Is it stupid to speak of "the media" as if it's one consistent entity?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Yes. This is probably the biggest fallacy committed on political websites. Pretty much every one does it.

[Beet]

Yes. This is probably the biggest fallacy committed on political websites. Pretty much every one does it.

Yes but there are similarities in coverage that go across the mainstream media outlets.

[Jake]

No. News in America is diseminated by what, five conglomerates?

What are some actual meaningful differences between how they report news?

[Ebowed]

No. News in America is diseminated by what, five conglomerates?

What are some actual meaningful differences between how they report news?

Indeed.  The media, despite minor differences within it (e.g. Fox is more overtly biased), adheres to one "mainstream" system of thinking.

Major stuff doesn't get reported on all the time, and this forum is good proof of that.  Was anyone here aware of the fact that the impeachment hearings against Bush in Congress have been going forward?  Several Republicans voted with the Democrats on the procedural matters relating to that, interestingly enough (including Shays and Paul).

[AkSaber]

Why not? The media reports the same stories, have the same opinions and biases. Their anchors all look the same, dress the same, and sound the same. They copy-and-paste everything they do.

[Jacobtm]

The media, really, means the sum of all media (plural of medium) of communications. So, taken literally, yes it's stupid to speak of "the media" as one entity.

But when people say it, it's slang for mainstream television news and newspapers usually, and in that respect, it's really only divided into two camps...

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I'm referring more to the mindset that "the media" is completely in favor of electing one candidate (which always coincidentally happens to be the candidate other than the one the person making the claim supports.)

Besides magazines, independent newspapers and even blogs are part of the media too.

[Beet]

I'm referring more to the mindset that "the media" is completely in favor of electing one candidate (which always coincidentally happens to be the candidate other than the one the person making the claim supports.)

Besides magazines, independent newspapers and even blogs are part of the media too.

When people talk of "the media" in this way they are usually referring to the mainstream media, not Dissent Magazine or some blog. However, if you're going to do a study explicitly about politics that includes talk radio, you should include major blogs too.

[Lunar]

BRTD is right here.

There's so many different forms of media.  While it's true that five conglomerates dominate national cable news, lots of people watch other forms of news, including local or Spanish-language.  In addition, there are these things called radios, newspapers, and internets.

Huffpost and Drudge are two top drivers of cable news stories and those two websites run on completely different tracks, for example.  Blogs are all over the place, should I go on and on?

[Jake]

There's so many different forms of media.  While it's true that five conglomerates dominate national cable news, lots of people watch other forms of news, including local or Spanish-language.  In addition, there are these things called radios, newspapers, and internets.

News Corp not only owns the FOX broadcasting network along with tons of affiliate stations, but owns Fox News Channel, Fox News Radio, the NY Post, the Wall Street Journal, and tons of other international newspapers. CBS Corp not only owns the actual CBS network and many affiliates, but owns CBS Radio, and is operated by the same CEO that operates Viacom which owns MTV, Comedy Central, and Nickelodean (all news distributors to younger viewers). Time Warner owns CNN, Time Magazine, Fortune, People, and AOL.

So yeah, the five big guys own basically every channel on TV and three of them also own major newspapers, news magazines, news websites, children/teen networks, radio networks, etc. FOX News Radio also partners with the largest radio conglomerate (Clear Channel) to distribute talk radio programs. There's also what, ten conglomerates that own the newspapers.

I'd certainly agree that the media doesn't as a whole favor one of the two parties, but it certainly favors those two parties over anything else which is a million times more damaging.

[Lunar]

I don't deny that there's few media empires out there, haha.  But you still have the New York Times Company, which does own a dozen or two other newspapers, but it has no relation to the cable powers that I know of.  The Tribune Company is another small-time player, which owns the LA Times as well as Chicagoland broadcasting  stuff, but lacks a relationship to the huge media powers.

Despite this, I think that Viacom dictates very few themes that must be observed by every subsidiary.  I mean, Comedy Central is owned by them, but Stewart & Colbert constantly trash mainstream news.


Anyway, the point is that despite the large players in the media, there is no coherent voice within one empire, let alone in between all of the empires, their sources (Drudge, Huffpost, etc.), and "new media" - blogs etc.  And then there are all kinds of local stations and papers that people rely on for their news.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

I mean, Comedy Central is owned by them, but Stewart & Colbert constantly trash mainstream news.

And David Low was, for decades, employed by Beaverbrook.

[Jake]

Despite this, I think that Viacom dictates very few themes that must be observed by every subsidiary.  I mean, Comedy Central is owned by them, but Stewart & Colbert constantly trash mainstream news.

Exactly, they serve as white noise essentially. They may trash the big news stations, but where is the hard news showing a different side of the story? Non-existent.

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That either are affiliated to news conglomerates or aren't serious news sources. My local paper is a McClatchy paper, my local news station is affiliated with CBS, etc. The idea that there are serious mainstream news sources that produce independent content is frankly ridiculous. Hell, every story in my paper not covering a regional/local issue is an AP story. Who runs the AP? A Board of Directors made up of the Presidents and CEOs of the major newspaper conglomerates.

[Person Man]

Its only an entity in that it is an "industry".