Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of The Mass Media - Government and News Media

Government and News Media

Editorial distortion is aggravated by the news media’s dependence upon private and governmental news sources. If a given newspaper, television station, magazine, etc., incurs governmental disfavor, it is subtly excluded from access to information. Consequently, it loses readers or viewers, and ultimately, advertisers. To minimize such financial danger, news media businesses editorially distort their reporting to favor government and corporate policies in order to stay in business.

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Famous quotes containing the words government, news and/or media:

    “If government knew how, I should like to see it check, not multiply, the population. When it reaches its true law of action, every man that is born will be hailed as essential.”
    —Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    “The news we hear, for the most part, is not news to our genius. It is the stalest repetition.”
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