July 10, 2006

• Who rules?

  Ran across this in an old file:

  “If the country is
  governed by public opinion, and public opinion is largely governed by
  the newspapers,” Harvard professor Hugo Munsterberg wrote in 1911, “is
  it not essential to understand who governs the newspapers?”

  To bring things up to date, newspapers are still important, but even more so are television networks.

  Something
  to consider – if this was an issue in 1911, how much of an issue is it
  now? There used to be many, many different organizations bringing the
  news to people. Even in the 1960s and 1970s, there were many more news
  providers than there are now.

  Now, the majority of the news you
  see or read in any “mainstream” publication will be brought to you by
  one of a handful of companies. More concentration == more control.

  Who has more power, the 535 congress people we elect or the 6 companies that tell the vast majority of us what reality is?

  Who rules here?

  • 7:44 pm
  • 1 Comment