what is news and what is not news?
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reserach study about how news are choosen in the United StatesTRANSCRIPT
Who decides what is news and what is not news?
Eduardo De Jesus Hernandez Herrera
Senior, Political Science
“In fulfillment of course requirements, PS 426/526 Politics of the News Portland State
University, June 01, 2008”
Abstract
The following research includes: a) A description of the theory behind news coverage in
a democratic society, b) The function of the media in a democratic society c) Commercial
interests pressuring the media’s function of providing unbiased news coverage, c) A case
analysis in which the following actors are involved 1) Mass Media 2) Big corporations 3)
A variety of news networks owned by the same entity 4) Journalists fighting for a honest
news coverage against a big corporation 5) The judicial branch of the United States 6)
The United States agency FDA, responsible for creation and executions of political
policies of human health. The purpose of analyzing a concrete case is to test the
rationality behind the theory that states that the Mass Media cannot perform its moral
obligation and social function of informing the public in an impartial way due to its
commercial role and nature in the market place.
Introduction
In democratic societies the role of the media is to keep the public informed in
order to promote political participation, social integration, transparency of governmental
acts, awareness of public needs, political action in public policies and social justice. If the
Media performs a biased role informing the public, society will have an inaccurate
perspective of the reality. Public policies cannot be performed if the public does not
know real issues that threaten democracy. The Mass media needs to be one of the most
honest and trustable sources of information in a democratic society. If there is a
concentration of power and monopoly of information and news coverage, public opinion
can be easily controlled and manipulated, public policies can be shaped, public consent
can be addressed to satisfy the needs and demands of the powerful elite that decides
what’s news and what is not news.
The following research presents democratic doctrine of mass media and real case
analysis that shows that our economic system needs to be challenged and addressed in
order to follow those principles in which a democratic society was founded.
Thesis Statement and Literature Review
The US Mass media is systematically biased in favor of big corporations and
political interests because its commercial role of market competition, agenda setting and
increasing their profits takes priority over its social function of keeping the public
informed.
The Mass media works with financial resources earned by advertisements paid by
big corporations such as Wal-Mart stores, Exxon Mobil, Chevron, General Motors and so
forth. The Mass media as a business needs to have profits in order to function.
The Mass Media is constrained and pressured by the economic system showing
positive news coverage supporting big corporations. Big businesses are the main entities
that provide financial sources to the Mass Media by buying advertisements. If the Mass
Media presents news that damage the image of its clients (big businesses) the Mass
Media might lose the companies that pay for advertisements. Big business will not pay
for advertisements from those companies that present a bad image of them. The Mass
Media needs to be biased in favor of big companies in order to be competitive, keep their
main source of finances and keep its business going.
Walter Lippman states that Democracy can not rely on newspapers at all. In
Newspapers he states that newspapers have no objective standards on choosing what
news need to be shown to the public. The main priority of a newspaper is to keep the
reader engaged and entertained for a certain amount of time rather than educate or
inform. In our economic competitive market the newspaper that keeps the reader more
engaged is the most successful newspaper. Walter Lippman states that news and truth are
not the same thing. The function of the truth is to signal an event and the function of the
truth is to bring to light hidden facts.
Linda L. Putman in News coverage of environmental issues explains how the
media establishes the framing in which conflicts are conducted. She collects data from a
variety of conflicts using the NEWSBANK database, the Texas Natural Resource
Conservation Commission (TNRCC) and contributions from stakeholders interviewed in
this study. Her work illustrates that the media needs societal conflict to function and it
profits from the continuation of the conflict and how the media forms images of the
nature of the dispute.
Michaels in Why democracies need an unlovable press states that journalists are
constrained in professional culture, dependent on official sources narrowing public
discussion and diminishing democracy. Therefore the people who make the news and the
audience who reads and watches news are middle upper class individuals. There is
stratification in the ways in which news are delivered to the public. The Mass Media tries
to reach clients that have enough financial resources. Those clients are the ones who have
the economic capacity of buying products that the Mass Media shows in its
advertisements and commercials. Therefore, the Mass Media is not interested in directing
its news coverage to the lower economic class. There is a biases way of conducting news
coverage.
