| | "The media is what really runs this country" is a phrase you may have heard more than once. The "media" refers to the small group of people to decide what appears on television and in newspapers, and to a lesser extent radio. The internet is not considered part of the "mainstream media," because the internet is not controlled by a small group of people as television and newspapers are. | | "The media is what really runs this country" is a phrase you may have heard more than once. The "media" refers to the small group of people to decide what appears on television and in newspapers, and to a lesser extent radio. The internet is not considered part of the "mainstream media," because the internet is not controlled by a small group of people as television and newspapers are. |
| − | Who runs the media? Not farmers, soldiers, homeschoolers, ministers, police officers or any of the average Americans who work hard every week. Instead, the media is run by people who got their job there because they "knew somebody," and over time became powerful at a television or newspaper company. Some you see on television, but others are executives who work behind-the-scenes. As a group, they overwhelmingly support Democrats and liberal policies, such as abortion and government funding of leftist organizations. | + | Who runs the media? Not farmers, soldiers, engineers, homeschoolers, ministers, police officers or any of the average Americans who work hard every week. Instead, the media is run by people who got their job there because they "knew somebody," and over time became powerful at a television or newspaper company. Some you see on television, but others are executives who work behind-the-scenes. As a group, they overwhelmingly support Democrats and liberal policies, such as abortion and government funding of leftist organizations. |
| − | Books, such as "Bias", have been written about how one-sided the views of the people in the media are. So why are they influential? | + | Books, such as "Bias", describe in detail how one-sided the views of the people in the media are. So why are they influential? |
| | One reason is that when an average person hears something seven times, then he believes it. So if the media repeat something over and over, many Americans will believe it without checking on the truthfulness themselves. Another way of saying this the common phrase, "perception is reality." | | One reason is that when an average person hears something seven times, then he believes it. So if the media repeat something over and over, many Americans will believe it without checking on the truthfulness themselves. Another way of saying this the common phrase, "perception is reality." |