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Surprise and even shock were among the reactions to my recent column about how elite members of the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland, were considering a proposal for a new global television network to usher in a state of "global governance." It sounded authoritarian, even totalitarian, to some.

Here are more of the troubling details.

The media proposal, which was included in "The Global Agenda 2009" report, (web site) is to create "a new global network" with "the capacity to connect the world, bridging cultures and peoples, and telling us who we are and what we mean to each other." Several prominent U.S. media figures signed on to the alarming and controversial proposal.

Isn't it nice that we might have a TV network telling us "who we are?" And "what we mean to each other?" Perhaps we will learn that we are global citizens. Perhaps a global leader of some sort will tell us that. Who might that be?

This outlandish and frightening proposal doesn't come from a fringe organization. The WEF is an exclusive club of very rich and powerful people from around the world. It describes itself as "an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas."

This year's conference featured speeches by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Chinese Premier We Jiabao. Many U.S. corporations, including some getting Wall Street bailout money, were sponsors. (web site) News Corporation, the parent of Fox News, was a "strategic partner" of the event.

Valerie Jarrett, Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Liaison, represented the Obama Administration at this year's event and called leaders from all nations to "seize gladly" the duties of collaborating and boldly embrace "a new era of global financial responsibility."

But the WEF also envisions cooperation and collaboration in global media ventures. It asks, "How can we save journalism to help it save the world?" Clearly, this is advocacy journalism on a global scale.

Indeed, the list of "Recommendations" says it is imperative to start "Communicating a global agenda, and motivating and mobilizing people to support it..."

Is this journalism? Or is it brainwashing and propaganda?

It says that "a genuine, global voice" is needed that shares a "fundamental commitment" to being an international media voice, and makes mention of "the media voices we think of as international" coming from London (the BBC), Qatar (Al-Jazeera) or Atlanta (CNN).

BBC is known for its anti-American programming, Al-Jazeera for its pro-terrorist slant, and CNN for its left-wing and pro-Democratic bias.

It will take "innovative public-private funding" to bring this new network into being, apparently meaning that the taxpayers in the U.S. will have to be soaked in order to help bring this about. But no price tag is put on the venture and no objection was apparently raised to government funding of such a network on a global basis. An "overview" statement does, however, decry "censorship and self-censorship."

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