cover and how to cover it - of media (as opposed to the
commercial sections of same).

Trond Andresen