Everett M. Rogers and James W. Dearing's work of Agenda-Setting Research:
Where has it been, where is it going? is focused on how different interests play an
important role setting the media agenda, the influence of the media on perceptions and
attitudes towards the public, and what issues politicians need to address in relation with
public opinion. It explains the importance of distinguishing an issue from an agenda
when people take into account political issues. Their work demonstrates that the media
impacts federal policymaking and implementation by either speeding up positive issue
coverage or slowing down the process with negative coverage.
The mass media needs to keep their business going. Legally and economically the
main goal of a business is to increase its profits. In order to succeed in the market place
Mass Media businesses needs to identify the wealthiest advertisement buyers. Those
wealthiest advertisement buyers are the most important clients, and the Mass Media
needs those wealthiest clients in order to succeed and compete in the market place. In
other words, the Mass Media needs to have wealthy commercial buyers in order to
function and exist. Even though keeping the public informed is a moral obligation of the
media and a principle of journalism to present unbiased and impartial news, the role of
the business takes priority over its moral obligation.
As Noam Chomsky states: “the powerful are able to fix the premises of discourse,
to decide what the general populace is allowed to see, hear, and think about, and to
“manage” public opinion by regular propaganda campaigns, the standard view of how
the system works is at serious odds with reality”
Increasing profits remains the main goal of the Mass Media. The way in which
conflicts are presented to the audience will attract more audience. Therefore, journalist
tend to be sensationalist and melodramatic in order to increase newspaper sales, to
increase the audience in T.V. shows, and gain more audience in news coverage in order
to compete with the other Mass Media T.V. channels, radios and newspapers.
Linda L. Putman explains in News Coverage of Environmental Issues how the
media establishes the framing in which conflicts are conducted. She collects data from a
variety of conflicts using the NEWSBANK database, the Texas Natural Resource
Conservation Commission (TNRCC) and contributions from stakeholders interviewed in
this study. Her work illustrates that the media needs societal conflict to function and it
profits from the continuation of the conflict and how the media forms images of the
nature of the environmental dispute. Furthermore, Delli Carpini in Constructing Public
Opinion Michael and Bruce discover how television viewers interact intellectually with
television during discussions as much as they were members of the environmental
discussion, and such interactions were not limited to talk shows or environmental news
coverage. Their work illustrates that those TV viewers have a limited autonomy when it
comes to dealing with environmental issues. TV viewers in the report admitted the need
to distinguish the dramatic elements from the more factual bases.
If many channels carry the same message the greater the possibilities are that the
audience will have limited autonomy creating their own opinion about news coverage,
political issues and economic lifestyle.
McQuail in The influence and effects of mass media points out that the more
channels that carry the same message the greater the possibility of acceptance, stating that
the whole society is affected by the social power of the mass media. Farnsworth in The
Struggle over shaping the news explains that journalists' coverage can determine winners
and losers in the political arena. The fight over who decides what news should be
presented to the public becomes severe when financially powerful sectors compete
against powerful political actors for media support. Journalists seek controversial
scandals of famous political actors in order to increase their profits and political actors try
to influence the media with their power. This illustrates different levels of power that
different political actors have in the political arena in contrast with different ranks of
power that journalists and the media have in the economic and social sphere.
The press should keep the public informed about important issues in society in an
impartial way. Society needs to be objectively and well informed in order to have a
functional democracy. On the other hand, there is a subtle principle of stratification of the
language in which news is conducted. If only the college educated middle upper class has
an understanding of the news, there is a marginalization of the uneducated sector of
society, excluding them from the political arena. Michael Schudson in Why democracies
need an unlovable press concentrates his work on how journalists have a clear and
largely secular, college educated, upper middle class vision that excludes different sectors
of society from exercising their freedom of expression. Schudson's essay shows that
journalists are constrained in a professional culture, dependent on official sources
narrowing public discussion and diminishing democracy.
