US elections and the media: How did we get here? - The Listening Post (Full)

In this special edition of The Listening Post from New York City we explore how a lack of regulation and absence of a strong public broadcaster in America has impacted the coverage of US politics.

As the 2016 presidential election campaign heads into the home stretch, many Americans are accusing their news outlets, particularly on the broadcast side, of not just reporting on the race for the White House - but actually affecting the outcome, through their commercial agendas, prioritising ratings and revenues over journalism and responsible reporting.

So how did we get here? Measuring the totality of media coverage over the entire presidential campaign - the content, the tone, the ideology - is near impossible. But what we can do is examine structural issues in the broadcasting landscape that are unique to the US.

First, America's regulatory requirement for editorial fairness is almost non existent. Broadcasters in the US can be editorially and ideologically biased whether Fox News on the right, MSNBC on the left.

The second thing that sets the US media apart is that unlike every other advanced country in the world, America does not have a publicly-owned broadcaster provided with the resources - the budgets - to actually compete with privately-owned media outlets. So broadcasting in the US is almost entirely corporate-controlled.

We examine the corporate domination of the American airwaves, the ratings and profit imperative related to that and the effect that that has on media coverage and public discourse.

Talking us through the story are: Dan Rather, former anchor, CBS Evening News; Cenk Uygur, host, The Young Turks; Amy Goodman, host, Democracy Now! ; Nicholas Lemann, Dean Emeritus, Columbia Journalism School; Robert McChesney, communications professor, Illinois University; Janine Jackson, programme director, Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting; Daniel McCarthy, editor, The American Conservative; and Patricia Diaz Dennis, former federal communications commissioner.
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[eyeinfinite]

And a Qatar based Islami mouthpiece disgrace of a channel is critiquing US media and insinuating the absurdity that media has been with him while most of them have been with her all along.

[Shaikailash]

wow, one of the best concise to-the-point reportage on media concentration I have ever seen. You sum up the most important facts and history in under 30 minutes. Bravi!

Fox News on the right, MSNBC on the center.

[mikewahl]

Excellent, educational and long overdue! Kudos to Janine Jackson, Robert McChesney, and Amy Goodman. Yes, it's provided by Al Jazeera, and I can not imagine this being broadcast on U.S. TV, even poor old PBS. Maybe Free Speech TV or Link TV will broadcast it. Please share!!

[grizzd]

The bbc does not force anybody to raise the editorial standards. Funniest thing I've heard all day.

[evettestarks]

The world we live in today we need media like Aljazeera I use to watch this network every day very informative looks like Americans don't want to know the truth about what's really going on not just in America but around the world we need truth

[continentalmilitaria]

PBS is NOT that balanced it does allow more time to the left.

[gboyega_adeoya]

some great research by Richard and his team... as always

[lSeKToRl]

Great Episode, Cenk and the others were great.

[bodyloverz]

The Free Press Clause protects the right of individuals to express themselves through publication and dissemination of information, ideas and opinions without interference, constraint or prosecution by the government.[

[MEGIDIOT]

how to get me not to watch a video: have cenk in the thumbnail

[Graham-gtgr]

Rupert Murdoch told Ailes to make sure Trump lost. That is why Megan Kelly was attacking him. He outmaneuvered them with the internet and humor.

[bodyloverz]

First Amendment to the United States Constitution[edit]

Main article: First Amendment to the United States Constitution

The Free Press Clause protects the right of individuals to express themselves through publication and dissemination of information, ideas and opinions without interference, constraint or prosecution by the government.[1][2]

The First Amendment was adopted on December 15, 1791, as one of the ten amendments that constitute the Bill of Rights.

[MrLloyd]

Outside of the media trolls that appear on every blog, I agree with the majority of the comments that this is a very good report stating the state of affairs in this country. I only wish that more people would think and reflect than simply react to the corporate nonsense news. God help America!

[neuralvibes]

Anti-Trump coverage from beginning to end, but that's to be expected from Al Jazeera.

[marthasbullock]

I don't think it's helpful to keep comparing American networks with the BBC. I love the BBC, but it isn't necessarily the model for the United States. It's hard to imagine how a BBC-like national network would function in the US and who would determine what was the unbiased news. Why don't more people listen to PBS, when it is available - and I choose it often. It's easy to access these stations on YouTube now. This discussion also didn't look at questions of news on Facebook, which affects people all over the world, and the impact of channels like HBO which can independently provide some very hardhitting programs. We are a much larger, and more diverse, country than either Britain, Canada or Germany and it doesn't seem like the right comparison.

[SoneGyane]

TRUMP LAST HOPE FOR AMERICA... IM VOTING 4

[SilvanaDil]

I'd much rather have several corporations control media than one government. (cough, Qatar, cough)

[RaySmith]

same thing in Brazil. Most countries that don't have a government channel are heavily influence by the wealth except for Cuba.

[jesuisbecoming]

British Broadcasting Corporations ! 😎 Pathe News is the Real British Empire News. 😏