I admit that I do not think about the consolidation of media ownership as much as I probably should, simply because I myself do not watch cable news. That being said, I know that many people in this country do consume cable news and are greatly affected by it in terms of the things they believe. It concerns me to think that people are watching news segments like the “Terrorism Alert Desk” and Mark Hyman Holman, and potentially taking any of it seriously.
If an individual is not taught to be aware of the underlying factors that come into play with media and are not adept in media literacy there is a great concern that their minds will be toyed with, without them even knowing. According to Pew Research, a slightly higher percentage of adults in the United States trust local news organizations more than national ones. Journalists are bestowed with the responsibility of providing sound information to the millions of consumers that get watch, read, and listen to them.
People form opinions and morals based on this information delivered by journalists, and it is a great injustice to use one’s reporting power in a way that spreads disinformation. In a perfect world, all media would be independent and as unbiased as possible. I think that this ideal should be fought for regardless of the fact that we live in a society that goes against this form of media on a systemic level. Separate entities with personal intentions and goals should have no say in the fluctuation of news topics. People should not have to fight to avoid being fed misleading and mendacious information on a daily basis.
“You just take a look around the world and you’ll find that nearly all mass media is owned and controlled by a handful of conservative capitalists. We must devise and implement alternative methods of distributing our news, our information, our ideas,” Anti-Flag said. The principle of strength in numbers in this instance illudes to the fact that if every journalist being coerced into regurgitating “must-run” segments and “cheap scaremongering or advancing a political agenda,” Steve Schirripa said, chose to stop in unison and no journalist rose up to take their disgraceful place, the corporate media conglomerates would have no choice but to back down.
Many may think that local media means they are escaping the grip of national corporate media. It is incredibly important to “find out who owns your local stations and bear that and mind when you watch,” John Oliver said. This is why having the understanding that many of such local news organizations are all owned by a few conglomerates such as Sinclair Broadcast Group, Nexstar Media Group, and more, is essential to digesting the media one is receiving through such an outlet in a literate way.
https://www.makeuseof.com/top-unbiased-news-sources/
Ruby Cayenne 