Is the mainstream media influence by the Government?
354961
Regardless of your politics people, the answer is YES.  The media needs stories to fill 24 hours worth of 'news.' The media frequently "reports" what the governments reports, says, and spins.  People at all levels of government (federal, state, local, school) spend time every day trying to spin a media message in a particular way, in the same way that PR companies and corporate companies cast their messages.  How, when, what, and why a story is reported is generally structured by others in government (and business) with the public blissfully unaware.  Fox simply characterizes with a conservative bent.
316875
No, the media is not liberal per se.  Most reporters, when polled about their personal politics, usually espouse "liberal" ideas.  These ideas being things like "homosexuals are human beings,"  "poor people are human beings," and "women have the right to choose."  Reporters usually espouse liberal ideas when it comes to social issues.  However, when it comes to economic issues, reporters usually espouse a slight conservative bend.\n\nNow, the important part of the media equation is not the reporters, but the editors and owners of the various media outlets.  Editors and owners tend to be conservative.  And it is ultimately the editors and owners that decide what gets put into the news.\n\nMost of the news is fairly centrist.  That's because the news is a business, and the owners of the newspapers and television programs want to get as many readers and/or viewers as possible.  In order to do that, they need to appeal to liberals, conservatives, and centrists.\n\nThe idea of a "liberal media" is a conservative invention.  It is a useful strategy to get across the conservative agenda, because conservatives can yell "not fair!" and demand more air time. \n\nMost political commentators in the media are conservative.
1065705
Yes. You could see it in the election of Bush. The religious right that elected him think they have the right to make him push their policies. It is detremental. Though maybe not any more detrimental than having big business/oil impacting politics. \n\nCan't there be some type of limits on special interest groups like Focus of the Family pushing their agenda in Washington? It's a blight on the fact of democracy when big money and influence wins power in our government . . .
21771
A better question may be whether media can mis-shape an event or mis-shape foreign policy.  According to a panel of editors on TV some time ago, Newspapers used to be far more open about their political leaning, taking names like The Morning Republican or The Evening Democrat, and you knew where they stood.  Now conglomerate news is far more subtle and profess not to be biased.  However it is probably easier to get into journalism schools and survive if you are liberal rather than conservative, and it is probably difficult for journalists to resist their personal biases.  Many believe that our country is strong because we have freedon of the press, and I agree.  But I believe we are even stronger by accident in that we now have a strong two-party system (with smaller parties free to come and go).  Countries that have to form coalitions of many small parties that mutually hate each other are not very strong.  As soon as the press succeeds in installing their favorite party as an overwhelmingly dominate party you can almost guarantee that the minor party and the press will be surpressed to ensure survival of the winner.  Both parties have liberal and conservative wings and often these wings supply the most interesting ideas, because that is where the passion is.  The moderates of both parties usually control the outcome by asking the important questions such as who is going to pay for this great idea?  We will probably get along OK as long as enough citizens look past the headlines and read between the other lines to seek the unvarnished truth.  Distortions occur in events and foreign policy when people accept biased reports and fail to observe what is on the other side of the coin.
829609
THE IMPORTANCE OF MEDIA IN TODAYS WORLD IS EVIDENT FROM THE FACT THAT IT HAS THE POWER TO INFLUENCE THE LIVES OF ORDINARY PEOPLE IN EVERY WAY..BE IT JUDICIARY..BE IT POLITICIANS..BE IT CRIMINALS..OR BE IT SIMPLE CITIZENS WHO ARE  FIGHTING TOOTH AND NAIL TO COPE WITH THE GROWING INFLATION...
646713
I would say the television would be the biggest influence.  A lot of Americans follow the televised and printed news as gospel and allow that to shape the way they feel about social issues. There are also the movies and TV which promote a certain type of lifestyles and people do not look at them as fantasy but as the way they should live or should want to live.  I think very few take influences directly from personal experience or research, most take it from hours and hours of TV.
506348
A couple of reasons:\n1) the media is owned by big corporations, usually. They like to keep the government friendly to them.\n2) The media depends on the government to feed them news, scoops, press releases, etc. If they get the government mad at them, they will have to work very hard to uncover every single thing themselves that their competitors will be notified about by the government with no effort.
