Guided Meditation

Healing Meditation

A Healing Guided Meditation

In the News

Hubble Confirms New Dark Spot on Neptune | NASA

www.nasa.gov/feature/.../hubble-imagery-confirms-new-dark-spot-on-neptune

NASA

Neptune's dark vortices are high-pressure systems and are usually accompanied by bright "companion clouds," which are also now visible on the distant planet.

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Analysis of "Persuasion in the Media Age" (part 17)

Nonverbals

Introduction

A key ingredient in a persuader's image is his or her ability to use nonverbal communication - eye movement, body language and facial expression. We are constantly exposed to the nonverbal messages of politicians who appear on our televisions, celebrities who appear in print and broadcast advertisements and colleagues with whom we meet at work. Media give us the opportunity to assess the nonverbal communication of persuaders. The literature on nonverbal communication is extensive. This post will focus on eye movement. 


Eye Movement

Researchers have studied eye movements for their meanings and persuasive effects. Dale G. Leathers (1997) identifies six persuasive functions of eye movements: attention, persuasion, regulatory, affective, power and impression management. The attention function describes the ability of eye movement to signal the readiness to communicate and "degree of mutual interest" the two parties in the communication exhibit. Length of gaze, direction of gaze, kind of gaze and pupil size are the key variables that contribute to understanding the attention function. Researchers found that enlarged pupil size indicate that the individual is interested in a stimulus and that he or she is emotionally aroused (Persuasion in the Media Age by Timothy A. Borchers, pg. 261).

The persuasive function of eye movement relates to the credibility of a source, as determined by his or her eye contact. Looking down, rapidly moving one's eyes, and blinking frequently are an indication that the source is not being honest. Direct eye contact, on the other hand, is indicative of honesty and trustworthiness (Borchers, pg. 261).

The eyes also communicate power, status and personal dominance. This is labeled the power function. Leathers (1997) explains, "The license to stare at others for the purpose of domination is the exclusive prerogative of powerful people." By contrast, individuals who view themselves as weak, avert their eye contact from others and often look downward (Borchers, pg. 261-2).

Finally, eye contact is one nonverbal behavior that can be controlled to a certain degree. Effective sources of persuasion monitor their eye behavior to display assertiveness, and communicativeness. Leathers  argues that powerful leaders have a "look" that is created, in part, by their eye movements (Borchers, pg. 262).

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Analysis of "Persuasion in the Media Age" (part 16)

Pseudoevents

Pseudoevents are staged events that make use of visual images to punctuate a persuaders verbal message. According to Daniiel Boorstin (1975), Pseudoevents are false events staged simply to prompt news coverage of a person, place or thing. An interview, a protest and a ribbon-cutting ceremony at a new business are examples of pseudoevents. Jamieson (1988) contends that pseudoevents abound in today's world. In fact, persuaders who carefully manage pseudoevents craft much of what we see and learn about the world. Pseudoevents make use of both linguistic and visual signs. Boorstin argues that pseudoevents are dramatic, repeatable, convenient and commoditized.

Pseudoevents are dramatic, which makes them which makes them noteworthy. The newsmedia seek stories that are dramatic so that viewers and readers will tune into their broadcasts or read what they have written. Thus, stories that depart from the norm are considered newsworthy. Pseudoevents make every effort to attract the newsmedia's attention. Protests are good examples of dramatic pseudoevents. When celebrities are involved, protests are even more dramatic. Dramatic pseudoevents are designed specifically to draw media coverage.

Boorstin (1975) notes that pseudoevents are also repeatable. They are not singular events staged by a persuader. Instead they are held repeatedly to reinforce the persuader's message and receive continuing news coverage. It has become common for political candidates to draw out the announcements of their candidacy for public office. They may announce their candidacy several times, in different locations and at different times

Pseudoevents are convenient as well. The time and place of pseudoevents often determine their success in receiving media attention. Media are constrained by resources of time and money and often focus on events that they can cover cheaply and easily. Pseudoevents are typically held in places that target media can access easily and at times that are compatible with the media's schedule 

Finally pseudoevents are commoditized meaning that the content of pseudoevents has value for us. We value being informed about the latest pseudoevents. Being informed about pseudoevents is a status symbol in the public's view. The announcement of Academy Award nominations is a big event broadcast live to the nation each winter. Millions view this pseudoevent in their desire to know the latest news about which celebrities are Oscar nominees and which movies have been declared the best. As a pseudoevent, the show has value for its viewers.

