Blog#6 The Progressive Era of Media

 The Progressive Era of Media 

Prior to today I have never heard of ANTIWAR.COM or The American Conservative. 

There are a plethora of factors such as journalists cutting corners due to time constraints, Americans being uninformed and not wanting going beyond the news to fact check or understand/listen to different perspectives....

The list can go on and on. 

I think it is because of polarization within the media specifically, the media gatekeepers. 

This includes the journalists, producers, executives, and algorithm's used on distribution platforms.

I as the viewer of mainstream media, have to remember most mainstream media is a for profit business.  

Meaning, businesses are required to pay their shareholders and money based off of viewership, especially off of advertisements .The shareholders are the ones who fund everything so, if they are not happy then there might not be any stories to be told due to funding being cut. This may include not being able to pay the shareholders. 

Part of the problem is news and all media is a numbers game. In order to make money enough customers have to buy into the story so the company can prove to the shareholders three things

#1.  The shareholders receive a return on their investment.

#2. Their is the lowest amount of risk on their investment. 

#3. They make a profit on their investment.

The only mainstream media company I know that is a a non-for-profit is PBS but, they are currently in financial uncertainty; would not be surprised if they close their doors in the near future. Similarly, non-profits must appeal to donors who are willing and able to make a contribution. 

Having to seek out an unpopular opinions such as antiwar voices is not surprising because, search engines like Google have companies bid or pay for the top seat on a Google search.

Followed with algorithm's that can influence what comes up first on a Google search based on previous search history and data that has collected on it's users.

The data collected on you is then used to create a persona (customer profile) and if your data matches up to a companies target audience then it is very likely it may be higher up on your feed.