Some thoughts

Media Bias

Media bias is a very real topic in the media industry and journalism. Quality journalism is often based on the notion of objectivity, of the need for journalist to present both side of the story. Being fair and neutral is also part of the ideal to strive for. Yet the idea of objectivity in the journalistic sense is a difficult task to achieve, simply because that personal opinion and feeling will almost always find its way into a new story. Even the simple task of choosing the words to use could also affect the tone of the story and reflect the writer’s views and thoughts.

Media consolidation & corporatization

The Media industry is slowly shrinking, with media companies becoming bigger as they absorb their smaller rivals and add them to their assets. There are certainly problems in this consolidation of media power into the hands of the same few companies. With so many newspapers and television stations having the same owners, it could results in the lack of diversity in content. The media conglomerates in the form of Disney, News Corp, Viacom and Time Warner, own a wide range of business. These business ranges from newspapers to satellite television station to movie studios. With interests in such a diverse range of industries, there will surely be conflict of interest. In such cases, how will the journalist be expected to react? These are some of the issues that need to be address.