It’s about profits, not politics

Chapter six revolves around the Media and how it informs individuals on the topics that they consider news. It talks about how the media is considered a “watchdog” over the government and is able to sway people on the events going on in the world. However, the aspect which I found most surprising is that according to the chapter, even in the new generation of blogging and internet people still rely on mainstream media for the news. This does not mean only CNN, Fox and the Wall Street Journal, but the local newspaper and TV networks. Yet, we are also at the stage where no one trusts the media anymore as an industry.

There are several reasons for this new mistrust in media. First, and most recent, is Republicans accusing the media of giving Trump a negative portrayal in their stories. Many republicans distrust the media now more then ever after the elections for unfair representation but also because Trump himself has been denouncing the media as “fake news” and “inaccurate”. (Gallup) This may be because they feel that Trump’s mistakes were either exaggerated or misrepresented and now feel that everything on the media may be tainted as well. However, there are also people who distrust the media now simply because Trump distrusts the media, and as his supporters they chose to believe that allegation. The issue is that when two pieces of information conflict with each other, often people will choose to believe the one that is most inline with what they already believe. When the news says something that Trump supporters do not like, and Trump gives them a reason not to believe it, they take it.

However, it is too easy to simply place the media as a democratic ally opposing the Republican candidate for President. The goal of the media is to make money, like any other business. They are not interested in changing people’s political views because they are often too concerned with obtaining as many views as possible regardless of political affiliations. As the chapter mentioned, this is why we often hear about horrific crimes more often then the successes of small business owners. This is also why Trump received more coverage then Clinton in the campaign. His faults and flaws tended to be more entertaining than Clinton’s. The Media was not trying to elevate Clinton, they were trying to convince viewers to turn to their channel. The Media is constantly trying to keep our attention and views, which has gotten more competitive since the creation of 24 hour news.

According to Nieman Reports, 30 years ago Media outlets were not in the business of making any serious profits, and they often only ran for a few hours a day. Today the entertainment and media industry is worth roughly $1.8 trillion, and there are hundreds of networks competing on a 24 hour loop.(Statista) This has developed a system in which stories will often be inaccurate but by using certain words which do not say the facts are 100% accurate, news outlets get away with it. Therefore, even though at the moment republicans are more distrustful of media then democrats, in the next few generations I believe that the media will have to become more accountable before everyone is equally distrustful of the stories they chose to share, and how they chose to present those stories.

Sources:

1.Gallup, Inc. “Americans’ Trust in Mass Media Sinks to New Low.” Gallup.com. September 14, 2016. Accessed October 22, 2017. http://news.gallup.com/poll/195542/americans-trust-mass-media-sinks-new-low.aspx.

2. “Entertainment and media industry market size.” Statista. Accessed October 24, 2017. https://www.statista.com/statistics/237749/value-of-the-global-entertainment-and-media-market/.

3. “The Transformation of Network News.” Nieman Reports The Transformation of Network News Comments. Accessed October 25, 2017. http://niemanreports.org/articles/the-transformation-of-network-news/.

4 Responses to "It’s about profits, not politics"

Yanbin Zhang says:

