Instructor's Notes-The Media

Instructor Notes for Week 4 - Chapter 6 – The Media

This chapter in our textbook gives the basics about the media but it reminds me of the book, Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, by Dr. James W. Loewen (Links to an external site.) who is a regular contributor to the History Channel's History magazine and is a professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Vermont. I highly recommend his book as it highlights the history that is left out of textbooks.

I will share some thoughts that are not in the textbook for this Chapter. For some time, it has been my belief that the corporate owned media was the greatest threat to our democracy due to the lack of real news, the lack of true journalists and the influence of corporate interests in setting the agenda of the news in the broadcast media. (I now believe that the infamous Supreme Court ruling on Citizens United making corporations people is even more dangerous - but more about that later).

It is essential that a democracy have a well-informed electorate (voters) to function properly. I consider most of the ‘news’ delivered via the corporate media is essentially what the corporations want us to hear. The chapter hints at this truth but doesn’t develop the idea. We could spend an entire semester on this topic but I will just give you a few highlights. I am surprised that the textbook doesn’t have a graphic that shows the six giant corporations that own our media such as this: 
          Fox News falls under the NewCorp group and has been a popular station in the USA despite the fact that numerous studies have shown it to be the least credible (honest) and the most burdened with all the scandals and legal issues in recent years. Fox news also bears the burden of its President, Roger Ailes, and his dubious reputation. Tim Dickinson is one of the talented, investigative journalists today and his article about Roger Ailes is something I recommend that you read if you have not yet read it.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/how-roger-ailes-built-the-fox-news-fear-factory-20110525 (Links to an external site.)

 

Do other network executives feel the same way?

There are many issues that we now face with the lack of honest and complete news coverage in the USA which many believe has led to the ‘dumbing down” of the American public. Here is a recent example – did any of you see the largest protest the world that took place in Mexico in July 2012 on our broadcast news?

Largest protest ever in the world and the USA broadcast media is not reporting this!

2012 biggest protest the world has ever seen mexico ! (Links to an external site.)This begs the question – what else is our media failing to report to the public?There is much more but this is enough to give you a bit more background for our study as we look at the media.   (For spring and fall semesters but NOT for summer students) - Please note that there is a Special Project assignment this week but it is not due until the end of next week. It is worth 100 points and will be used as our required Butler Assessment for our class. Please complete this assignment according to the directions.

Here is a video that may help you with the Special Project Assignment:

A 'must see' brief history of how our News became corporate opinions in the USA by the astute Thom Hartmann (Links to an external site.) -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDKLFn0pty4 (Links to an external site.)

Let me know if you have any questions about it or anything else.

Enjoy the study of the Media!
Dr. B.

Discussion 4

Prompt:  

In the United States, the mass media are predominantly owned by for-profit corporations. Do those companies have any particular obligation to the public in how they cover the news? Or, is their obligation to simply focus on returning a profit for their investors?

My response:

I think that morally, these corporations should be committed to providing truthful information to the public. However, even the most committed to honestly still may subtly instill a bias into their reporting. Also, from a Capitalistic standpoint, the media will do what it takes to continue receiving funding from their corporate owners. These two simple facts are why we as the public need to be discerning when processing data from the mass media. Simply asking ourselves "what are they really trying to say?" or "what message are they trying to imprint upon the public?" can go a long way in decoding the rhetoric so commonly seen especially in newspaper headlines, major television news channels, or opinion websites. The reason I mention rhetoric is because many reporters, writers, news anchors, and politicians are expert rhetoricians. They know how to say something and send a message that may not be overt. I am not saying we should be constantly fearing conspiracies or brainwashing, just that we need to realize that everyone has an angle, which is not a bad thing. It's only natural. We can have freedom from being tossed to and fro by the opinions of the mass media with a little thinkwork of our own.