Is "mainstream media" doing its job?

Yeah, while an interesting read that thread was, it is getting a bit long in the tooth. I guess my short answer here is it depends on who is making the statement. If it is the multi-billion dollar corporations that own these media conglomerates (and their shareholders), then the answer is an emphatic yes. If it is the media pundits who take the minutaie of the day and put their editorial spin and re-package as journalism, the answer is yes. If it is the force-fed, police blotter junkies that tune in to prime time and are convinced that Access Hollywood is a credible ‘news information’ source, the answer is yes.

The problem is one of society and the lack of initiative parents, elders, community leaders and others take to fight for the right to maintain a healthy, representative local media in the interest of and for its citizens…the ‘communication’ break down that is pervasive in our society is only being fertilized by those in control of MSM.

So in short, I believe that our consumerism is largely to blame for this as our complacency has allowed journalism to head in this direction, and to use the adage, journalism has in-fact “sold its soul to rock-n’-roll”.

sorry chris, in a moment of ADD I realized that I didn’t read the entire detail of your question, and that you wanted new posters here-please forgive the imposition.

To be clear: the job of “mainstream media” is to make money. It is a business first.

Last I checked, they’re doing okay. Print media (newspapers) are freaking out a little as circulation drops b/c of internet news sites, but TV news seems to be printing money about as fast as they can these days.

no they are not fare

or fair

“Mainstream media” may be there to make money… but what it’s been doing seems to be a sad substitute for professional journalism, and far too many people fail to understand the distinction.

@zaku: yes exactly

I have answered this before but for the uninformed, WHO owns the media?

@Charlie—Hitler, was it? Or Satan, I can’t remember.

Laugh if you want too. Idiots is why we had Hitler. Are you one of them?

@Charlie: Hitler was able to come to power not because we were idiots, but because we wanted to maintain peace and did not want to go war. And just because you are successful enough to own a major part of any given media does not make you a bad person .

The People wanted peace and I would say the public in general wanted peace but the Government of Germany wanted something else and Hitler was the man to have to Lead the people in the Direction the Powers that Be wanted the people to go. At this time, there is plans in action here in the USA to do the same thing to US as happened to the people of Germany. If a person digs deep enough, back in 1909, some of the German leaders came here to the USA and sold alot of their beleifs to the Leaders of America. One of those was the Federal Reserve System and to make this system work there had to be 1–2 wars because it only works if there is a DEBT. People of a country never really starts a war. IT is the politicians and there is always a reason THEY want it. It never is for the good of the people.

@Charlie: I dont think I’ll ever be able to convince you that the Fed Reserve was created to help the economy. But its your opinion and you have the right to believe in whatever you want. But heres a question, who do you think should have the power to govern a country ?

Mainstream media ought to inform the public not influence the public one way or the other. If they have a bias, they should come right out and say it, allowing the public to choose from multiple sources where to get their information.

Oh, yeah, the internet is around to do that for us, like Google News’ algorithm that is mathematically unbiased. But I guess this isn’t considered mainstream media anyway.

@thegodfather: why should the mainstream media act as a public service medium instead of a capitalist entity designed to make money ? I have said it before, the media in this country has been reporting content just to make more money. This has been going on in America for over 150 years now (remember yellow journalism during the civil war). The fact is the mainstream focused on just plain unbiased facts, they wouldn’t make half as much money as they do now.. People aren’t interested as to how many people died in Iraq today, they are more concerned about what happened with Britney Spears. As a result, the journalists have to juice up their stories to sell. And isnt that how the rest of America works. Most people in this country (except the crazy diamonds like me) work to make more money – so why should the mainstream media be any different.

@mirza: I’d say it should because having most American media be subhuman crud, impacts pretty much the entire planet in a negative way.

Hay Everyone. When was the last time anyone ever heard any REAL news? You hear about sports, you hear about some drunk running off into a ditch and killing himself, but then you hear about someone one useing a GUN to shoot someone, you hear about someone used a GUN to rob a service station. Who hears about a home owner that shot the idiot that walked into his bedroom at night? NO, the media that WE have doesn’t give a rats ass what WE want to know. It is there to passafy people, influence government control, influence people that doesn’t know any better, a tool for the people that can’t think for their own self. What can a person expect from the media when it is owned by some of the richest people in the country and they surely will protect the ones that are paying them which isn’t you nor me. Just like the coverage of 9/11. We saw what THEY wanted us to see, not what really happened. The towers didn’t blow up, fall over, burn up, etc. They IMPLODED. Done by set explosives. That isn’t what WE the people where told nor shown by the media. Oh, did anyone know that there was a third building that came done within minutes of the tower implosion that came done the same way BUT no plane hit it? No, Mirza is right. All the media is there for is to make money not to tell us peons what we really need to know.

Programming those that cant think for themselves? Yes.

How bout a short answer to this…NO. Personal opinion only, I don’t think Obama would have been elected if the media had been doing it’s job. But as @bpeoples says, first and foremost, mainstream media is a business and their first allegiance is to making a buck. Got no problem with making a buck. I do have a problem with slavishly following a personality cult and calling it news.

@mirza the idea of a Federal Bank is very helpful to the economy. But it should be owned by We the People and it is not. Its interests are not at all clear, except that they are often not those of We the People.

@Charlie I’m sufficiently convinced that the twin towers came down due to damage from the planes and subsequent fires. They were a peculiar architecture that is vulnerable to exactly what happened. Building seven on the other hand I have never seen/heard a good explanation for that except that the insurance payout for a collapsed building would be greater than for a fire-gutted one.

Oh! The media – astounding that a question in General has gotten so far afield – I think Jon Stewart nailed in on the head in that recent interview, the mainstream media, news in particular shows signs of being motivated by sensationalism and laziness to cover things the way they do.

@plethora You’re right, if the media had been doing their job Obama would not have been elected. Dennis Kucinich would be president. By huge margins people polled wanted the things that have always been in his agenda.

No they are liars, and side where ever it profits them!

Profits? Check.

Spewing hateful Leftist propaganda? Check.