Views on the World through the Eyes of Media

By: Sharon White
Submitted: 2007-01-17 16:25:27
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Usage of the words coverage and unnoticed relates directly to media channels. After all, it is the role and job of these media groups to report to the public about current events, news from around the world, and general information that relates to the interests of all human beings. But for every story that is published in each section of the newspaper or for each story that is told on a news broadcast, there are one-thousand other stories not being told. Yes, once again, I agree, it is impossible to include each and every relevant story or piece of news in each edition of a newspaper, or in each television broadcast, but who decides? It is definitely not a far cry to claim that at this point in time, the media companies dominating North America, Europe and other parts of the world are enormous conglomerates with many more interests than delivering quality news at a certain level of integrity. Furthermore, it is more than plausible to believe that these faceless conglomerates would, and have, compromised their integrity to further their financial interests or to gain a step up on their nearest competitor. This is certainly my belief. As a starting point, I will attempt to answer these questions: how are wars portrayed; are there stereotypes and biases, and do media outlets only show the bad, never the positives, because that is what people want to see (As we have learned, murders and crime are mentioned daily in newspapers, but more important aspects go unreported). Is it the fault of the media when people have the wrong impression about a certain country?

Including the aforementioned, my topic also encompasses the aspect of corporate journalism (these media conglomerates are in fact corporate giants). I will also discuss how prominent media tycoons such as Conrad Black and Rupert Murdoch affect the content of the news, be it thorough their newspapers, or from their television broadcasts. Owning many different mediums of media outlets can act as something similar to a monopoly. Being able to control both newspaper and television gives that company a huge advantage in allowing the stories they have chosen, to appear and reappear the most frequently, thereby conditioning people to believe that these stories are indeed the most important and prominent. But really, could it not be that theses stories are chosen for a reason because they underlie the interests of Mr. Black or Mr. Murdoch. It is also necessary to determine the degree of control that one person, be it Black or Murdoch, or their top executives have in determining content. A further example includes the current crisis of Mr. Black’s Media Empire. How do the media outlets he owns cover the issues and stories as compared to other companies and their coverage of the situation? As a direct example, I looked at a paper owned by Mr. Black in Canada, The Globe and Mail, and their coverage of the crisis as compared to how The International Tribune covered Mr. Black’s financial woes.

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