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The Western media is the mass media of the Western world. During the Cold War, it portrayed itself as a counterpoint to the monopolistic, state-owned media of the Soviet Union. It has been claimed that in the former East Germany, over 91% of the population perceived Western media outlets to be more reliable than domestic media outlets.
Contents
- History
- Global coverage
- Press freedom
- Non Western media outlets
- Criticism
- United States
- Recent media mergers in the United States
- The Big Six
- American public distrust in the media
- Notable examples
- References
The Western media has gradually expanded into developing countries, with significant news coverage focused on various alleged human rights issues in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and the Pacific Islands. In countries claimed to be authoritarian regimes, exposure to Western media is generally considered by its supporters to be a measure of political openness.
In spite of its claimed openness, Western media has been demonstrated to contain biased material or coverage of certain countries or groups, usually aligning itself with staunch criticisms of those countries still independent of Western interests, and dismissing human rights abuses against nationalities by Western countries.
History
The roots of the Western media can be traced back to the late 15th century, when printing presses began to operate throughout Western Europe. The emergence of news media in the 17th century has to be seen in close connection with the spread of the printing press, from which the publishing press derives its name.
In Britain, newspapers developed during a period of political upheavel that challenged the absolute rule of the English Monarchy. In 1641, newspapers were allowed to publish domestic news for the first time. Despite strict controls placed by the political elite on the print media to restrict the expansion of the press, the print industry continued to grow. By the late 18th century, over 10 million newspapers were distributed annually in Britain alone.
One of the earliest instances of media manipulation in the Western media occurred during the Boer Wars. In the media of the United Kingdom, the Boer settlers were portrayed as farmers fighting to regain their lands. From 1904 to 1915, the British were responsible for censorship in Canadian media, where criticism of the army of navy was not allowed. During World War I, Canadian authorities banned a total of 253 publications, of which 93 were deemed to be Marxist-oriented. The practice of censorship in the United States began during World War I, where war correspondents accompanied military forces, and their reports were subject to advance censorship to preserve military secrets. During World War II, the Office of Censorship assumed broader responsibility for the clearance of war news to newspapers and radio stations in the United States.
In order to influence public opinion, the British Security Coordination was set up in 1940 to control news coverage in major American media outlets such as the Herald Tribune, the New York Post, The Baltimore Sun, and Radio New York Worldwide. As a massive propaganda campaign, fictional anti-German stories were disseminated from the Rockefeller Center in New York City. These fabricated stories were legitimately picked up by other radio stations and newspapers, before being relayed to the American public.
During the Cold War, Western media outlets were gradually accepted as a trustworthy and reliable source of news. In former East Germany, over 91% of the population perceived Western media outlets to be more reliable than domestic media outlets.
In recent years, many Western media outlets have seen their circulation figures stagnate.
Global coverage
Press freedom
One of the characteristics of the Western media is that they tend to be independent. Top scoring countries in the Press Freedom Index include:
Non-Western media outlets
Under growing financial pressure, many Western media oulets have begun to layoff their reporting staff in regions such as Asia. At the same time, a growing demand for non-Western news perspectives has been observed, with Al Jazeera and Press TV cited as some of the most prominent examples of a non-Western media outlet.
In 2013, the Russian television network RT became the first TV news channel to log a billion views on the video sharing platform YouTube. According to the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board between 2.25 and 2.5 million Britons tuned their televisions to RT during the second half of 2012, making it the third-most watched rolling news channel in Britain, behind BBC News and Sky News.
Criticism
Following the 2014 Kunming attack event, many major western media outlets covering the event with the quotation marks around the word “terrorism,” some in the article’s headline, some in the body, and some in both. China accused Western commentators, with their focus on Uighur rights, of hypocrisy and double standards on terrorism.
Russian media often claims that western media is biased.
United States
In the United States, movie production is known to be dominated by major studios since the early 20th Century; before that, there was a period in which Edison's Trust monopolized the industry. The music and television industries recently witnessed cases of media consolidation, with Sony Music Entertainment's parent company merging their music division with Bertelsmann AG's BMG to form Sony BMG and Tribune's The WB and CBS Corp.'s UPN merging to form The CW. In the case of Sony BMG, there existed a "Big Five" (now "Big Four") of major record companies, while The CW's creation was an attempt to consolidate ratings and stand up to the "Big Four" of American network (terrestrial) television (this despite the fact that the CW was, in fact, partially owned by one of the Big Four in CBS). In television, the vast majority of broadcast and basic cable networks, over a hundred in all, are controlled by eight corporations: News Corporation (the Fox family of channels), The Walt Disney Company (which includes the ABC, ESPN and Disney brands), National Amusements (which includes CBS Corporation and Viacom), Comcast (which includes the NBC brands), Time Warner, Discovery Communications, E. W. Scripps Company, Cablevision, or some combination thereof.
There may also be some large-scale owners in an industry that are not the causes of monopoly or oligopoly. Clear Channel Communications, especially since the Telecommunications Act of 1996, acquired many radio stations across the United States, and came to own more than 1,200 stations. However, the radio broadcasting industry in the United States and elsewhere can be regarded as oligopolistic regardless of the existence of such a player. Because radio stations are local in reach, each licensed a specific part of spectrum by the FCC in a specific local area, any local market is served by a limited number of stations. In most countries, this system of licensing makes many markets local oligopolies. The similar market structure exists for television broadcasting, cable systems and newspaper industries, all of which are characterized by the existence of large-scale owners. Concentration of ownership is often found in these industries.
In the United States, data on ownership and market share of media companies is not held in the public domain.
Recent media mergers in the United States
Over time the amount of media merging has increased and the amount of media outlets have increased. That translates to fewer companies owning more media outlets, increasing the concentration of ownership. In 1983, 90% of US media was controlled by fifty companies; today, 90% is controlled by just six companies.
The "Big Six"
Although Viacom and CBS Corporation have been separate companies since 2006, they are both partially owned subsidiaries of the private National Amusements company, headed by Sumner Redstone. As such, Paramount Home Entertainment handles DVD/Blu-ray distribution for most of the CBS Corporation library.
American public distrust in the media
A 2012 Gallup poll found that Americans' distrust in the mass media had hit a new high, with 60% saying they had little or no trust in the mass media to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly. Distrust had increased since the previous few years, when Americans were already more negative about the media than they had been in the years before 2004.