Page 24 - Mass Media, Mass Propoganda Examining American News in the War on Terror

14 Chapter 1

confidence in media, news outlets still scored higher than political institutions
such as ~ongress.'~

Examining Media Power

Whatever one's ideas are about the bias or slant of the mainstream press, it is
clear that its influence and power have been growing in an era of corporate me-
dia consolidation, monopoly, and oligopoly. Former assistant managing editor
for the Washington Post and prominent media critic Ben Bagdikian explains
corporate monopolization of the media bluntly:

A cartel of five media conglomerates now control the media on which a major-
ity of Americans say they most rely. These five are not just large--though they
are all among the 325 largest corporations in the world-they are unique
among all huge corporations: they are a major factor in changing the politics of
the United States and they condition social values of children and adults alike.
These five huge corporations own most of the newspapers, magazines, books,
radio, and TV stations and movie studios of the United States.
They have "acquired more public communications power-including ownership
of the news-than any private businesses have ever before possessed in world
history. Nothing in earlier history matches this corporate group's power to pene-
trate the social landscape."29
Bagdikian's concerns over the increasing power of the corporate press seem
to be reflected by a significant segment of the public, as 49 percent of Ameri-
cans recently polled indicate that they believe the influence of the corporate me-
dia has increased, rather than decreased in recent years.30 Television network
news in particular has long played an important role in influencing public opin-
ion. An Associated Press poll released in 2006 found that 63 percent of those
surveyed reported that they watched network evening news programs either
"every day" or "several times per week," as opposed to only 23 percent who
responded "less than once per week" or "ne~er."~'
Writing in the Washington Post, Tom Rosenstiel explains that, "the rise of
network television news (ABC, NBC, and CBS) was arguably the most important
development in American politics in the latter half of the twentieth century. The
arrival of news divisions in the 1950s and 1960s meant that for the first time
citizens could regularly see events for themselves." Rosenstiel recaps that "the
networks still air nightly newscasts that are often superb, and nearly thirty mil-
lion Americans still watch."32
Although T.V. network news is still important today, there has been a sig-
nificant decline in its audience, as well as in the readership of national newspa-
pers in favor of different news mediums such as Internet-based news and cable
T.V. news networks like MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News. Many Americans are
reliant on a wide variety of news mediums, as recent consumption statistics re-
veal. According to the Project for Excellence in Journalism, over one third of
Americans consider themselves "regular consumers" of many different types of