About 50 years ago more than 80 companies controlled the majority of print and television media in the U.S. That number is now down to 6. These 6 mega huge corporations — News Corp, Disney, Viacom, Time Warner, CBS, and Comcast have changed the way we receive the news on a daily basis, and that isn't necessarily a good thing.
It isn't fully their fault that most people are ill informed, part of the blame lies with each of us. We have at our fingertips the ability to access nearly limitless amounts of information. Our 20 second attention spans and lack of interest in doing our own research is part of the problem. But part of the issue is the major shift we have seen from print media to online and cable TV news reporting.
Many of the old time newspapers were able to focus on subscriptions which meant quality reporting was their main focus. The more quality reporting you had, with quality writers and columnists, the more subscriptions you could sell. Advertising sales would increase with subscriptions, but the focus was on content. Reporters would dig deep to get scoops on corruption in government, and issues that were affecting the average person.
Then the internet came around and for over 7 years now print media has declined, especially subscription to newspapers. Many will only get the newspaper for coupons or shopping ads on Sunday. Other sections that were once considered must reads go into the recycling bin as boring and out of date.
Switching to online media has made many of these companies go away from traditional reporting to celebrity and click worthy news reports. Digital advertising has grown massively with these companies, as they have sought to cover the loss from print media. The focus has shifted from news and print media to online and cable news networks.
We have seen a rise in entertaining news rather than informative. The massive popularity shows like the O'Reilly Factor, the Daily Show, the Colbert Report, and Last Week Tonight are indicative of this. Trials like Jodi Arias, which were once only covered by local media now become media circuses with live coverage. 24 hour news cycle is forcing news outlets to have news out immediately as events unfold, even if reporting hasn't been completed.
Facebook and Twitter have also had their impact. Focus on social media and mobile has forced content into 140 characters or less idea, leaving readers with the base understanding, but lacking any depth in content. News media outlets like The Huffington Post, Drudge and The Blaze have taken so much of the online focus that much of news has become focused on being viral content.
Since this shift has occurred you are more likely to hear about Kanye West running for president in 2020 than possible ideas to change the tax code. With old print media, there was the opportunity to explain an issue in great depth; now it often must either have a great deal of opinion and controversy or some sort of celebrity pull for it to be front page news.
Some news outlets are focusing on specific demographics, applying themselves to the "left" or "right" in order to get more people watching their networks, or reading their articles.
There is some hope however, with focused news sites like politico and the hill, which focus much less on biased political reporting and more on facts and informing. Aggregate news sites like realclearpolitics can help you weed through some of the distractions to meaningful posts.
These changes to the way news media functions have altered the way we view our country, our government and the world in general. Citizens are less informed while having more access to news media than ever before. The news channels or stations we watch and listen to can also have a major impact on how informed we are as citizens.
As we now face a new presidential election cycle it is more important than ever that we focus on educating ourselves on the issues and candidates, having open minds and hearts, and being aware of the needs of our country. We should challenge ourselves to do better, by being wiser in what we watch, read and listen to.