Furthermore, the majority of the population including audiences with college
education and audiences without college education rely on soft news offered by
traditional media. Mathew A. Baum in How Soft News Brings Policy Issues to the
Inattentive Public discusses how news broadcasters discovered that real life human
drama attracts a larger audience than fictional drama. Cheap framing and real life drama
of soft news has successfully been accepted by the majority, explaining and informing the
public about complex economic and political issues. Soft news tends to reach more of
the public than academic complex news, and that the inattentive public appears to be a
majority of the audience.
MaQuail in The influence and effects of mass media focuses on general behavior
in society such as buying, donating to charity, portrayals of immigrants, attitude and so
forth. If the Mass Media is controlled by big corporations, there will be a biased tendency
to try to influence the public to spend money on goods produced by big corporations.
Frank C. Erwin Jr.in What moves public opinion? is a specific study concentrated
on media impact on a variety of opinions about public policy issues before and after
audiences have been exposed to a variety of news. The study of Frank Erwin and Shapiro
demonstrates how television affects, influences and shapes public opinion about public
policy. Their work discovers an intrinsic and inherent connection between the way in
which news is presented and public opinion. The study suggests that TV news influences
short-term and long-term opinion change in issues such as rising educational levels,
cohort replacement, racial migration, and alterations in the family.
Gilliam in News Coverage Effects on Public Opinion about Crime illustrates how
certain groups of society avoid neighborhoods and contact between specific racial groups
that are criminalized by news coverage. Their work illuminates the focus of the study on
media and politics, illustrating that there is a connection between news exposure to
specific racial group perpetrators and support of more punitive justice policies, and how
semantic and visual stimulation conditions public attitudes about crime.
Thomas E. Patterson in The Miscast Institution argues that the news media fills a
political role that political parties ought to play. He explains that the function and
principles of the media differ with political values and principles that guide elections in a
democratic society. He affirms that the United States is the only democracy that
organizes its national election campaign around the news media. Candidates use the
media to reach voters and they are forced to follow commercial goals instead of moral
principles of democracy. The work of Patterson questions the role of the mass media
during election campaigns and delegating more responsibilities to political parties
engaging voters with democratic processes and challenging our current political system's
efficiency and legitimacy.
Timothy E. Cook in The Uses of the News: theory and (Presidential) Practice
establishes that the media should be the forth branch of the government. He believes that
the more control the government has over the media the better that public policies can be
executed and the more participation that society can have in the government. Timothy
explains how different forms of government can be applied, challenging our system of
governance, the way in which Mass Media works and questioning current legal
institutions that are considered democratic.
Karen M. Kedrowski in How Members of Congress Use the Media to Influence
Public Policy explains, in the major findings of four case studies, how Congress uses the
media to influence public policy creation and execution. This essay illustrates that the
media has an enormous amount of power over political policies. Further study should be
made in order to determine which strategies should be applied in order to improve
democratic participation and unbiased news coverage over public policies.
Stephen J. Farsworth and S. Robert Lichter in The Struggle over shaping the news
explain that journalist's coverage can determine winners and losers in the political arena.
The framing of issues in which there is political conflict determines the influence of
political movements. Doug McAdam Strategies of the American Civil Rights Movement
explains that civil rights movements have learned to take advantage of situations in which
the government appears to be undemocratic because public support in favor of the
dictatorial policies declines. Martin Luther King Jr. attracted media coverage of
undemocratic actions and mobilized public support constraining social influence of
segregation groups. This essay shows that the media can increase or decrease the power
of different political sectors, and political actors can strategize planning on how to gain
power through the media to pursue their political goals.
EVIDENCE
In order to test the hypothesis that The US Mass media is systematically biased in
favor of big corporations and political interests because its commercial role of market
competition, agenda setting and increasing their profits takes priority over its social
function of keeping the public informed a case analysis will be conducted in which the
following actors are involved 1) Mass Media 2) Big corporations 3) A variety of news
networks owned by the same entity 4) Journalists fighting for honest news coverage 5)
The judicial branch of the United States 6) The United States agency FDA that is the
responsible entity of creation and executions of human health political policies.