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Analysis of "Persuasion in the Media Age" (part 15)

Persuasion and Language

Introduction

The Beginning

Naming

Burke argued that language is magical. He also emphasized the idea of attitude - that the words we use contain attitudes toward the objects, ideas or people we describe. Those attitudes suggest responses on the part of audience members . When people name objects, people or ideas they are using the power of language. Here are two examples:


The Middle

• In an article published before World War II erupted, Burke examined the language strategies used by the German leader, Adolf Hitler, Burke's article "The Rhetoric of Hitler's Battle," identified the language strategies used by Hitler in his book Mein Kampf. Hitler elevated the meaning of the word Aryan so that people of Aryan descent were superior to those who were Jews. Hitler also labeled the Jewish people as being responsible for Germany's economic troubles, allowing the German people to scapegoat the Jews for their financial difficulties. Finally,Hitler used words to give Germans the sense that their lives could return to normal if they removed the Jews from Germany. Hitler's naming strategy was effective. The power of language presents us with challenging ethical concerns
• In politics, the title of "frontrunner" has become a powerful way for the newsmedia to shape our attitudes toward political candidates

Framing

Symbols suggest a perspective from which we should look at something. Burke (1969) writes that our language use reflects our motives. A motive is another word for a situation. Says Burke, "The way we view the world depends on how we define the situation to which we are exposed."

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Analysis of "Persuasion in the Media Age" (part 14)

Persuasion and Language

Creating Social Reality

If you accept the proposition that reality is constructed through our language, then you can understand how important language is in the creation maintenance and the transformation of social reality. We constantly use words to manage our reality and the reality of others. Persuaders seek to create reality for their audience members, maintain current beliefs or transform cultural beliefs to better serve their interests. To better understand this point, let us examine the theories of Kenneth Burke, one of the most influential communication theorists of the 20th century.

Symbol use is fundamental to our definition of persuasion. Burke developed a comprehensive theory called dramatism to describe how humans use symbols. Burke theorizes that language`is a way of acting. When we use words, we engage in action. We "do things" with language. For him, language is not a neutral technology, but one that has great power over those who engage in it. His theory of dramatism provides a complex account of how words operate to induce individuals to identify with each other. 

Symbol Use

Burke said that humans are symbol using animals. Symbols stand for or represent some object or concept and symbols lie at the core of our communication system. Burke provides a rich account of the power, both good and bad, of symbol use. He says that humans create symbols to name things, and these names contain an attitude. An attitude is a learned response to some person object or idea; also, a way of seeing the world that is reflected in our language. It is our emotional state prior to acting. Language reveals our attitudes. In his book The Philosophy of Literary Form, Burke writes that "language is the dancing of an attitude" (1973 p. 9). He says when we use language we are "choosing from among magics."

Language has within it these features that give it power:

•    One of the features inherent to language is the negative, the linguistic act of saying somethings is not something else.
• Another implicit aspect of our language use is that we are "goaded by an aspect of hierarchy" (Burke, 1966, p. 16). When we use language to differentiate between people, places or things, we inevitably create structures in which one word has a higher place or standing than others. Thus our language creates hierarchies or social structures. For example, in school one can be a freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior. 
• Perfection is the desire to take ideas or actions to the extreme
• Guilt is a psychological feeling of discomfort that arises when order is violated and it is an inevitable result of our language use. We have just discussed three sources of guilt: the negative, hierarchy and perfection. All three produce guilt because of symbol use. The negative creates guilt because it specifies moral action. Our language specifies what we should and should not do. When we do what our language says is wrong, we experience guilt. We also experience guilt because of our place in the hierarchy. If we do not achieve success or if we somehow violate the rules of the hierarchy, we experience guilt. Guilt also arises when we do not achieve perfection - and sometimes when we do. When we take something to its extreme, we may feel guilt because we have injured someone along the way.

• For Burke, the primary function of symbolic acts is to produce identification. Identification occurs when we share a similar way of viewing the world with someone else. Consider an advertisement for a fitness club. Advertisements for exercise clubs often use guilt to induce its audience to join the club and achieve their fitness goals. The use of negative in this ad, as well as its appeal to perfection, would make you feel guilt about not being a member of this club. Toward the end of the ad, the club would likely provide information about how to join. We would then identify with the club and its way of seeing the world. You would share motives with the fitness club and would join the club to rid yourself of the guilt caused by not being a member.

