We all know the mainstream media is largely right-of-center, but...

[LiberalLoner]

I'm not 100% convinced it's because the corporations are in control of the media.

Part of me wonders if maybe the MSM is right-wing because for the past 20 or 30 years, it's been the "in" thing to be right-wing.

I really think so many of the anchors and producers and writers in their 50's, 60's and 70's have just come to see anything progressive as being the view of only a very few extremists. I think most of them truly believe that America in general is a right-leaning nation.

I think they are just stunned at the change in the air with President Obama having been elected, and they are like a deer in the headlights, stunned and still trying to follow the old rules and just clueless that the ground is shifting underneath them.

I think in the next decade or so, as more and more progressives make their voices and votes heard, the MSM will begin to change.

Right now, I think they are just stuck in the past and don't really see that there has been a big sea change.

[damntexdem]

1. Actually, it's generally wrong-of-center.

;-)

And I still say to follow the money -- and the ownership.

[LiberalLoner]

2. LOL, I like that phrase. You're probably right.

[ananda]

9. If you go left you'll be right; if you go right, you'll be wrong.

:-)

[LiberalLoner]

10. I'm all confused now, LOL!

[left is right]

15. I think that quite often

so much so I made it my screen name “Left is right” (and right is wrong)

[Cirque du So-What]

11. Yep. 'Follow the money' leapt to mind when I saw the OP

You've also got to ask why a company such as General Electric - with defense contracts galore - would be interested in a media company such as NBC when there are much easier ways to make a buck. Media ownership, however, offers intangible benefits, such as a huge megaphone through which propaganda can be dispensed to the populace. If I were a war profiteer - a Daddy Warbucks with an embarrassment of riches - I'd be purchasing media outlets for propaganda purposes as well.

[Cosmocat]

16. Who writes the paycheck, but ...

like it or not, the right has defined the culture ...

they just keep repeating their shit, and the msm has given up even trying to call them on it ...

That is why Reagen has been defined as one of the all time great presidents ...
That is why the spew their tax cutting BS as the be all, end all for everything ...


It just never stops ...

The other thing is, they are flat out have been intimidated ... They know Rs will come after them, and likely can get them if they go off the party line - like they did with Phil Donanue, while Ds won't go after them ...

[Bitwit1234]

17. 7 out of 8 media conglomerates are OWNED BY REPUBLICANS.

They are the news readers masters.

[Sebastian Doyle]

18. 7 out of 8?

Which one is NOT owned by Repukes?

[JuniperLea]

3. Follow the money...

Advertising pays media... corporations pay for advertising...

Haven't you ever wondered why Boeing and other companies the public cannot purchase product or services from directly are spending mega-bucks on advertising? Could it be that they want to be able to pressure those they pay? I think so. "Do not run that show/news story or we will pull our advertising dollars!"

[NRaleighLiberal]

4. Part corporations, but I think largely all about $$$$$/eyeballs/selling ads.

Controversy makes many people tune in (why has Springer and worse thrived on TV for so long?). I think most regular TeeVee aficianados want to see a "train wreck".

True journalism, with the exception of a few (that most here respect), is pretty well dead in the US these days.

[DJ13]

5. You may be right

The shift right by the majority of MSM people (on air and behind the scenes) seems to also coincide with the rise in salaries (especially the on air talent) that began in the mid to late 80's when the owners of the major TV networks began requiring news divisions to become profit generators.

Many people become more selfish (right leaning) the more money they make.

[dchill]

6. All of the mainstream media have bought into...

the FOX canard that "fair" means truth is equal to bullshit. It now seems they were just about right.

[monmouth]

7. Many started to notice when they received that larger than expected

income tax refund, my son being one of them. He was stunned.

[LiberalLoner]

8. That's nice that people are noticing! Some right-wingers still think their taxes have been raised.

[Deep13]

12. Right of center?

That's only because the center is to the right of Reagan and Nixon. It's right of right and Fox is downright fascist. No hyperbole intended.

[LiberalLoner]

13. Yeah, I'm shocked at how far right our nation has gone since 1980. Unreal.

[WCGreen]

14. They all make a very good living and they all pay a lot in taxes...

they are part of the elite in this country and behave like almost everyone would in such a case, they vote their with their wallets...

[Rageneau]

19. The MSM has ALWAYS been right wing. Ask FDR or Truman.

The national press did everything it could to undermine and retard the actions of Democratic presidents Roosevelt and Truman -- so much so that FDR resorted to 'fireside chats' and Truman resorted to 'whistle-stop tours" because they had no other way to communicate directly with the people.

Same holds true for Obama. The only way he can win public support is to address the public directly. If he leaves the job to our "news" media, all that will happen is what happens every day -- incessant, anti-democratic lies and propaganda courtesy of all the networks, the wire services, the radio outlets and the major print influences, such as the New York (whore) Times and the Washington (whore) Post.

We have met the enemy and he is the MSM.

[Jennicut]

20. The collective media is a business, and they know who butters their bread and it is not us.

It is ad revenues from big companies.