The range of media that reaches the public-the Internet, TV, radio, newspapers, movies and books-profoundly inform and configure our ideas, values and beliefs. The media shape our understanding of the world and our economic, social, and political decisions. This is why media are essential to our democracy, because we depend upon the news, information, and ideas we get from the media to make informed decisions, to learn the stories and struggles of others, and to hold our government and corporate leaders accountable.
Unfortunately, the state of our media system is fairly dismal at the moment. We get sensationalism and celebrity gossip rather than quality journalism. So many issues and groups are misrepresented or left out of the story altogether. And advertising inundates with commercials and product placements.
How did we get here? According to Robert McChesney and John Nichols, who write extensively on media issues, the answer lies in the economics of the media system, especially the profit motive inherent in commercial media companies. For example, because the majority of media companies are publicly owned by shareholders, their primary motivation is to generate profits, not create quality content for the public.
Another key problem with the media system is that media ownership is becoming more and more concentrated, even across forms of media. As the chart above illustrates, currently a handful of corporate conglomerates dominate the industry. Why is this a problem? Because independent voices are key to building a democracy, and media corporations that decide what we see, hear and read are overshadowing these voices.
What can we do to fix our media problems? According to Free Press, a national non-profit organization steadfastly working to reform our media system, we can start by treating our media as a public good that requires public support. For more information on advocating for more public funding of our media and a range of media issues, check out Free Press’s activists tools.
Created by Member Economist Sue Holmberg
October 2011
Data Source:
http://www.freepress.net/ownership/chart/main
Source:
Free Press. “Media Policy 101: What You Need to Know to Change the Media.” http://www.freepress.net/resources/activist_tools.
McChesney, Robert W. and John Nichols. 2010. “The Death and Life of American Journalism.” Nation Books.
