preview

Essay on The News Media

Good Essays

The News Media Being "objective" has been an unrealistic ethic that defines the news media. Fallows agues that journalism and the news has provided largely "entertainment fluff" and has virtually selected unthinking news communicated to the American people; and Paenti agrees and states that the Media is big business and therefore is not independent, objective, neutral, informative, balanced, and truthful. Their ideas may seem outlandish and farfetched, but it is the fact of life for the media today. The news media struggles to please every component of the business, from the advertisers to the owners. In turn, every word that is typed or spoken has one side of the story. The news shows that air on television today is nothing. but …show more content…

None of those questions were ever answered. Fallows notes that, "There was no overlap whatsoever between the questions the students asked and those raised by the anchors. None of the questions from these news professionals concerned the impact that legislation or politics on people’s lives (Fallows 22)." Fallows goes on to say "...the questions concerned the pure game of-- the struggle among candidates interest mainly in their own advancement (Fallows 23)." Even with the opportunity to ask questions that concern people’s lives the media would rather talk about only the tactics of politics, barely skimming the surface of the real important issues that affects common peoples lives. The news media, to many Americans, is a source of impartiality and a way to hear both sides of the story. Contrary to those popular beliefs, personal beliefs and economic interests do not only persuade the news media. Fallows gives many examples of public icons that have stated facts that had hidden agendas. The first example I will use, that Fallows brings up an event that happened in May 1995. A man named George Will wrote a column and made on-air comments scorning President Clinton and his administration for planning to place tariffs on Japanese cars focusing on the Lexus. On the Brinkley show Will said that the tariffs would be "illegal" and would amount to "a subsidy for Mercedes dealerships". Fallows goes on to say, "Neither in his column nor on the show

Get Access