Media Matters or why you shouldn't necessarily believe what you see / hear / read in the media

Much of what we base our opinions on is based on what we read or see in the media.  The topics that are covered, the content and tone of the discourse we're exposed to, all this shapes and influences the perception we have of the world around us, where we perceive there to be good, and where we perceive there to be evil or bad.


The media can be either a great source of diversity of thought and transparency of society, business and government, or they can be shamelessly propaganda.


Our open and free society is based on several tenets, one of which is a diverse and active free press.  A free press is one of the fundamental pillars of a democratic society, and our founders we prescient enough to mandate it in the Bill of Rights in the First Amendment.

John Mayer got it right when he sang:

"And when you trust your television 
What you get is what you got 
Cause when they own the information, oh 
They can bend it all they want"

A diverse and locally based free press leads to diversity of opinion, diversity of views presented.  If this diversity is narrowed or abridged, then we will have less of what makes us free.


Over the past 30 years, even as the venues for the media have increased with the advent of the internet, we have seen an unprecedented consolidation of the channels of information that keep us informed, and keep us free.  The chart below shows concentration of media over an 11 year period from 1993 to 2004, increasing from 50 companies owning 90% of the news and information outlets in the US in 1993, to just 5 in 2004.

Media Reform Information Center

Just what these five mega corporation own is outlined in the chart below - an astounding concentration of power in a few companies. 

Media Literacy, Section 001, Fall 2011, at the University of Minnesota

Links to the media holding of each of these companies can be found here: Media Ownership


With less diversity, and the consolidation of news desks from local offices to regional and then national news desks represents has led to less reporting on local issues, and hence less transparency in government and governmental agencies on a state and local level, as well as to a consolidation of media point of view to a very few individuals.  Not to be a conspiracy theorist, but this means that the leadership of these five companies control what the majority of Americans see of the world - the very information they use to form their world views and determine how they interact with each other and society.


Think about the level of discourse you've personally experienced on TV, or the Radio and how this has changed in your lifetime.  I remember the statesmanly Walter Cronkite, the humorous and irreverent Andy Rooney, the insightful yet acerbic William F. Buckley.  Where have these men and their ilk gone?  They no longer exist, having been replaced by charlatans like Rush Limbaugh and sensationalists like Ann Coulter.  Increasingly, young Americans are relying on comedians for their information from Jon Stewart who professes to NOT be a journalist.


Increasingly what is called news contains shameless product placements and corporate press releases, unedited and unchallenged by increasingly complacent news desks.  With no budgets and pressure from corporate to conform with policies and mandates, even the most committed journalist will be beaten into submittal within a few years, or leave the field with no place to go to.


So when you see the latest images on TV with the corporate narrative behind it, remember that you're being fed what the corporations want you to hear.   And they've increasingly gotten unashamedly blatant about twisting or down right misrepresenting the facts - going as far as to fabricate what they present as truth.


Don't settle for this and complacently act on the drivel you're being fed.  Seek out other sources of information.  Read the Canadian or Australian newspapers every now and then.  Try Russia Times for a laugh and a challenging set of perspectives.  Yes, watch the Daily Show for Jon Stewarts humorous and often cutting view on reality.  And armed with multiple perspectives, then decide on your own narrative.  Because you're being fed shite from the mainstream media which, in its arrogance, doesn't even care what you think because they've realized you don't matter.