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Analysis of "Persuasion in the Media Age" (part 13)

Persuasion and Visual Images

Television Images

Television images are quite different from film images. A film uses a series of still images that are projected very rapidly on a screen. We only think the images are moving. Television images are made up of tiny dots that are constantly in motion. The smaller size of the television screens also influences the meaning we attach to the images that we see. For example, horror movies are scarier when we see them on a large movie screen than on our smaller television screen. The smaller size of the screen and the shorter distance we sit from the screen when we watch television give us the illusion that we are being with others when we watch television, that we have an "electronic intimacy." The smaller screen also means that the action moves toward and away from us. On a theater screen the action moves from side to side. Television images draw us in because of the intimacy of our relationship with the screen and because of the direction in which the action takes place. Also, camera angle influences what we see and how we relate with those images. 

Interactive Multimedia

Interactive multimedia, including the World Wide Web is a medium that combines many elements, such as:typography, photography, video and computer-generated images. A website such as CNN.com typically employs text, photographs, video and charts. A CD-ROM that a company distributes to potential customers includes the same type of images. Yet there are some important differences in how viewers use these images. With interactive multimedia, the user controls which images to look at, the size of the images and the camera angle. The user navigates the website or CD-ROM without the presence or the direction of the persuader.

Attracting attention

Messaris (1997) argues that persuaders must must get the attention of the audience if they are to be successful. The use of celebrities who look into the camera and talk directly to us about a particular product is an example of the attention-getting function of images. This approach works because we like to look at people who are looking at us. Images attract attention in several ways, contends Messaris: violating reality, using a metaphor, playing on a visual parody and direct eye gaze.

First, images can violate reality in an attempt to get us to look at them. When an image appears to differ from reality, we are drawn to it. We expect one view of reality and the image provides another. That incongruity attracts our attention. An advertisement showing a sport utility vehicle impossibly perched high on a rock cliff draws your attention to the powerful engine and off road  performance qualities of the truck. With computer-generated video technology it is quite easy for persuaders to create ads that violate reality.

Second, Messaris contends that images contain metaphors for what they are supposed to mean. We are again drawn to the image because it is different from what we expect.

Images also attract our attention when they make use of visual parodies. Visual parodies use well-known images in new ways. Grant Wood's painting American Gothic has been used in countless ways by advertisers trying to get us to take notice of their product. 

Direct eye gaze is another way of attracting attention. We look at people who are looking at us. We give them our attention. The well-known poster of Uncle Sam calling to potential army recruits is a classic example of using direct eye gaze to attract attention. The covers of popular magazines often use direct eye gaze by featuring a model who is looking at as. We look back and are drawn to the magazine.

In the News

Science Gets to the Bottom Of Neptune's Weird 'Wobbles'

Gizmodo‎ - 2 days ago

Neptune, the farthest named planet in our solar system (sorry Pluto), is unusual in a lot of ...

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Analysis of "Persuasion in the Media Age" (part 12)

Creating Audiences

In addition to tailoring their messages to audiences, persuaders often create audiences that have attitudes consistent with their message. The "audience"is generally only some segment of the entire population. It may be a group of people who are of the same age or income level. Assembling the right people to hear, read and see the message is often crucial to the persuader's success. For example. advertisers target their messages to audiences that are created for them by television networks, newspapers and magazines. Knowing that an audience comprised of 18-34 year old women will have attributes that are attractive to certain high-paying advertisers, television production companies create shows that this audience will want to watch. Advertisers are willing to pay advertising rates to networks that air these shows. The television network creates an audience for the advertiser. Audiences are commodities that are bought by persuaders and sold by media organizations.

Politicians create target audiences as well. It is common for presidential elections to focus on middle-class working families. Anticipating that this audience will cast the crucial votes in an election, the candidates campaigne on issues that would interest this group of voters: healthcare, social security and targeted tax-cuts. Although the candidates may ignore the needs and concerns of the larger audience.

Attorneys create audiences for their trials as well, in most jurisdictions more jurors are called to jury duty than will eventually hear the case. Attorneys choose from the larger groups of jurors those who they believe will be sympathetic to their case and will fairly evaluate the evidence. Jury consultants help attorneys make decisions about which jurors to seat and how to appeal to the jury. Our judicial system is set up so that attorneys have some control over the creation of the jury panel, their audience.

