Politics and Media in America
By JodiLynn
@JodiLynn (1417)
United States
May 28, 2009 2:32pm CST
Seven media companies control 90% of the US media markets. Print media. Television. Magazines. Newspapers. Radio. Internet.
And only SEVEN companies dictate the programming/theme/topic of 90% of US, not the "U.S." , but "us", as in "us Americans". Seven CEO's, presumably seven white anglo saxon Judea/christian American males run these seven companies.(This presumption is ALL MINE and will recant if proven incorrect.) huh... bothersome thought, that.
The influence of political media is easily understood. We watch/listen/read what we agree with, reinforcing our thoughts and convictions. When we do listen/watch/read an opposing viewpoint, we are not open minded at all.
How often have you watched TV and thought (screamed at) the talking head that he or she had their craniums forcefully thrust into their own rectums?
It goes both ways. Fox watchers hate CNN/MSNBC watchers and vice verse.
Why do we put so much faith in the information gathered from these media people who cannot possibly have the same stake in government issues as we, the common man and woman? We tend to grab onto news bites and run with it before ever digging up any information on our own that may debunk or substantiate the factoid... WHY??? Why do we have such blind trust in these entities that bombard our lives on a daily basis?
And why do we believe that one is better than the other, ideologies aside? Are they not out for the same thing? ratings = money = influence.
They dissect us by interests, race, religions, and demographics.
CONSUMER MARKETS.
What we buy and what we buy into.
So how can media NOT influence politics?
None are really "fair and balanced", nor "honest" or any of those PR nuggets of wisdom.
Have we become so lazy and expectant that we are willing to go along with the herd because we are to lazy to educate ourselves on our own? That we rely upon some other fallible human to deliver the stories of what happens in this world and we expect them to have the utmost integrity rather than acknowledging the price tags involved in those stories?
3 people like this
7 responses
@xParanoiax (6987)
• United States
29 May 09
That's why I've largely stopped watching most television, let alone news stations. I'm an alternative news blogger, so I can say that I'm a supporter of a movement that promotes things like integrity, journalism, and a real search and need for information and the truth.
I support freedom of speech and freedom of the press -- even though our press is not necessary big on either of those things.
I often read and watch and listen to things that oppose my viewpoints. It's important to me to be on the right page, to have the most current and accurate information. Because it's important to me. Unlike some, who let their laziness spread to their very brain's habits, I don't have an aversion to being wrong so much to the point that the very notion that I COULD be is something I'll deny beyond all reason.
That said, I'm a blogger, a farmer, an activist, and I have a very active life in these crazy times. I'm only human, my time spent on this stuff's intensive, and it stands to reason that I won't be as well as informed as I'd like all the time.
I'd hope that my actions and living'd encourage others to think more, (and on a personal level, to come to some realizations I think they should've come to long before this point). And the movement I'm in seems to be having a decent amount of success. But with people...*shrugs* I think for many, complacency, apathy, and laziness is their own perogative. Far be it for us to tell them what they should be doing.
Yes, America has become quite lazy and indifferent. But some things suggest that that might be changing. The times have shocked many out of where they've been for the last decade or so...to care, to get involved.
3 people like this
@JodiLynn (1417)
• United States
29 May 09
I agree with watching/reading/listening to alternative and opposing view points. My mom always said "Know your enemy, or you will never win". Mom's impart such wisdom!
Being laymen, we wont ever truly be "in the know", but I do think we bear a responsibility as citizens to take it upon ourselves to find out what our elected officials are doing, they are OUR EMPLOYEES. We pay them, we have a right to know what they are doing on our time & dime.
Being "involved" is a responsibility, so few people today get that.
@xParanoiax (6987)
• United States
29 May 09
Where would be without Mothers?
But definitely, yeah ^_^ responsibility is exactly what it is. I bet that, if more people thought of it that way -- that we're all employers and the people in government and such are our exmployees -- that more people'd warm to the idea.
I mean...who doesn't wanna be the boss, at some level or another?
^_^
++ Great discussion!
@heathcliff (1415)
• United States
29 May 09
It is always better, whenever possible, to seek raw data yourself so you can make informed decisions. In this massive interconnected world we have indeed gotten lazy and allowed ourselves to be TOLD what the news of the day is and what it means to us. I support any call for the average person to take a stronger interest in learning everything they can! CONSTANT VIGIL, people, CONSTANT VIGIL!
@sierras236 (2739)
• United States
29 May 09
The media is a business and as such caters to its viewers. Their concern is the same thing as every other business, the bottom line. Instead of selling soap, they sell the News. So is it really any surprise that the News has spin on it.
2 people like this
@lampar (7584)
• United States
29 May 09
I do not have blind trust in media here, not sure about others. Some of them are just 'junk' news and information, but sometimes one man junk is another man treasure, so to speak. . media mogul's publishing policy are mostly driven by number of readerships and viewership the information can generate, it is all about revenue that affect the bottom line, cheer!
@matersfish (6306)
• United States
29 May 09
Nobody really wants to know the truth anyway. Everyone wants to be fooled.
What tickles your sensibilities? Would you like your suspicions confirmed about torture? Nobody wants the truth here. It's either yes or no they're looking for, and the answer wouldn't change their minds. Maybe you like the gossip of the day? Etc.
I don't think people have "become" anything they haven't always been: wholly reliant on other people for their information.
The same way we learn in school, the way we learn about religion, the way we learn about right and wrong, etc, is from others telling us. You only know what you learn and you only learn what you're taught. Even stepping outside of the few sorces to seek information for yourself will still, in all likelihood, lead to you finding out about something through someone else's spin.
And even more to that, people only believe what they're told. This, unfortunately, is never, ever going to change. The fact that a few guys figured out a way to exploit it doesn't make it worse. People are pure reactionaries who want juicy instead of bland.
At its most basic root, it's pure human nature. Even old adages are spiced up for entertainment's purpose. The boy who cried wolf didn't let the sheep escape through an open gate. He caused the sheep to get murdered in a blood bath of primal dining.
Our information has forever come from infallible sources. Unless you're right there to witness history in the marking in person, it always will.
2 people like this
@RussUWGB (9)
• United States
29 May 09
As far as i'm concerned the media these days is a complete joke. The truth is if you want good unbiased information about the US you will have too look outside the country. I often look at Der Spiegel, Jerusalem Post, and other international news sites for my news. Take news from Us media with a grain of salt they usually have an agenda to accomplish.
1 person likes this
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
29 May 09
In the past that might have scared me. There are so many ways to get information now, no 7 people can control the information.
Look at Hurricane Katrina (for instance). It was sometimes only a matter of minutes between a report from the media and the misinformation in the report being exposed by "alternate" information assets.
If only 7 people controlled what we read, hear and think, we wouldn't have had such wide swings in election results over the last 20 years.
1 person likes this