123958
I actually think the media has much more of a conservative slant.  Considering that most main-stream media is owned by giant corporations, this is not surprising.\n\nMay I ask how you manage to fit so much information into your questions without going into the additional details?
1078483
The American mainstream media and media in general the world over is fundamentally flawed.  Journalistic integrity gave way a long time ago to maintaining the status quo and perpetuating myths that are beneficial to the people in power.  This is nothing new.  Journalists all media of communication have been used since they inception to spread propaganda.  But I think that the realization that this is the case can work for the reader.  There are always grains of truth in the major news stories and by being a questioning witness to the news and vocalizing your dissent with the wholesale perversion of journalistic integrity is a step in the right direction.\nAs far as propagating the opinion of Western policy, yes, the news media does, to a certain extent, act as a passive media to forward the opinions and policies of the powerful.  And it does affect both the democratic progress and the formation of policy.  Ironically in an age where information can be transmitted instantly, there are certain pitfalls for the powerful to fall into.  Anyone remember the "Dean Scream"?\nJournalists must act as a filter as well.  I know for a fact that in Canada the majority of the visuals for news have to go though a screening process.  Do you really want your child watching the news and seeing someone killed brutally onscreen?  You may call this destroying the truth, but we don't necessarily want the world, in all it's brutality and honesty to invade our homes through the nightly news.\nIt's a slippery slope.  We want the truth, but we also want to be mollified that the world is an essentially good place where nice democratic people can sleep peacefully and their government will protect their country and their rights equally.  Sometimes it is not possible.\nOn a side note, read Charlotte Gilman Perkins "When I was a witch".  It has a very interesting part where she forces the paper to print the truth.  Very funny!  See the link below
676469
HUGE impact.  There are proved studies that show how much influence the media actually have over an election decision.
583599
No, there are no laws to keep any groups from trying to influence the media. Their influence is what the media allows it to be, just as the influence of the media is what the people allow it to be.
539151
First of all, the media works for it's own purposes.  The government realizes this and is closly watching the media's reactions. (on both sides of the spectrum)  This is not necessarilly a bad thing, but the media right now is focusing of the negative.  That is the cycle that must be broken, and to stop this, have a petition signed to have more information on both good and bad.  Hope it works well.
536126
Not a bit.\nThe media is owned almost entirely by large corporations, which are very conservative/republican.  If they were any bit liberal, the presidents approval rating would be much lower than 29%.\n\nFox - owned by Rupert Murdock / Newscorp\nNBC - owned by General Electric\nABC - owned by Disney\nCBS - owned by Viacom\nCNN - owned by Time-Warner
855529
Recent reports indicate as few as five companies exert almost total control, at the government's commands since 1991, of the news media outlets combining print, TV, and radio. The government guided censorship is attended by propaganda and misinformation, which in toto, some say, grossly insult, dis-serve, and injure the Jeffersonian democray of a free, educated, and informed citizenry which should be trusted to decide justly the course of the ship of state. In opposition, warmongering profiteers and political cronies have pirated the ship of state via tactics of deception and fear and steer it toward the oilfields. Luckily, some fearless lookouts have climbed the crowsnest- the higher moral ground of the less constrained Internet, and they show us that the truth is out there, and it spells corruption and possibly treason as some of the reasons we are under-informed about ongoing genocide, atrocities, and other sources of diminishment to the 'establishment'- they fear truth so much- ask Rumsfeld- and loss of their obscene criminal profits- that they would deny anything- truth to us, life itself to others- rather than lose. What is really going on is world-wide cultural revolution, nothing less, but you cannot readily discover this without somewhat agressive research. The more we learn, the more we realize how little we really know.
981743
Not the American people but the American government, and not only by Iraqis and Afghanis, but literally by most people in the world.  As to why, it's unlikely that you'll get the answer from your mainstream media!
900715
Could be the power of the UK national press. The word 'influence' comes to mind. Didn't the main man for the BNP once tell us the 'tabloids' were the best pals they had (or something along those lines).
30376
If you said "the fourth estate," I would say the press.  But, since you say "Branch of Government," I would say either the electorate or big business - depending on who you think controls the government more.