A Secret with a Voice

[caroline2088]

Everybody has a voice to be heard. This is why blogging was created. To blog is to fight for what you believe in when the opinion of everyone else is drowning you out. The main stream media today collects the attention of the majority of the population and still they feel no responsibility to the public to report priority media that does affect

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Another Point of View

[truth_infects]

While it is true that the Media is somewhat motivated by financial issues, the truth of the matter is that the Mass Media covers what people will watch. The Mass Media is able to earn income through commercials and how much they are able to charge per minute is based on a particular station’s ratings. The ratings for a station are high if their target audience is intrigued by what is covered and tune in or the station's ratings are low if their target audience is bored. So, let's say CNN, covers event X and its ratings go through the roof. Now, two weeks later the station has a choice to make; an event analogous to event X or its antipodean, event Y. Chances are that based on prior experience CNN will elect to air the event similar to event X. So the Media airs what people will tune into and the Media's continuing coverage of a certain topic only solidifies the point.
If you are wont to looking at life through an economical point-of-view, you may have seen the supply and demand aspect of Mass Media. Supply and demand basically states that suppliers will only make a product if there are enough consumers willing to purchase the product for the suppliers to make money. Supply and demand also states that as demand goes up price also increases and as price goes up demand goes down. Likening Mass Media to a supplier we see that there clearly must be a strong demand for what the Media is producing otherwise the Mass Media would either go bankrupt or change its coverage of the news.
Another point is that Americans love drama. "Why is there never any good news on T.V.?" The answer, no one watches the good news. People love drama; it seems to be entrenched into our very souls - a blunt reminder of our "lower" mammal heritage.
Now, to play both sides, the Mass Media does have its downfalls. One such example is the basis of certain news networks, like Fox which reports an event through "Conservative Goggles" and CNN which leans to the left in its approach of the truth. The role of money in deciding what is aired and what is passed-over is a little disheartening, however, that is American capitalism. Like it or not capitalism and the freedom of choice are two important factors in America's success.
Solution, become your own detective. If you are hungry for more news than is allotted to you by the Media - primarily television and radio - then go on the internet and do your own research. Nothing comes free, including information. However, seeing how information is power I don't think that the price outweighs the benefits.