The powerful media barons have always altered broadcasts to achieve their personal or corporate agenda. What purpose does the media serve now? Measuring Bias on Television by Barrie Gunter has elaborated on the idea that news was originally set up to act as a national tool to stir thoughts. But is it? No! Is the media even enlightening the public now? After careful speculation of mass media and the communication world, I am under the impression that broadcasts have been used to entertain, frighten and cause controversy as a means to keep people watching.
First off, the media serves as an authoritative power. It strikes the public as informative, knowledgeable and some may even go as far to say that to audiences, the media is omniscient. With this being said, it can be noted that the media serves a power even higher than itself: major corporations. The communication industry acts as a vehicle of promotion for ten major corporations. According to excerpts taken from Stuart A. Kallen’s At Issue: Media Bias, Robert W. McChesney discusses how power operates in our society. We are dominated by 10 transitional conglomerates: Disney, AOL, Time Warner, News Corporation, Viacom, Vivendi Universal, Sony, Liberty, Bertelsmann, AT&T, Comcast, General Electric (NBC). These greatly impact media sectors, and based upon this reading I have come to believe that since these corporations are sponsoring and/or controlling news providers and what is being reported, the media is catering to big-time companies. McChesney infers how ironic it is that if the First Amendment grants us the freedom of press, then why do we need permission of the tyrannical billionaires in control of cable channels, books, magazines, radio stations, billboards, TV stations,...
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... and I believe journalists are well aware of this. A quote also found in Gunter’s book supports these ideas: “News tells ‘stories’ about events thus embracing a notion of ‘performance’” (Morin, 1976) (Gunter 38). Most importantly, we need honest, accurate, ethical, and independent journalists because reliability and the factualness of news is not often or not always considered or even thought about by a handful of viewers. If the audience has become immune to accepting the first piece of news thrown in their faces, then the only ones that will actually have the power to pick out the truth are journalists. It is their duty.
Works Cited
Gunter, B. (1997). Measuring bias on television. United Kingdom: John Libbey Media.
Kallen, S.A. (2004). At issue: Media bias. Greenhaven Press.
Niven, D. (2002). Tilt? The search for media bias. Connecticut: Praeger Press.
Michael Parenti (2002) declares media in the United States is no longer “free, independent, neutral and objective.” (p. 60). Throughout his statement, Parenti expresses that media is controlled by large corporations, leaving smaller conglomerates unable to compete. The Telecommunications Act, passed in 1996, restricted “a single company to own television stations serving more than one-third of the U.S. public,” but is now overruled by greater corporations. (p. 61). In his opinion, Parenti reveals that media owners do not allow the publishing of stories that are not beneficial and advantageous. Parenti supports his argument very thoroughly by stating how the plutocracy takes control over media in multiple ways: television, magazines, news/radio broadcasting, and other sources.
Over the centuries, the media has played a significant role in the shaping of societies across the globe. This is especially true of developed nations where media access is readily available to the average citizen. The media has contributed to the creation of ideologies and ideals within a society. The media has such an effect on social life, that a simple as a news story has the power to shake a nation. Because of this, governments around the world have made it their duty to be active in the regulation and control of media access in their countries. The media however, has quickly become dominated by major mega companies who own numerous television, radio and movie companies both nationally and internationally. The aim of these companies is to generate revenue and in order to do this they create and air shows that cater to popular demand. In doing so, they sometimes compromise on the quality of their content. This is where public broadcasters come into perspective.
Media platforms like television and radio primarily spread propaganda created by the government. Citizens spend a lot of time watching television or listening to the radio and it’s a big part of their life. Almost everyone in the city owns a television or radio and believes things they see and hear from them. Montag escapes the police, but the T.V. chase is still playing out because they don’t want people to know that they let a fugitive get away. They found an innocent man on the street, labeled him as Montag, then killed him on the broadcast. “‘They’re faking. You threw them off at the river. They can’t admit it. They know they can hold their audience only so long. The show’s got to have a snap ending, quick!’... ‘The innocent man stood bewildered’… ‘The victim was seized by Hound and camera in a great spidering, clenching grip’” -Granger (Bradsbury 142). Media propaganda is so powerful today because everyone is susceptible to it. The press (newspapers, magazines, and T.V.) uses their tactics to shape people’s opinions. According to Johnnie Manzaria, the press is important because the most current news and info is spread through them everyday. People can believe anything the media says, because they have a popular opinion or reputation. Even if they spread propaganda, some people will inevitably believe it because “the news said so”, and is a very influential resource ("Media's Use of Propaganda to Persuade
In “Reporting the News” by George C. Edwards III, Martin P. Wattenberg, and Robert L. Lineberry, the main idea is how the media determines what to air, where to get said stories that will air, how the media presents the news, and the medias effect on the general public. “Reporting The News” is a very strong and detailed article. The authors’ purpose is to inform the readers of what goes on in the news media. This can be inferred by the authors’ tone. The authors’ overall tone is critical of the topics that are covered. The tone can be determined by the authors’ strong use of transitions, specific examples, and phrases or words that indicate analysis. To summarize, first, the authors’ indicate that the media chooses its stories that will air
When the suspect, Jackson, saw Caughman searching in trash cans he immediately stabbed him in the chest with his 26 inch sword. After the first stab Jackson continued to stab Jackson in the chest and the when turned over, stabbed in the back. After stabbing Caughman, Jackson fled the scene and trashed his weapon in a nearby trash can. Jackson staggered to a nearby restaurant where he washed the blood off of himself and escaped without a trace of the stabbing. Meanwhile Caughman managed to make it to a nearby police precinct and alerted authorities of what happened. After being alerted authorities rushed Caughman to a hospital where he was later announced dead. After 25 hours, Jackson turned himself into the authorities and confessed to killing Caughman and gave the location of the murder weapon and two knives which he
A professor I once had told our journalism class that as a strategic communicator we held a very valuable role in society. We are, according to this professor the caretakers of the powerful pen. This idea of actually being the powerful pen has impacted me throughout my journalism career and is reflected in my views of the obligation of a strategic communicator. According to Power and the News Media by Teun A. van Dijk controlling the minds of the consumer is effective when "the media users do not realize the nature or the implications of such control and when they change their minds of their own free will, as when they accept news reports as true or journalistic opinions as legitimate or correct."
