Coorporate Powerhouses and the News

      Media stations are a target to blame for various problems that occur in the world today. Many people are aware that the media controls how they censor the news mainly because of the financial interests of the media companies. However, without the internet, not many people would be aware of this problem. The internet has allowed us to access many types of information easily, without any hassle. The Google search engine allows us to search any topic with incredible accuracy. We can get answers to questions instantly, and if you are experienced and wise, it is possible to get answers from various viewpoints, allowing you to gain a balanced opinion.

     Rab emphasized that the media is controlled by enormous companies and that  owning the media means controlling the media. Advertisers have great power in the media as they are the main source of profit for media companies. Information is censored so that the advertiser's image isn't harmed. This means that the news is filled with biased information that is controlled by advertisers. It is easy to present only one side of the argument to make it seem like it is a  fact instead of it being one way of looking at the problem. This is harmful because this leads viewers to believe in a set of ideas that the media outlets promote. This makes it easy for companies or politicians to control what the masses believe.

     This is obviously a problem, but I believe that it is something that cannot be prevented completely. First off, there will always be a bias no matter how the media tries to report the news. Secondly, in a capitalist world, there will always be money involved. As long as business is involved, the information presented in the news will be controlled so that the advertisers do not lose profit. I think it is somewhat useless to pressure news media to try to report unbiased information for this reason.

     However, what we can do is educate ourselves so that we have a more balanced view on the news. We can do this by using the internet effectively, looking at problems from various viewpoints. We need to gain information from alternative media sources such as those Rab introduced to us today instead of relying on mass media. This way we can control what kind of information we take in, instead of blaming the media of censoring the news. I believe it is a realistic and effective way to deal with mass media.