EOTO #2: what I learned

 

    Mainstream media is a common term in the United States, and in recent years has gained popularity. Prior to the second EOTO presentations, I had already had a pretty good understanding of what mainstream media was and the effects of it, however, I still learned a great deal about it. 

  Mainstream media is typically defined as the sources where most Americans get their daily news: CNN, Fox News, NBC, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. However, mainstream media is not limited to these five sources, rather it includes any big company under corporate umbrellas with trained journalists, users, and a vast majority of resources. As technology expands, the access to mainstream media has grown tremendously. In today's age, mainstream media is accessible through your smart phone and available to most social media users. 

    Mainstream media is a great tool to get news spread among the nation quickly, however, there are multiple cons that come with it. Most mainstream media networks are catered towards a specific political party. CNN is typically catered towards liberals, while Fox News is directed towards republican and conservative audiences. This can be a negative thing because it doesn't allow people to get unbiased news, rather they get news which a certain network caters to their own beliefs. In addition to news networks catering news to their own beliefs, the government has recently been coinciding with these mainstream media networks to bring you news they want you to hear. This has resulted in defamation. An example of this was when Paul Waldman, an opinion writer for the Post, wrote, "The 2020 election will obviously be distinct in all kinds of ways we can’t yet anticipate. For instance, who knows what sort of aid Russia and North Korea will give to the Trump campaign, now that he has invited them to offer their assistance?" This was a defamatory statement because Trump nor any of his associates announced using Russian or North Korean assistance, nor has he in the past. 

    While the mainstream media allows us to spread and retrieve news quickly, it can also result in fake news being spread. We should try to investigate the news we watch and read and ensure we getting the truth and nothing but the truth.