Todays, news editors have an outstanding role in the mass media. Different factors contribute to what to print in newspapers and show on TV. Releasing news- regardless to being good or bad- have direct influence on the amount of awareness among nations which should be taken into account by news editors.
Studies show how the role of mass media has triggered an enormous influence in the lives of our nation’s citizens. Nevertheless, what I have observed over the course of my life is how the mass media has predominantly swayed, persuaded and changed various people’s views and opinions of the world quite drastically. A journalist’s influence on politics and the election process can influence various undecided voters for they are the ones choosing what appears in the media. Pertaining to the press, we observe how exactly mass media play a role in shaping public opinion. Consequently, mass media has changed from a time when the government used the media as a medium to influence voters, committees, and communities.
...dcasters, which is paramount”. By law television broadcasters are obligated to “serve the public interest, convenience, and necessity” and broadcast programs that inform communities on local, national, and global issues from diverse perspectives. The ideal media would reflect the interest of the entire population, not just an elite few. There are already many independent news sources though they reach a significantly smaller audience than the mainstream media. If we could turn the media so that it works for the people it could be an amazingly useful tool for informing and educating the public on vitally important issues that do not currently receive enough attention. As Lester Brown, author of the State of the World book series says, “The communications industry is the only instrument that has the capacity to educate on a scale that is needed in the time available.”
Who owns media, who owns what we watch, and how much of what we hear is true? These questions are valid questions we should be asking but fail to ask. Is our media this whole big monopoly that only a few individuals have a hand and say on. This is a topic that very few people have knowledge of and majority of the population is uneducated on. Us, as human beings have every right to know what is going on within our media and be able to handpick what we want to listen to and watch. However, in reality we are being force fed and have been censored on the content we once thought was “freedom of the press” In my paper, I will discuss and give examples of reasons why the media corporations have blinded and cheated us in so many unethical ways that people are still oblivious to see. Before we start with examples we have to clearly start from the roots of these corporations showing what they own and why it is important to know what these corporations have a hold of. In my paper I will be discussing the 6 major corporations from 2011 and how they have impacted our lives. The 6 big media giants that have become a household name are GE, News-Corp, Disney, Viacom, Time Warner and CBS.
Media has a major role in human’s lives today. Throughout the day, people are surrounded by the media in some form, whether they realize it or not. Cell phones now have internet, television and radios have more channels, and most people are on social media siteors such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. There are five major companies who own ninety-five percent of the media: Time Warner, Viacom, Vivendi Universal, Walt Disney, and News Corp (Shafi, Positive). Unfortunately, media has a tendency to be bias and fail to elaborate on the opposing side’s arugment (N/A, Invasion). The most obvious example of this is politics. Television stations such as Fox focus on the republican side of the matter but MSNBC focuses on the democratic side. When people watch Fox they hear about the Republican Party and their views of the democratic decisions. When they watch MSNBC they hear about the Democrat’s opinions. People usually only hear that particular side of the argument and naturally belie...
... small media reforms (like public journalism) will be enough to reduce the commercial and corporate imperatives driving our existing media systems (Hackett and Zhao, 1998, p. 235). Instead, a fundamental reform of the entire system is needed, together with a wider institutional reform of the very structures the media systems work within, our democracies. This will be a difficult task, due to powerful vested interests benefiting from the status quo, including media, political and economic elites. Reforms will need to be driven by campaigns mobilising public support across the political spectrum, to enable the citizens of the world to have a media system that works to strengthen democratic principles as opposed to undermining them. This task is challenging, but it will become easier once people begin to understand the media’s role in policymaking within our democracies.
The elimination of media bias is pretty much impossible due to the fact that large corporations head the media, and the heads of most large corporations are white men, but by the implementation of certain strategies it would be a move in the right direction. Media bias is a problem, though it may not be blatant, it is serious because it could be helping to form people?s beliefs about others. People are scared of the unknown, and by giving them a certain portrayal of someone they have had no interaction with; it can have detrimental effects. Who knows actually what impact media bias has had on the nation as a whole. How do we know whether or not media bias has made an individual not get or even lose a job? How do we know how many friendships media bias has stopped from even being initiated? Hopefully one day we will be able to recognize what media bias is, only then will we be able to begin the process of fighting to put an end to it. Only then will we be able to create a fair, unbiased media that is diverse and one that encompasses the ideas of an ideal media.
The media is an institution that works through the circular process. We tell it what is important to us, and it tells us what we should deem as important. The media is an institution, run by the people for the people, that keep us informed. It brings us stories from distant places and reveals to us what we can not personally witness. The all powerful media is a huge part of our lives. With all of this in mind, we must consider the process of agenda setting. A process which is used unrelentlessly on television.
Television and journalism have a relatively short history together, yet over the last sixty years, the two have become increasingly intertwined, perhaps even irreversible so. But this merger is between two opposing forces–one, a mass medium that inherently demands entertainment and the other, a profession most people hold responsible for information, for facts, which, for the most part, are inherently boring. So has television been beneficial for the American people? The people that our country’s founding fathers chose to hold responsible for electing those to be responsible for our country’s government? By exploring the history of television journalism, discovering how it came to be, and looking at current trends in the industry, I only hope to be able to give my own informed opinion.