EOTO 2: Mainstream Media

     The mainstream media includes the most popular news networks on television, such as CBS, NBC, ABC, and FOX. These news channels are private corporations that have the biggest budgets out of every news source. Therefore, that means they also have the biggest influence over the news people around the country receive, so the things they say and show over the air have a tremendous effect on public opinion. 

    There are many good and bad things about these types of news sources. Starting with the good, if there is a piece of news that needs to reach everyone as quickly as possible, the mainstream media is the perfect source to take on that responsibility since they have so many viewers. An example of this is when the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 happened. Every news channel was showing footage and talking about the plane crashes right as they happened. People knew very quickly that something had happened and were all prepared to react and take action. Another example is when COVID-19 was first starting to shut things down. The major news outlets like CNN and FOX News gave updates about what to expect, and people took action quickly by shopping like madmen and women getting essentials for their households.

    Another benefit to having the mainstream media is that it creates discussions for people about news that they most likely have all seen and heard about. Overall, this discussion creator helps keep people connected as a community, and as a society. 

    While the mainstream media plays a positive role in society, it also plays a very negative one. The most notable con with the mainstream media is the biased commentary. The news anchors on channels like CNN, MSNBC, and FOX News are not just news anchors; they have turned into celebrities. Currently, Tucker Carlson's show, Tucker Carlson Tonight, is the most viewed news program in the United States with an audience of over 3 million people. People that watch programs like that do not watch to hear the news; they watch because they want to hear Tucker Carlson crack jokes about Joe Biden and the rising gas prices, or basically anything where he bashes the Democrats. 

    Besides the lack of interest in the news, itself, commentators like Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, and Don Lemon on CNN contribute to the division of society with their bias on every subject. They force apart people into a black and white world where it is either you side with the Republicans, or you side with the Democrats, and if you choose not to pick sides, you are viewed by others as a bigot or just as someone who does not care. The media contributes to the intolerance in society, and the lasting affects are bad. While I am all for having political discussions, It is important that we do not fall into the quicksand of the political hate that so many people are stuck in right now. There is more to life than politics, and the mainstream media needs to do a better job of helping people understand that and stick to just "news".

    Another form of bias the mainstream media commits is picking and choosing what stories to cover and to not cover. For example, during the riots after the death of George Floyd, FOX News and CNN covered very different stories. CNN covered the people mourning the loss of George Floyd, as well as covered the details of the whole police encounter. FOX News on the other hand strictly covered the riots that took place in many major cities. For viewers, it creates a totally different story of what people focus on. This picky coverage is responsible for people arguing and fighting about what side to be on about the whole situation. It is not fair to the United States citizens who have to feel the repercussions of it.