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The U.S. media today is frequently known as the Fourth Estate. The press or "Fourth
Estate" plays a vital role as a guardian of U.S. democracy. That role is guaranteed by the
First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, adopted in 1789, stipulating that Congress
cannot enact any laws abridging freedom of the press.
TV is America's most popular medium and there is a multiplicity of channels of all genres
– news, movies, entertainment, children’s etc.
There are around 10,000 commercial radio stations. In cities, there are services to
satisfy almost every taste. News, sports and talk stations predominate on medium wave
(AM), with music on FM. Subscription satellite radio offers hundreds of channels and has
attracted millions of customers. Community radio stations are largely popular. E.g.
Successful use of Black community radio by Barrack Obama during his election
campaign.
There are some 1,300 daily newspapers in the US, most of them with a local or regional
readership. Hard-copy circulations are in decline as readers go online.
The US is the home of the internet. Some 287 million Americans are online comprising
more than 88% of the population.
Around 65% of American adults use social media. There are more than 150 million
Facebook users.
Television
ABC - major commercial network
CBS - major commercial network
NBC - major commercial network
Fox - major commercial network
CNN - pioneer of 24-hour rolling TV news, operates domestic and international streams
MTV - pioneer of music television
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HBO (Home Box Office) - pay TV network; originator of some of American TV's most
critically-acclaimed programmes
Radio
Voice of America - government-funded, programmes for global audiences in many
languages
Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty - government-funded, targets Eastern Europe, former
Radio Free Asia - government funded, targets China, North Korea and Southeast Asia
Radio Sawa - government-funded, Arabic-language radio for Middle East
News agencies
Associated Press
Bloomberg Business News
UPI
In recent years however, the American media has been plagued by different issues.
This has also led to the increasing commercialisation of media, with news being
moulded and inserted to suit vested interests or interest of prominent advertisers.
Media bias in the US is something acknowledged by many outside the USA, and is
slowly realized more and more inside the US. [Briefly explain qualitative and quantitative
bias].
The net result is that the American audience does not get the holistic picture of any issue
or an objective view of world affairs. Often information provided on global, particularly
Third World issues, within the US is grossly inadequate and does not get due salience.
International coverage by the US media is often low on priority. In recent years only few
regions have received noteworthy coverage namely Israel, Syria – Iraq, Iran and Af-Pak,
largely because of vested US interests in these areas.
On account of non coverage of global issues American audiences get a very narrow
view on many important issues. This makes it easier for propagandists to use media to
cover their own agenda. Voters are often left at the mercy of paid political propaganda.
This imbalance in the coverage of global issues has eroded the central requirement of a
democracy that voters should be well informed.
Long before the Soviet Union broke up, a group of Russian writers touring the United
States were astonished to find, after reading the newspapers and watching television,
that almost all the opinions on all the vital issues were the same. “In our country,” said
one of them, “to get that result we have a dictatorship. We imprison people. We tear out
their fingernails. Here you have none of that. How do you do it? What’s the secret?”
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Another effect of these so-called market forces at work is that mainstream media will go
for what will sell and news coverage becomes all about attracting viewers. Yet the fear of
losing viewers from competition seems so high that many report the exact same story at
the very same time! Objective coverage gets a back seat.
Even honest journalists from the major networks can find that their stories and
investigations may not get aired for political reasons.
However, politicians can often be hesitant about criticizing the media too much because
a handful of media operators control how those politicians will be presented — or not
presented — to the voters. Political variety among the mainstream media has
disappeared
Cultural bias within the US media has an effect on how issues are reported. .For
example, look at how publics in Europe and USA perceive the Muslim/Islamic
world and the “threat” of Islam, due to media concentration on certain aspects of the
news.
Further the media is often used by different power lobbies to promote their cause and
mobilize opinion in their favour. E.g. the Arms Lobby often ensures articles and opinion
pieces advocating war.
There is no formal censorship in the USA, but there is what some call “Market
Censorship” — that is, mainstream media do not want to run stories that will offend their
advertisers and owners. In this way, the media end up censoring themselves and not
reporting on many important issues, including corporate practices.
North Korea, also known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has a
highly repressive communist form of Government. Ironically however Article 67 of the
North Korean constitution protects freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
In reality the media is totally state owned and state controlled. There is strict censorship
and the media is virtually a vehicle of propaganda for the Government and the ruling
Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK). The main objective is to ensure loyalty to the President
Kim Jong-Un and earlier to his predecessor Kim Jong-Il. Every journalist has to be a
member of the WPK.
Access to foreign media is restricted. No foreign publications are available for sale and
being in possession of foreign publications or tuning in to foreign broadcasts is a crime
punishable with imprisonment.
The country has 12 main newspapers and 20 periodicals, all published form Pyongang.
The newspapers generally are an organ of some aspect of the government. Some of the
main newspapers are:
Rodung Sinmun [Labour Daily – KWP]
Joson Inmingun [Korean People,s Army Daily]
Minju Choson [Democratic Korea – govt. organ]
Rodongja Sinmun {Workers Newspaper]
There is only one English daily Pyongang Times read mainly by expatriates.
The main source of news to the media is the state owned Korean Central News Agency
(KCNA). Any foreign news has also to be routed through the KCNA.
Also several independent radio stations launched by North Korean refugees operate
from South Korea which broadcast anti government propaganda. Noteworthy among
these are the Free North Korea Radio and Radio Free Chosun.
The North Korean media is often used to send out contrasting messages in order to
influence North Koreans and confuse the outside world. E.g. When a severe famine
prevailed in parts of the country the domestic media reported that sufficient foodgrains
were transported to the affected areas whereas internationally it was reported that North
Korea was a country of agricultural surplus.
Salience is given to the issue of reunification but under the North Korean regime. The so
called “threat “of an “imminent attack” by western powers and other foreign countries is
often played up. Anti Government demonstrations in South Korea are portrayed as pro
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communist protests, when in reality they are demanding fundamental rights. Satellite
and missile launches are highlighted as a symbol of the country’s economic progress.
All broadcast media promotes the regime’s ideologies and regularly condemns actions
by South Korea, USA, China and Japan.
The online presence of the North Korean official media has increased in recent years.
E.g. the Rodong Sinmun has launched its Korean and English websites. KCNA has also
launched its news portal.