Media as an Establishment: Business Is Business

". . . the news media has been changed from a brave, controversy-seeking faction to a community of self-censoring, congress-fearing puppets of whom the politically powerful are the puppeteers . . . the media is not the same establishment that once looked for the Extra, but it is merely a reserved, timid society, a society that has ignored its once unquenchable thirst for the truth in order to satisfy its hunger for the more material things, money and power." KY

"Members of the media, who see fit to secure their future, may sacrifice the principals of honest journalism to obtain a quick profit." MI

". . . the truth is not always as interesting as a scandal." NY

"I don't think the media will change the slant of the newspapers during the presidential campaigns because they sell a lot of papers that way, but I hope this helps them learn that people would like less coverage of their personal business and more information about issues that would really effect us." TX

". . .the economic arguments are unmistakable. The fact is that writers want to sell their magazines and newspapers. Anchors and reporters want people to watch their programs, thereby supporting their network. The media is a huge capitalistic industry...They cover the candidates that have the most support, who will help them to sell their magazines, newspapers, or network....the media is an industry, set up to cater to the consumer." KY

"Hardly anything is ever written about candidates for local elections, except the advertising space bought by a campaign office." AL

"The candidates are buying media time up there because 60% of Illinois votes come from Chicago. The rest of us are left out until later...Even our local newspaper owner will not come to our school to cover a candidate, because the candidate will not run an advertisement in his media source. The candidate wants a free ad, so in return he is not going to get covered at all." IL

"It seems that the media does not support candidates or their campaigns. They more or less favor the candidate which will benefit them with the most profit." MN

"When looking into personal lives, the media may not be doing it for the good of the country, but maybe to boost television ratings or to sell more papers." MI

"Scandals will sell a magazine or increase the number of persons watching a certain show, which is exactly what the media thrives on." MO

"The media is a business and they need to sell their product. So it is no wonder that the media focuses on sensational articles if that's what a majority of the public wants." WI

"I feel that the media is too commercial. It seems they will do anything to get ratings! Sometimes I think that the press gets the attitude that it doesn't matter what the front page story is, as long as it gets the public's attention along with what they consider most important: ratings." OK

"Advertisers, who pay the high costs of air time, want to reach the largest possible audience. Because most people are more interested in being entertained than they are in being informed, we find very few public affairs programs aired in prime time." IN

"The reason that the media coverage is infested with biases and unequal coverage of candidates and issues is because it is a business. Competing networks sometimes do anything to distinguish themselves in their coverage of the same news because money is involved. If a network is primarily concerned about making money, a conflict of interests may arise, given the opportunity. I work on a newspaper, and an editorial was discarded when it was learned that the institution it was criticising was buying an add." TN

"An important story may get put on hold because advertising material had already been laid out and there is no room for the news." NE

"Journalists frequently have a limited amount of time and space, and they must balance between straight facts and far more interesting action. This especially applies to TV which often has a mere thirty minutes to inform, all the while trying to put in enough entertainment to prevent the average viewer from changing the channel to A Current Affair." PA

"If the people of this nation find the coverage of candidates appalling, they should refrain from buying the paper or listening to the news stories. Like any other business the media must, too make a living. If they cannot create enough interest in their news stories, they will go out of business." OR

"The media is a business and, like any other business, needs to make a profit. . . . The media will not choose to report only the political issues unless the political issues are what sells. Therefore, the American people have the responsibility of choosing to read about who will lower the national deficit and listen to radio broadcasts about who will create jobs. If the American people choose to watch the TV shows, listen to radio broadcasts, and read the newspapers and magazines about the political issues, then the media will report about the issues because the issues will be what sells." IL

"Does the media want a ratings boost or a good leader in the government?" PA