The case of Akre and Wilson
Akre and Wilson reported that they lost their jobs at Tampa’s Fox-owned WTVT
when they refused to change their news report about a product of Monsanto. Both
reporters visited dairy factories and found out that bovine growth hormone (BGH) a
product of Monsanto was injected to each cow in the region. The product was present in
all the state’s milk products. The hormone product affected the health of the cows,
making them sick and stimulating production of bacteria into the milk.
Jane Akre states that: “….With Monsanto I didn’t realize how effectively a corporation
could work to get something into the market place, the levels of coordination they had to
have, they had to have university professors into the fold, that had to have reporters into
the fold, and they had to get the FDA into the fold… and they did that, very, very well”
Jane Akre states that the product was not properly tested on humans in order to verify if it
would be harmful to humans.
Jane Akre says that the federal government only did studies on rats for 90 days.
Canadians scientists did not approve the use of BGH because it was extremely dangerous
and harmful for humans. Robert F. Kennedy Jr says that: “In various studies BGH has
been linked to cancer, New Zealand, and the entire European community did not approve
it. Akre and Wilson’s report said that Monsanto had been accused of fraud in connection
with information it had provided to the EPA concerning dioxin, published deceitful
statements about food safety, and funded favorable studies about the product from tame
scientists. The newscast also reported on allegations that Monsanto had attempted to
bribe public officials in Canada”
Jane Akre states that Fox news was afraid of showing negative news of
Monsanto’s product BGH because it was afraid of losing advertisement dollars.
Therefore, they only wanted to show positive news about Monsanto. Jane Akre says that
Rupert Murdock who owns 22 television stations was afraid of losing advertisement
dollars from all Monsanto products in all the television stations.
Jane Akre and Steve Wilson explained that Dave, the Director of Fox news, tried to
change the report of Jane Akre and Steve Wilson into a positive way favoring Monsanto
product: “…..we will tell you what the news is, the news is what we say it is” Steve
Wilson affirms that Fox news tried to bribe his wife and him in order to prevent them
from publishing the news that would show bad implications in health for humans and
cows.
David Boylan fired the reporters in December 1997. Jane Akre and Steve Wilson
sued Fox news. Robert F. Kennedy points out: “In August 2000, following a five month
trial, a Florida jury awarded Akre $425,000 under Florida’s private sector whistle –
blower’s statute, which prohibits retaliation against employees who threaten to disclose
employer conduct that is “in violation of a law, rule or regulation”
Akre and Wilson decision was reverted by the Florida’s Court of Appeals and the
Court decided that they had to pay $1.7 million in legal fees to Fox in 2003. In 2003 Jane
Akre and Steve Wilson won the “Nobel Prize for grassroots work”
Who owns the Media?1
1 Taken from http://live.freepress.net/ownership/chart/main
General Electric
Time Warner Walt Disney News Corporation
CBS
Television networks: NBC Networks, Telemundo
Cable: A&E, History Channel (part), NBC Entertainment, NBC News, NBC Sports, NBC Television, NBC Universal, CNBC, CNBC World (Arabia, India, Asia, Europe), MSNBC, Bravo, Sci Fi Channel, Sundance Channel (part), Trio, Telemundo, USA, and Weather Plus
Production and distribution companies: NBC Universal Television Studio, NBC Universal Television Distribution
Network: the CW (a joint venture with CBS), Kids' WB, Telepictures Productions, Home Box Office, Inc. (HBO, Cinemax, HBO Sports, HBO Pay-Per-View, HBO Video, HBO Independent Productions, HBO Multiplexes, HBO on Demand, Cinemax Multiplexes, Cinemax on Demand, HBO HD, Cinemax HD, as well as HBO channels around the world), Court TV (50% Time Warner, 50% Liberty Media), TBS, Boomerang, Cartoon Network, Cartoon Network Europe, Cartoon
Disney Media Networks, a company whose holdings include:
The ABC Television Network: ABC Entertainment, ABC Daytime, ABC News, ABC Sports, ABC Television, ABC Kids, and Touchstone Television.