October 28, 2017 at 6:58 pm

It is well explained the profit-motivation of news media as the main reason why ordinary people don’t trust mainstream news media that much. Even if at the era of internet which more and more people get news information from social media and online news media. What has not been changed is that the mainstream news media is still the main source of people who try to know what is going on in the world. Although the social media created a platform for all the people to address their opinion on any particular issue they care about and enhanced the ability of public opinion to influence those decision makers, it still relies on the mainstream news media as the resource of the news and its influence is still limited.
If we look into detailed of the industry, the problems is even more serious than we imagined. As we all know, the 90% of news media is controlled by the six consortiums. Actually there more cooperation and consortiums are involved in the six companies. For example, the board of Disney includes several current or former executives from Boeing, Starbucks, P&G and Google. The news media, or the highest right to speak is controlled by the six companies and therefore the relative groups of interest. So people are hardly to trust those news media especially when it comes to the scandals or negative side against those group of interests.Such complex financial structure of news media industry results in the failure of supervision to the financial industry and those people who control the most financial resources in this country.
Another important aspect of the issue is the local news media. In the U.S, only 5% news papers are published nationwide, 95% of news papers serve to its local region. According to a report released by Dr. Eli M. Noam, a professor of Columbia University, he evaluate the degree of monopoly in his research with the HHI method. It shows that among 30 sample cities which includes equal number of large cities, medium cities and small cities. Overall the news media industry is highly monopolized (HHI greater than 1800). The most serious sub-industry is news paper in which the largest company in different regions averagely occupied 83% of the marked shares.
The current situation of news media inevitably leads people to doubt about the credibility and its motivation. Although it is widely agreed that the freedom of speech means minimal censorship on news media, the complete free environment in the industry eventually transforms the initial motivation of news media from providing fair and comprehensive news reporting to selectively screening news reporting according to their profit-orientated motivation.
Kevin Todd says:

October 29, 2017 at 8:40 pm

I think you bring up very interesting points in your argument in regards to the profit motive for mainstream news outlets. I agree with the fact that the way that they present issues in our world is based on what can get them the most viewers is not right but think that it is necessary because of how these outlets make their money. People obviously want to hear the truth of what’s going on but at the same time they want to be entertained. If one outlet is more entertaining than another and they present the same facts, people will most likely tend to watch the entertaining one rather than the dull and dry one. I think the way a news outlet spins a story has been very significant within the past year and a half due to our current president.
The media doesn’t tell you what to think but the media tells you what to think about based on what the media feels is important to shell out to the public. The coverage of news stories sometimes does not even match up with what is going on in the world. For example, we learned in class that crime rates have gone down but there has been more coverage on it. I think the way that the media presents information to the public will get worse in how they tell their stories based on the factor that will make them the most money.
Helen Spiller says:

October 29, 2017 at 9:02 pm

I agree with you that there will definitely have to be a change in the way our media is conducted if we are to remain having the news being a “watchdog” and positive force for our democracy. The profit motive is most definitely a negative factor towards our media and certainly not beneficial. However, I worry that it will be hard to find a solution to this issue. People love the news and the dramatic stories it portrays and I don’t know if people would be willing to give up the news for more boring, unbiased, and accurate news. As you stated, people don’t trust the news but they still watch it. The Pew Research center showed a poll that stated how over 50% of americans often watch the tv for news even with the recent backlash about the news which is scary for me. I don’t see the failure of this industry anytime soon so i worry about the loss of accurate information provided to Americans.
On the other hand, many people turn to local news as their source for truly accurate information. But, as Grace mentioned in her blog post earlier, these major corporations are flooding into the local market wrapping their information as well. It seems to be hard to find a source for americans that is easily understandable and engaging like TV news, but also provides accurate information. I do hope in the future government finds some sort of solution to provide better information to the public; however, I worry the profit society we have today with greatly deter this change.

http://www.journalism.org/2016/07/07/pathways-to-news/
Lotte Elfering says:

October 29, 2017 at 10:49 pm

I fully agree with this article and the point it conveys, but I am still left wondering whether anything can be done about this. The distrust of the news media is not a decision people consciously take, it has grown over time and been fueled by the events of the past years. Thus it will also not be easy to get rid of, especially if the people are still being fed this narrative that says the media is not to be trusted. If even the president of the United States does not trust the media, what incentive do the people have to do trust it.

There is not much that can be done about this, except for working tirelessly to promote the good in media. There will always be people that do not trust the media, but now that it has become a majority of the people, the problem has become clearer. However, it should be noted that the clear preference and demeaning narrative of the current administration is harmful to the media and thus harmful to American democracy as a whole. By emphasizing the need to distrust the media, and the clear preference for media outlets that are biased in their opinion, the public will be fed misinformation and they will not be able to use the media as a mostly impartial watchdog on the government anymore. This is why the current practice needs to stop, sooner rather than later, to protect the fundamental role of media in American democracy.

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