What can we, as individuals do, to end the right-wing's control of the media?

Question

Obviously corporations own the media and they support politicians that serve the corporate agenda best.
CNN/FOX etc all waving the US flag during the invasion on screen come to mind. Hardly unbiased 'news'

Answer 1

I know the previous answerers will not probably read my answer so its meaningless to direct it to them, but to their claim that the media is liberal, here is my rebuttal:

First, the media companies are not non-profit organizations. There aren't that many diverse news/media companies in the first place and those that do exist are under a few corporate umbrellas that donate to the Republican party. The people who run these companies are rich, privileged men. They are also pretty intelligent. They are not as stupid as Ann Coulter. So they keep a low profile and they let their company take the garb of being liberal. Wolf in sheep's clothing, shall we say? The "bias" is kept "liberal" for a reason. I mean come on, if you went all out and claimed the media companies to be conservative would anybody trust them anymore? Yeah right! So this is a very subtle move which my republican friends do not have the acumen to understand. So you build trust among the liberals by pretending to be their friend, and slowly build up your case. These are not foolish people after all.
Second continuing on the thought of corporations that exist for profit: who gains when these news companies make money? When you watch the news, buy the magazines? I don't. I am sure most of you don't either. The owners and executives do. And what is the political affiliation of the executives of these companies?
I will let you look up Michael Ganzi of Hearst Corp. (that owns Popular Mechanics amongst a host of other publications), Rupert Murdoch of News Corporation (Fox, Harper Collins), John Engler (member of Board of directors of Dow Jones, Republican governor of Michigan) to name a few. These are people to make the decisions how and what to publish through various media. Just these 3 companies Hearst, Fox and Dow Jones control an ENORMOUS segment of the media industry. AND they are all republican controlled.
Third, these businessmen are not stupid. If they produced ONLY left wing news then the right wing wouldn't buy it. If they produced only right wing news then the left wing wouldn't buy it. And that would hurt half their business. So they spread their products evenly, some left, some right. New York Times right, New York Post left... just mix it up, have people buy it, get the checks from the bank. And if you can mix in a little controversy, by making a leftist slant, then it will sell more!!
Eventually where does the buck stop? At the executives' desk. And they are all right wingers (I prefer wrong wingers as a better descriptor).

Anyways, I am sure my republican friends wouldn't understand all this logic. They are simple minded people and don't really follow the intricate ways the GOP top brass think and act.

So how do we counter the right wing media?
Use the Internet. Blogs, personal news, word-of-mouth is the new face of news. The printing press ushered in Renaissance and was instrumental in the dissemination of ideas by people like Voltaire, Locke, Rousseau, Descartes etc.. that led to the French Revolution and eventually emancipated Europe and America. I say the Internet is the printing press of this age. Blog, write, disseminate. There are some intelligent republicans who do this as well. But most of them are not there yet. The liberals at least have that one advantage: of education. Put it to good use.

Answer 2

My sister has been in media for many years. All media is censored in that the station managers decide which stories off the AP get aired.

Recently, some of the regulations were lifted so that media conglomerates could buy up and take over the smaller independent stations, so that now there are just a few companies that control all the media information released to the public.

Apparently even the few safe guards we have left against media monopoly are being threatened now. Soon we will probably have one mega-corporation that will control all the media in the U.S.

Sounds scary huh... quite the propaganda machine.

Check out Thom Hartmann either through the internet or his radio program if you can get it.

Answer 3

Hmmm, I do not think I would put CNN and FOX in the same catagory. As for media bias, most bias that I see comes from the left, not the right. Fox seems to to be the exception rather than the rule, as they have both liberal and conservative comentators in their news department. As for FOX supporting politicians, I have seen and heard the news division criticize both Democrats and Republicans. I would rather have flag waving than watching news organizations like the BBC, which openly supports the terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan with their broadcasts. Even the New York Times has sunk to a new low in their support of anti-American forces - they have no credibility left anyway with the plagarism scandals that they were involved in the last couple of years.

Answer 4

The real question is what can we do to end Corporate control of the media. Very few corporations own all the large media outlets. I listen to 'alternate' media like Democracy Now to get media not on the news. I also listen to Fox and CNN and compare what I hear on both. As to what we can do to change the situation? I email them all the time about stories and it doesn't do a darn bit of good. Nothing to do but search the Internet and get alternate news...George Orwell would roll over in his grave.

Answer 5

We can make our voices heard throughout society. We can stop watching the media programs. We can stop the ignorant thinking that it is controlled by the right wing and realize it is controlled by corporations which are serving the agenda of both parties.

Answer 6

I'm sorry, pardon me, what? Did you say Right Wing. Isn't it the Left wing that controls 90 percent of the media. You want to silence that 10 percent fair and balanced part of the media. Apparently you don't like freedom of speech applying to Conservatives. If you elect Democrats and we become a Marxist nation then you can silence those that you don't agree with.

Answer 7

Turn off your television. Get a life. I like the suggestion that you should plant a garden.

I work for the media-it ain't swinging to the right or the left. Some outlets swing further left, some further right. The best way to balance it is do it yourself. Don't look to Big Brother to feed you information, learn to seek it yourself. Otherwise, you are easily controlled.

Answer 8

Boycott the channels that you think are biased and start watching unbiased media.

The New Hour with Jim Lehrer is what I watch. It gives both sides to the argument.

Answer 9

almost of the media in the united states is controlled by a handful of corporations, but the journalists they hire are overwhelmingly liberal on social issues. this gives the impression that the media is liberal, which enables corporations to divert attention away from themselves.

Answer 10

Boy, have you got it backward.
the Liberal news media has nothing good to report about Pres. Bush , the war,the economy ect.
FOX, just reports what is happening, without " spin", they take Pres. Bush to the woodshed every once in awhile and show him no mercy.
They even have people from both sides of issues on to debate,try it sometime, it might open your eyes