Cable Networks:
ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Classic, ESPNEWS, ESPN PPV, ESPN Deportes, ESPN International, ESPN Classic Sport Europe, ESPN Latin America, ESPN Asia, ESPNU, ESPN2 HD, Disney Channel (cable and satellite), International Disney Channels, Toon
Networks: Fox, Fox Business Channel, STAR (satellite television in Asia), Fox Movie Channel, Fox News Channel, Fox College Sports, Fox Sports Enterprises, Fox Regional Sports Networks (14 owned and operated), Fox Sports En Espanol, Fox Sports Net, Fox Sports Net Bay Area (40%), Fox Soccer Channel, Fox Reality, Fox Pan American Sports (38%), Premier Media Group (Australia 50%), Premium Movie Partnership (Australia 20%), Cine Canal (Latin America 23%), Telecine (Latin America 13%), FUEL TV, FX,
Networks: CBS Network, Showtime Networks, Inc. (SNI) owns Showtime, the Movie Channel, Flix, Showtime Too, Showtime Showcase, Showtime Extreme, Showtime Beyond, Showtime Next, Showtime Women, Showtime Familyzone, TMC XTRA, Showtime HD, the Movie Channel HD, Showtime on Demand, Sundance Channel (joint venture, SNI owns 30%), Showtime PPV, CBS Entertainment, CBS News, CBS Sports, CSTV Networks, Inc.
CBS Network consists of 27 stations.
26 television stations, owned under the “NBC Universal” division. These include NBC affiliates, Univision affiliates, and a small number of independents.
International Channels: 13eme Rue (France), 13th Street (Germany), Calle 13 (Spain), Sci Fi Channel UK, Studio Universal (Germany), Studio Universal (Italy), Universal Channel (Latin America), CNBC Asia, and CNBC Europe
Programming: NBC Network News, NBC Universal Global Networks, NBC Universal International Channels, The Today Show,
Network Latin America, Cartoon Network Studios, Cartoon Network Asia Pacific, Cartoon Network Japan (70% share), NBC/Turner, Williams St. Studio, New Line Television, Turner Classic Movies, TCM Europe, TCM Asia Pacific, TCM Classic Hollywood in Latin America, Turner Network Television, Turner South, TNT, TNT HD, TNT Latin America, TNT CNN / US, CNN Airport Network, CNN International, CNN Headline News, CNN Headline News in Asia Pacific, CNN Headline News in Latin America, CNN en Español, CNN en Español Radio, CNNj, CNN+, CNN Turk,
Disney, SOAPnet, ABC Family Channel, JETIX Europe, JETIX Latin America, A&E Television Networks (37.5% equity; includes A&E, the History Channel, the Biography Channel, History International, A&E International), Lifetime Entertainment Services (50% equity; includes Lifetime Television, Lifetime Movie Network, Lifetime Real Women, Lifetime Radio for Women, Lifetime Home Entertainment), E! Networks (39.6% equity; includes E! Entertainment Television, the Style Network), Buena Vista Television, Walt Disney Television
The ABC Television Network has
National Geographic Channel (US 67% and Worldwide 50%), SPEED Channel, National Sports Partners, National Advertising Partners, My Network TV, Fox Television Studios
In the United States, News Corp. owns 35 television stations.
Satellite Television:Europe: SKY Italia includes Sky Sport, Calcio Sky, Sky Cinema, Sky TG 24; British Sky Broadcasting (37%) includes Sky News, Sky Sports, Sky Travel, Sky One, Sky Movies
Latin America:Sky Latin America DBS Platforms include Brazil (Sky Brasil 50%), Irect TV
Programming: CBS Television Distribution: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Survivor, Everybody Loves Raymond, Jeopardy!, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Entertainment Tonight, The Early Show, 60 Minutes, 48 Hours, Face the Nation, CW Network (50% with Time Warner), CBS Paramount TV, CSTV Networks, MountainWest Sports Network (50%), Smithsonian Networks (90%).
NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, Dateline NBC, Meet the Press, Early Today, CNBC, Squawk Box, Mad Money, Tim Russert, CNBC World, CNBC Arabia, CNBC-India TV-18, Hardball with Chris Matthews, The Rita Cosby Specials Unit, Morning Joe, Mun2, Sleuth, A&E [part], The History Channel [part], The Sundance Channel [part], ShopNBC (27%), Ion Media Networks, Universal HD.
CNN-IBN, CNNfn, CNN International, CNN Mobile, CNN Newsource, CNN Pipeline, CNN to go, CETV (China), n-tv (German news network; Turner owns interest), BOING (family channel in Italy; joint venture with Mediaset)
Local cable news channels: Capital News 9 Albany, Albany, NY; MetroSports, Kansas City, MO; News 8 Austin, Austin, TX; News 10 Now — Syracuse, Syracuse, NY; News 14 Carolina-Charlotte, Charlotte, NC; News 14 Carolina-Raleigh, Raleigh, NC; NY1 News, New York, NY; R News, Rochester, NY; Urban Cableworks of
226 affiliated stations reaching 99 percent of all U.S. television households. The company owns and operates ten ABC television stations in the nation’s top markets.
Programming: Good Morning America, World News with Charles Gibson, World News Now, 20/20, Primetime, This Week With George Stephanopoulos, ESPNU
Latin AmericaAsia:Space TV (India DBS 20%), Phoenix Satellite Television (38%), Hathway Cable and Datacom (26%), China Network Systems (17 affiliated cable systems), BSkyB (38%), DIRECTTV, SKY Italia.
United States: DIRECTV Group (38%)
Programming: Special Report with Brit Hume, Fox Report with Shepard Smith, On the Record With Greta Van Susteren, Fox News Sunday, The O’Reilly Factor, Hannity and Colmes
Philadelphia (joint venture with Urban Cableworks); Texas and Kansas City Cable Partners, LP (joint venture with Comcast)
Programming: American Morning, CNN Newsroom, Live From The Situation Room, Lou Dobbs Tonight, Larry King Live, Anderson Cooper 360
On Demand Services: Video on Demand, Digital Video Recorders, High Definition Television, Local News Channels
DISCUSSION
The case of Jane Akre and Steve Wilson shows how corporate interests play a big
role in the process of deciding which news needs to be presented, which news should not
be presented, and how it has to be presented to the public. Jane Akre stated that Rupert
Murdock was afraid of losing advertisement dollars from Monsanto products in the 22
television stations that he owns. In this case the thesis statement The US Mass media is
systematically biased in favor of big corporations and political interests because its
commercial role of market competition, agenda setting and increasing their profits takes
priority over its social function of keeping the public informed is proven right. Rupert
Murdock had to decide to support Fox’s interests of increasing profits. If Rupert Murdock
had chosen to show the news report that would have demonstrated to the public that BGH
is a very harmful product to human and bovine health, he would have lost Monsanto’s
advertisements dollars.
Many countries prohibited the use of BGH including Canada, New Zealand, and
the entire European community. Akre states that in the United States Monsanto bought
the approval of the FDA (Federal Drug Administration) in order to gain legal support for
BGH in the marketplace. The FDA is an agency of the US department of human health
responsible for safety and regulations of foods, biological products and so forth. FDA is
one of the entities of the US government that is in charge of human health policies. Karen
M. Kedrowski in How Members of Congress Use the Media to Influence Public Policy
explains in the major findings of four case studies that Congress uses the media to
influence public policy creation and execution. How Members of Congress Use the
Media to Influence Public Policy shows that the media has an enormous amount of power
over political policies. Therefore, if the Mass Media would have shown that BGH is a
harmful product to human health, the FDA would have changed its human health political
policies due to the awareness of American milk consumers. The Mass Media has a
tremendous influence over political policies. The agenda setting of Fox news shapes
political and public opinion. As Timothy E. Cook points out in The Uses of the News:
theory and (Presidential) Practice the more control the government has over the media
the better that public policies can be executed and the more participation that society can
have in the government. McQuail confirms in The influence and effects of mass media
that the more channels that carry the same message the greater the possibility of
acceptance by the audience, stating that the whole society is affected by the social power
of the mass media. Rupert Murdock owns 22 big TV channels. Monsanto having the 22
biggest TV channels of the United States promoting and advertising Monsanto’s products
represented a big and powerful business tool.
