Of The Failure of The American Press

A free, democratic society needs an informed public to function properly. Information about the events within a nation needs to be available to all citizens, from the CEO of a top Wall Street firm, to the college student, to the WalMart greeter.
In each segment of society, individuals are exposed to different information. People in one segment might be caught completely unaware of how things are in another segments. The Press should unify these segments by reporting on important information from all aspects of society. The divergent knowledge bases of our nation have instead been used to divide us, profit off others who are kept uninformed, and keep people from understanding society from a greater perspective.
When different segments of society get information from very different sources, the differing perspectives become solidified from years of being informed in only one perspective. This results in divisions and anger at other perspectives, which only makes ones beliefs stronger.
This is what happens when informing the public is left to profit driven corporations. Capitalism in certain parts of society results in exploitation of human nature.
When the motivation is to get advertisers to pay the most money to reach their audience, the organization does not want to upset the current balance that might damage the profitability of the news organization or the corporation as a whole. Having the greatly segmented society helps advertisers reach their intended audience more precisely.
This division of society has increased in recent years, party by consolidation of news organizations, and partly because of the success of overtly slanted news coverage. In a free society, these types of news coverage cannot be censored, but this cannot be how the majority of the nation learns about events. It does not allow for a society to remain free.
First, the general public has to realize and accept that the news they are getting has strong motivation behind it, and these motivations are not to be the best journalists. If society only valued getting the “best” reporting, the system would function well, but this is not the case. When entertaining or captivating news and news that reinforces already held beliefs is more valued, the system becomes disturbed. This is the easy way to increase profits, but destroys the value of having a free press in a free society. The public does not have access to the editor’s office that makes the decision on what is reported, what gets prominent coverage and what is buried. Since all we know is their motivation is to be profitable, these decisions have motivation beyond the best coverage of events and discussion of issues. The reason behind their decision can be even more nefarious, but jumping to further conclusions is all in the realm of conspiracy theories and do not do much good.
If the press’s coverage of stories is biased in some situations, how can we put our trust in any subject covered? Is NBC reporting the truth about China during the Olympics or do they just want to have the public have a good vision of China so their massive profits GE makes from the nation wont be looked down upon as supporting a torturous regime? Does the nightly news fail to investigate the FDA and prescription drugs because the majority of their commercials comes from prescription medication? Did the media report the truth about the events in the Russian Georgian conflict or did we only get the US/NATO side of it? Why does Exxon, Chevron, and Boeing advertise excessively on NBC's Meet the Press and during the Olympics? They don’t seem to be selling a product to anyone… maybe it's just a payoff to GE? When truthiness becomes the accepted way of reporting, how can we know what is true and what is being reported to keep us entertained, captivated, or marching in line?
The solution to this problem is no easier to arrive at then accepting the faults in the current system. A government run press leads to government influence on coverage by controlling funding or by direct influence. In our current society, there has to be a better way to achieve a well-informed citizenry. If only the individuals who America has put their trust in to inform them about the news did their job to the best of their ability, and stood up to their corporate bosses…. I know I am a dreamer…