In some situations persuaders use polling to directly assess audience attitudes toward a topic. Or persuaders use audience segmentation techniques to infer their audience's attitudes. Some persuaders also use ratings of media audiences to determine audience size and attitudes. In all of these instances persuaders use audience analysis to more precisely target their message toward receptive receivers.  

Geodemographics

Geodemographics is an audience analysis technique that shows where audiences with particular demographic characteristics live. Persuaders can divide counties and cities into one block units and target their communication even more narrowly. The outdoor advertising industry uses geodemographic information in sales of billboards. Billboards are an effective way to reach young and active adults who spend a lot of time driving and less time in front of the television. A research firm in Illinois takes pictures of car license plates as the drivers pass by its billboards. Each plate is then tracked to its owner's address, giving the billboard advertiser a great deal of information about who is exposed to particular billboards

Altoids, "the curiously strong peppermint" is a popular product among young adult consumers. Research found that most potential consumers were not exposed to traditional advertising on television or radio. Using geodemographics, Altoid's ad agency determined where potential customers lived. The agency then placed ads in nontraditional locations, such as telephone booths, bus shelters and on city buses - places potential customers visited each day. In each of the 12 markets tested, sales increased 50 percent.

In Sum

Whether you are selling a political candidate or pitching an idea to your supervisors, understanding your audience is crucial. The audience for persuasive messages today is potentially large, anonymous and able to circumvent the persuasive process. Mediated audiences can be quite small, known to persuaders and powerless in the face of the persuasive process

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Analysis of "Persuasion in the Media Age" (part 11)

The Audience in the Media Age

Technology has made the audience a prominent feature in the persuasion process. Audiences play an active role in the cocreation of meaning. Persuaders use audience analysis to understand their audience and adapt their messages. At the same time technology makes it possible for audiences to circumvent the messages of persuaders and communicate directly with oter audience members.

Size

Media audiences are potentially very large. While the ancient Greeks and Romans relied on vocal projecion to reach audiences as large as several thousand, today's persuaders can reach millions through radio, television, print, or Internet. For example, the Super Bowl annually attracts television audiences of 40 million, usually the largest television audience of the year. During a typical week the top-rated television show is watched by tens of millions of viewers. On some rare occasions, such as presidential debates, as many as 70 million viewers tune in for some portion of the debate. Large audiences mean that a persuader's message must appeal to many different groups of people. Large audiences potentially give an enormous amount of power to the persuader. Persuaders can set the public agenda for what it discusses, shape societal values and beliefs and influence how we spend our tme and money. Two important concepts - narrowcasting versus broadcasting strategies and primary versus secondary audiences -  can help us better understand how audience size affects media persuaders.



Narrowcasting versus Broadcasting

Both traditional broadcast networks and smaller cable-only networks have taken advantage of narrowcasting to reach desired audiences. Narrowcasting is a strategy used by persuaders to target a small and narrrowly defined audience. Narrowcasting allows persuaders to reach ideal target audiences for their messages. Television shows such as Trading Spaces and ESPN Sportscenter are examples of narrowcast programming. Advertisers who want to reach people who are interested in these subjects know that these programs will deliver the most receptive audiences. The advent of cable has brought aboutt the creation of numerous television networks, some with very small audiences. The Golf Channel, the Food Network and Comedy Central are examples of networks that appeal to audiences that are smaller than those enjoyed by the traditional networks of NBC, ABC and CBS.

The decreasing numbers of television viewers in recent years is causing networks to rethink this narrowcasting aapproach. Broadcasters are looking to attract more diverse audiences than in the past. Consequently, we are seeing a return to broadcasting, an attempt by network executives to attract a demographically more diverse audience. Broadcasting is effective for advertisers who are trying to create a highly recognizable brand. In any case, persuaders manipulate audience size through narrowcasting or broadcasting strategies.

Primary versus Secondary Audiences

Although the primary audience for a persuader's message may be large, secondary audiences hear about, see or read a persuader's message after it has intially reached the intended audience. Technology allows a persuader's message to be rceived by multiple audiences. Before paper was invented, ancient persuaders relied on the art of storytelling. The Audience had to be immediately present to hear the speaker's words. Only after the story had been retold to others did its audience grow.

Today it is rare that a persuader's message remains only in the eyes and ears of the initial audience. Through print and broadcast technology, the entire world is able to read, see and hear persuasive communication. It is important for persuaders to create their messages for multiple audiences.

In The News

There's a funny atmosphere on Neptune...

