essay on who's running america
...ecision-makers will read or watch and base their decisions on. And all the while, these media empires need to satisfy their advertisers because that is where they make their money. The seven largest and most powerful media outlets are CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, the New York Times, the Washinton Post, and the Wall Street Journal. Gigantic corporations such as, Walt Disney, Viacom, General Electric, Seagram, Sony, AOL-Time Warner and Newscorp own all of these outlets. If these corporations were not big and powerful enough, they now own all of the major media outlets. According to Dye, “Their power arises from their ability to set the agenda for both public discussion, and perhaps more importantly, inter-elite communication. It is especially important for Washington decision-makers to be familiar with news stories and opinion columns that appear each day in the nation’s leading newspapers. ” Since, these corporations control all of the major media outlets and they are political, they are going to have major influence on what news is reported and what actually is considered news. In my opinion, I believe that this is one of the biggest flaws in our American society because the media is supposed to be the people’s outlet to the rest of the world. They need to be objective so the rest of us can form our own judgments and decide what should be considered news or not. But, if all of the major media outlets are owned by big corporations, which only main goals are to make money, how are we supposed to know that we are watching or reading is unbiased and how are we supposed to form our own judgments. In addition, Ben Bagdikisn, who wrote The Media Monolopoly, points out that, “It is normal for all large businesses to make serious efforts to influence the news, to avoid embarrassing publicity, and to maximize sympathetic public opinion and government policies. Now they own most of the news media they wish to influence.” I think this sums it right up because what is better than trying to influence government policies than owning a TV station or a newspaper. I think the best example of a corporation influencing public opinion and governmental policies is FOX news. They are a known TV station that tends to lean more towards the conservative side and report on issues that are important to conservatives. I believe that is absolutely true because if the media did not have the ability to set the agenda, they would have no power because no one would pay attention. To explain this more thoroughly I will explain how the media actually According to Dye, “The power of mass media is primarily in agenda-setting-deciding what will be decided. The media determine what the masses talk about, and what the elite must decide about. Political issues do not just happen. The media decide what the issues, problems, even crises, which must be acted upon.” The other large institution that Thomas R. Dye includes and focuses on in the book is the corporations, bank...