bobbyurse2@gmail.com
Journalism and the Bottom Line
"We are consumed with business pressure and the bottom line. 'It was that news companies had begun to operate in a way that suggested they no longer believed in those values. The news was becoming entertainment, and entertainment news.' "(3) It is no secret that there is a mistrust in the press by the American people. But could the way our news is funded contribute to this mistrust? How much does the press, specifically cable news networks, become swayed from their business investors and partners? Can the "business side" behind our cable news networks influence what stories do or do not make it to the final airing of a news segment?
Paul Brandus, a former television producer at both Fox News, and MSNBC, discusses the potential dichotomy of the business and journalism relationship in his article: The real bias in cable news isn't what you think. Brandus states when discussing this relationship, "when you get right down to it, that’s why CNN, Fox News and MSNBC are in business: not to make you smarter and more informed, but to make money for their corporate parents: AT&T, +0.60% , Fox Corp. FOXA, -1.37% and Comcast CMCSA, -1.13% , respectively." Perhaps a cynical view about what these programs are for, but it is fair to keep these companies vested interests in mind when receiving one's news.
 |
| Who Owns The News Via DigitalInformationWorld.com |
Counterargument
While it is true that these news outlets are backed by corporate partners, that may be much better than the alternative. These corporations not only provide the funding to run our news programming, but the option of multiple news sources gives people the choice to pick and choose their news and draw from it what they can. Additionally, this presents an opportunity to fact check information against different sources and perspectives.
The alternative, being either a limited source of news outlets or only state-run news outlets, could hurt the very idea of journalism. "The primary purpose of journalism is to provide citizens with the information they need to be free and self-governing" (17). Restricting our news by only having government-run news media not only would take away from our First Amendment right of Freedom of the Press but could limit the amount of accountability multiple news corporations currently provide.
All in All
While it is always good to be cognizant of the funding behind our sources of news, it is also important to remember that this may be the best way to fund our news sources, as state-run news may limit the amount of information citizens receive. All news corporations depend on advertising for funding, which may or may not cause a discrepancy in their content. Whether this plays a real influence or not, this is an even better reason to use multiple sources in your news viewing.
No comments:
Post a Comment