Neptune is the outermost planet in our solar system, and its atmosphere holds plenty of ...

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Analysis of "Persuasion in the Media Age" (part 10)

Television

Television is the dominant medium in the United States. America is awash in television. We spend on average 5 hours a day watching television. Men and women are relatively equal in their viewing. Television's influence on persuasion is profound.



Technological Advances

As the viewer gains more control over television programming, that very same technology allows persuaders to more specifically target their messages to audiences. Persuaders must adapt their methods of reaching audiences.



Cognitive Effects

Television has changed the way we view time and space. We can view live events taking place many  miles from where we live. We are thus transported by television to those places. The impact of the electronic media on our culture is profound.

Television has changed the way we process information and view the world around us. The introduction of television to our society created subcultures of individuals who perceived the world differently than did those who primarily used print or radio media sources. The world became fragmented when individuals began to view society in different ways. With numerous cable channels audiences are subdivided into many distinct units. Advertisers must deal with these smaller more fragmented audiences in new ways.

Social influence

Television is a profound socializing force that persuades us to accept a certain view of the world. We find television sets in many locations around the house: the family room, the living room, the kitchen and the bedroom.Televisions are now standard features in some automobiles and we can receive television broadcasts on our workplace computers, meaning we are potentially exposed to television all of our waking hours.

Internet

Persuaders design messages specifically for the internet as well as use the Internet to disseminate messages traditionally conveyed through other media. The Internet is a unique type of media and signals a shift to the concept of convergence.

The Internet actually began in the 1960s as a way for military leaders to communicate in times of crisis. After commercialization was allowed, the Internet exploded providing a fast inexpensive way to communicate with others. The Internet has no central control and no one owns the Internet. 

Four Important Features of the Internet

• The Internet  has erased the boundaries of time and space
• The Internet's use of hypertext has given audiences of persuasive messages more control over how they process information
• The technology of the Internet allows for interactivity
• The Internet has greatly enhanced the ability of persuaders to target specific audiences

Convergence: The Blurring of Media Boundaries

Convergence describes the integration of voice, video and data technologies. In the past radio, television and print media sources were separate entities. Audiences would obtain information separately from each medium. However, development of the Internet and the Telecommunications Act of 1996 facilitated the development of new broadband systems. Now, different media sources, and even telephone, are combined into a vast network. Television and radio networks broadcast on the Internet. Newspapers and magazines are published online. As the equipment with which we access media becomes a single unit, the possibilities will be virtually limitless 

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Analysis of "Persuasion in the Media Age" (part 9)

Radio

Next to television, radio is the second most popular media source today. Ninety-nine percent of all households have a radio. There are thousands of AM and FM stations in the united States. Approximately 85 percent of all Americans listen to the radio and we spend an average of approximately three hours a day listening to it. Teenagers in particular tune into the radio. 95 percent of the nation's youth listen to the radio for an average of 10 hours a week. Radio offers teens music and they listen to the radio wherever they are: at home, in the car, at school or at work. For advertisers, radio is an effective marketing tool because teens are loyal to their radio stations and radio stations usually segment their audiences neatly for advertisers.

Today in this blog, I will address three types of radio: talk radio, Internet radio and satellite radio.

l also go into source consolidation. Talk radio is the most popular radio format in the United States. Prior to 1987, a federal law called the Fairness Doctrine restricted blatantly ideological radio programming. However with its repeal the airwaves opened  to talk radio and to hosts, like Rush Limbaugh, who makes his political leanings no secret. More than half of talk radio today is devoted to politics.

Reasearchers have identifi3d several reasons fortalk radio's prominence. Some contend that talk radio fosters a sense of community for its listeners and provides audience members with the opportunity to say what is on their minds. Talk radio has been described as an antiestablishment medium. It allows callers to voice their displeasure with the nature of current events. Conservative talk show hosts and their callers dominate talk radio. Talk radio has a profound influence on American political and social life.

Second, technology has altered the radio industry and changed radio's role in the persuasion process. Computer and satellite technology allows local stations to give the illusion that they are being responsive to local demands for programming and news. However, in reality, with relatively new Internet and satellite technology, a technician at a small station can literally cut and paste bits of local news, weather and chatter into piped-in programming with a click of a mouse.

