The corporate-owned media’s power in deciding what is newsworthy is without shame. “With a Royal Baby Due, News Outlets Are on High Alert” was the headline of a recent New York Times story about TV preparations for the birth of the queen of England’s great grandchild.

The New York Times said it “will be a spectacle unlike any other in the modern media age.” The ABC website has a special section (sponsored by Nestlé), while NBC News has a site called RoyalBabyGuess.com, asking for predictions about name, birth time and weight. To make it more fun, the people whose guesses come closest might be mentioned on the Today show. Both networks are sending anchors to cover the big event.

In contrast, the military trial of whistleblower and WikiLeaks source Bradley Manning is underway, not far from Washington, D.C. The same networks flying reporters to London are skipping a historic, absolutely newsworthy event. You can contrast this coverage to a number of other legitimately more significant happenings on the planet, of course. In addition, it’s not a major challenge to come up with an array of things that are of greater consequence.

How about the trial of Bradley Manning? Moreover, this requires only a trip to a military courtroom in Fort Meade, Md. Corporations are unlikely to sponsor the Official Bradley Manning Trial website, but it’s hard to argue that Manning isn’t news. However, TV “news” has prematurely made their decision.

This is the corporate media. To be consolidated soon by the Koch brothers.