Corporate Control of the Media and Politics - 1071 Words

I read an article written by Andrew Romano, for News Week, discussing in detail the ignorance of the American public in political affairs. This article was largely inspired by a poll News Week conducted on the public, testing them with standardized questions given in the citizenship exam. After reading that a large amount of Americans failed to pass this exam I decided to take it myself. Once I completed the exam, which I failed miserably, I remembered a comment Romano made in his article about the populace being uneducated or non-English speaking immigrants. Being a college student this comment is kind of hard to swallow especially after doing so badly on the exam myself. I would not consider myself to be a genius but I am educated†¦show more content†¦This is why a large majority of Americans are so intrigued with celebrity news. If the industry would cover political views with the tenacity they cover other news events then, I believe, political news and economical de cisions would be much more understood. Is this form of news beneficial to the industry? No, as long as the public is uninformed on political information it allows the industry to leverage the publics decision leaning them toward a vote or decision beneficial to the industry. Think of it like this, if there was a proposition in act that would help with the deficit or boost the economy but put a slight strain on the top 10 percent of the earnings bracket in the United States, what side of the issue would be most covered? The side pertaining to the investors and owners of these media institutions would be the most covered. The majority of the information presented on the subject would be against the proposition. With the largest percentage being against the decision many Americans are going to base their decision on the information they have. As people complain about how the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. They make valuable decisions that affect just that with every vote they make to elect an official or pass a proposition. Most are oblivious to this because they have been under a certain understanding that this proposition or person will make changes. What they don’t know are those changes do notShow MoreRelatedThe Political System Of America1534 Words   |  7 Pagesbeneficial to society. When the corporate agenda meets politics, profit takes priority. There is a mutual desire between politicians and businesses to maintain power. Getting re-elected and achieving donor’s goals just like a company does for its share-holders. The governments job is to protect the rights of those with different interests, not to give rights to an entity, making it equal to people. There is a conflict of interest between the profit driven corporate world and the public welfare. PoliticiansRead More Truth Exposed in Amusing Ourselves to Death Essay1506 Words   |  7 Pagesmessage in the words of Marshall McLuhan-that Postman believes is suitable to the world of show business and hostile to the print-based world of logical thinking (80).   This is not to say that TV ignores important subjects such as current affairs, politics, religion, science, and education in favor of entertainment shows.   The situation, Postman argues, is quite the opposite; TV often embraces these subjects but, because it is tilted toward amusement and emotional gratification rather than coherentRead MoreAnalysis Of Chris Hedges s Lecture On Empire Of Illusion1088 Words   |  5 PagesTriumph of Spectacle. In the lecture, he argued that majority of Americans live in an image-based society portrayed by media, and they fascinate to follow the mainstream of celebrity culture. Most people lose their own unique identity and self-determinations, and they are turned into marketable commodities because corporations infl uence many aspects in society, such as economics, politics, natural environment, and moral ideology. Hedges states that corporations reinforce celebrity culture to interfereRead MoreThe Threat Of Good Example1282 Words   |  6 Pagesbecause wealth distribution depends on it. These policies would help producers and eradicate poverty. They would also involve compensation from First World corporations interested in expropriation of their resources. Third World states will have more control over their resources and can demand higher prices. They can reduce their dependency on loans from the First World and grow their economy by the increased capital they now get from trade. There will be a wider range of global economic product and globalRead MoreAmerican Politics During The United States Essay860 Words   |  4 PagesAmerican Politics in American Culture: An Analysis of Political Apathy in the U.S. In the United States, the popular appeal of freedom, citizen action, and political diversity is a common theme in the media, yet many Americans do not seem to actively pursue their political interests as a way of life. Culturally, the expectations of freedom and democracy are common in American politics, but an underlying lack of motivation to follow these principles is more commonplace in the culture of AmericanRead MoreThe Mass Media Serves the Interests of the Corporate and Political Elite1031 Words   |  5 PagesThe Mass Media Serves the Interests of the Corporate and Political Elite There exists a symbiotic relationship between corporate America and the United States government. This relationship influences the organizational structure of the mass media and thereby greatly impacts the framing of social problems in our society. The mass media serves the interests of the corporate and political elite by presenting only those issues favorable to their objectives and â€Å"filtering† out those that are notRead More Influence of the Wealthy Over the Media and Politics Essay1018 Words   |  5 Pagesis guaranteed only to those who own one. --- —A.J. Liebling. The majority of media in the United States, are owned in operated by wealthy individuals and corporations. Media also helps portray â€Å"big business† good or bad, depending on their influence, mostly due to contributions. Due to these contributions, select few have been able to manipulate and create a bias towards the contributor. Eventually free media and press evolved into the oligarchy that now â€Å"runs† our country. Read MoreThe Influence Of The Industrial Revolution953 Words   |  4 PagesIndustrial Revolution was an extreme advancement in technology, business, machinery and more. It showed the revolutionary practices and abilities of big business. The revolution shows us what can happen if you let greed struck corporate owners have influence and control over a country, because power and materialism corrupted their minds they began to create some of the greatest economic empires in the world. This lead to them underpaying their workers from the desires to become the most powerfulRead MoreGovernment Business Relations1518 Words   |  6 Pageslate 19th century to the beginning of WW1 when power of trusts dominated American politics. Political commentators contended that in as much as liberty produced wealth, wealth played a central role in destroying liberty. The governments of the day partnered with proprietors of great business. This was exemplified in the undertakings of the Standard Oil back then (Demarest, 1963). Some commentators argued that politics was a struggle between the robbers and the robbed. There was a conflict betweenRead MoreThe Primary Doctrine Of Corporate Personhood1174 Words   |  5 PagesThe primary doctrine of corporate personhood was introduced in 1886 in the case of Santa Clara v. Southern Pacific Railroad. This case, brought to the Supreme Court, involved the challenging of a California railroad tax, contingent on an insistence of the Fourteenth Amendment and the equal rights protection it includes. Corporate personhood applies to the ability of organizations to be distinguished, by law, as an individual which includes the particular protections, abilities and rights that all