In the case of Akre and Wilson the thesis statement of The US Mass media is
systematically biased in favor of big corporations and political interests because its
commercial role of market competition, agenda setting and increasing their profits takes
priority over its social function of keeping the public informed has been verified. The Fox
media made a biased decision in favor of Monsanto not showing the negative aspects of
BGH. Fox’s commercial priority of market competition and increasing its profits
determined the decision of censoring the news report of Akre and Wilson. The agenda
setting of Fox supported Monsanto’s product along with the FDA. The social function of
the Media of keeping the public informed of the harmful damages to human and bovine
health was not a priority in Jane Akre and Steve Wilson’s case.
The table show that News Corporation owns the following networks: Fox, Fox
Business Channel, STAR (satellite television in Asia), Fox Movie Channel, Fox News
Channel, Fox College Sports, Fox Sports Enterprises, Fox Regional Sports Networks (14
owned and operated), Fox Sports En Espanol, Fox Sports Net, Fox Sports Net Bay Area
(40%), Fox Soccer Channel, Fox Reality, Fox Pan American Sports (38%), Premier
Media Group (Australia 50%), Premium Movie Partnership (Australia 20%), Cine Canal
(Latin America 23%), Telecine (Latin America 13%), FUEL TV, FX, National
Geographic Channel (US 67% and Worldwide 50%), SPEED Channel, National Sports
Partners, National Advertising Partners, My Network TV, Fox Television Studios, In the
United States, News Corp. owns 35 television stations. Satellite Television:
Europe: SKY Italia includes Sky Sport, Calcio Sky, Sky Cinema, Sky TG 24; British Sky
Broadcasting (37%) includes Sky News, Sky Sports, Sky Travel, Sky One, Sky Movies
Latin America: Sky Latin America DBS Platforms include Brazil (Sky Brasil 50%), Irect
TV Latin America, Asia:Space TV (India DBS 20%), Phoenix Satellite Television (38%),
Hathway Cable and Datacom (26%), China Network Systems (17 affiliated cable
systems), BSkyB (38%), DIRECT TV, SKY Italia.
United States: DIRECTV Group (38%)
Programming: Special Report with Brit Hume, Fox Report with Shepard Smith, On the
Record With Greta Van Susteren, Fox News Sunday, The O’Reilly Factor, Hannity and
Colmes. It means that if a decision was made in court supporting Jane Akre and Steve
Wilson more than 50 networks news coverage would have changed, public policy of
human health would have been affected and the profits of several multinational
corporations would have decreased due to loss of profits produced from BGH.
Conclusion
The Mass Media tries to survive as a business in an aggressive capitalist system in
which only the strongest companies can survive. The main economic goal of a business is
to increase its profits. There are many big corporations that have merged in the past 20
years in order to grow as a business. The bad side of the merging part is that there is
oligopoly of the Mass Media. Concentration of power of the media leads to a
misinformed public. In a democratic society there has to be a variety of companies
competing to have the most impartial news coverage. In economic and democratic theory
the market place is responsible for encouraging journalist to cover news in an impartial
and professional way. The invisible hand would regulate efficiency and quality of the
news coverage. In the United States there are a few powerful corporations who control
the information, and they decide what is news and what is not news. There is a
systematically biased system that does not allow the media to be honest.
We have to create new mechanisms that will guarantee that news coverage will be
produced by trustful sources. Honest journalism is one of the bases of our democracy.
There should be laws that would punish the mass media when it presents wrong
information to the public. Currently, here is no legal punishment to the media for being
dishonest.
Citations
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