With Internet access, people can receive radio broadcasts from around the world over the Internet. Satellite radio allows users to receive radio broadcasts beamed from a satellite. Although satellite radio is available in the home and in the workplace, the most significant application is in cars. You can drive from California to Maine and listen to the same radio station the entire way. Direct-to-consumer satellite broadcast presents new challenges for local radio stations while allowing consumers to receive entertainment options specifically suited to their tastes. Advertisers will have to adapt to boh Internet and satellite radio as they attempt to reach consumers.

Finally

Consolidation

Concentration of Media Ownership

Consolidation
consolidation or media convergence) is a process whereby progressively fewer individuals or organizations control increasing shares of the mass media. Contemporary research demonstrates increasing levels of consolidation, with many media industries already highly concentrated and dominated by a very small number of firms.

Globally, large media conglomerates include Viacom,CBS Corporation, Time Warner, 21st Century Fox and News Corp (the former News Corporation, split in 2013), Bertelsmann, Sony, Comcast, Vivendi, Televisa, The Walt Disney Company, Hearst Corporation,Organizações Globo and Lagardère Group.

As of 2015, Comcast Corporation is the largest media conglomerate in the US, with The Walt Disney Company, Twenty-First Century Fox and Time Warner ranking second, third and fourth respectively.

In nations described as authoritarian by most international think-tanks and NGOs, media ownership is generally something very close to the complete state control over information in direct or indirect ways.

Mergers

Media mergers are a result of one media related company buying another company for control of their resources in order to increase revenues and viewership. As information and entertainment become a major part of our culture, media companies have been creating ways to become more efficient in reaching viewers and turning a profit. Successful media companies usually buy out other companies to make them more powerful, profitable, and able to reach a larger viewing audience. Media mergers have become more prevalent in recent years, which has people wondering about the negative effects that could be caused by media ownership becoming more concentrated. Such negative effects that could come into play are lack of competition and diversity as well as biased political views.

Media Oligopoly

An oligopoly is when a few firms dominate a market. When the larger scale media companies buy out the more smaller-scaled or local companies they become more powerful within the market. As they continue to eliminate their business competition through buyouts or forcing them out, the companies left dominate the media industry and create a media oligopoly.

Risks for Media Integrity

Media integrity is at risk when small number of companies and individuals control the media market. Media integrity refers to the ability of a media outlet to serve the public interest and democratic process, making it resilient to institutional corruption within the media system, economy of influence, conflicting dependence and political clientelism. Media integrity is especially endangered in the case when there are clientelist relations between the owners of the media and political centers of power. Such a situation enables excessive instrumentalization of the media for particular political interests, which is subverting the democratic role of the media.

Elimination of Net Neutrality

Net neutrality is also at stake when media mergers occur. Net neutrality involves a lack of restrictions on content on the internet, however, with big businesses supporting campaigns financially they tend to have influence over political issues, which can translate into their mediums. These big businesses that also have control over internet usage or the airwaves could possibly make the content available biased from their political stand point or they could restrict usage for conflicting political views, therefore eliminating Net Neutrality.

Debates and Issues

Concentration of media ownership is very frequently seen as a problem of contemporary media and society. When media ownership is concentrated in one or more of the ways mentioned above, a number of undesirable consequences follow, including the following:

• Commercially driven, ultra-powerful mass market media is primarily loyal to sponsors, i.e. advertisers and government rather than to the public interest.
• Only a few companies representing the interests of a minority elite control the public airwaves.
• Healthy, market-based competition is absent, leading to slower innovation and increased prices.

Diversity of Viewpoints

It is important to elaborate upon the issue of media consolidation and its effect upon the diversity of information reaching a particular market. Critics of consolidation raise the issue of whether monopolistic or oligopolistic control of a local media market can be fully accountable and dependable in serving the public interest.

Freedom of the Press and Editorial Independence

On the local end, reporters have often seen their stories refused or edited beyond recognition. An example would be the repeated refusal of networks to air "ads" from anti-war advocates to liberal groups like MoveOn.org, or religious groups like the United Church of Christ, regardless of factual basis. Journalists and their reports may be directly sponsored by parties who are the subject of their journalism leading to reports which actually favor the sponsor, have that appearance, or are simply a repetition of the sponsors opinion.

Consequently, if the companies dominating a media market choose to suppress stories that do not serve their interests, the public suffers, since they are not adequately informed of some crucial issues that may affect them.

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consolidation or media convergence) is a process whereby progressively fewer individuals or organizations control increasing shares of the mass media. Contemporary research demonstrates increasing levels of consolidation, with many media industries already highly concentrated and dominated by a very small number of firms.