EOTO: Mainstream Media

What is Mainstream Media

You might hear mainstream media referred to as corporate media, legacy media, or establishment press. Mainstream media refers to mass modes of communication where information, opinion, advocacy, propaganda, artwork, and other forms of expression are conveyed to a large audience.

What Americans think 
mainstream media
includes.

According to Pew Research Center, most of Americans consider seven news networks a part of mainstream media. These include ABC, CNN, New York Times, MSNBC, Fox, Wall Street Journal, and New York Post. 

ABC: ABC stands for American Broadcasting Company. They are a broadcasting network based out of New York City. It was created in 1926 when the Radio Corporation of America (RCA Corporation) founded the National Broadcasting Company (NBC). 

CNN: CNN (Cable News Network) is a broadcasting network based out of Atlanta. It was created by Ted Turner, a maverick broadcasting executive. They first went on air on June 1st, 1980. CNN became well respected after their on-site coverage of the Challenger disaster.

*Fun fact: CNN was often referred to as "The Chicken Noodle Network" by its competitors.

New York Times: The New York Times is a daily morning newspaper published in New York City. It was created in 1851 as a penny paper. Adolph Simon Ochs bought the paper in 1896 and transformed it into an internationally respected daily. It gained more popularity after its coverage of the Titanic.

MSNBC: MSNBC is a liberal news network owned by the NBCUniversal. It was created in 1996 by Microsoft and NBC. It was no until Microsoft left in 2005 that MSNBC began to take a more left-leaning stance. They originally focused on liberal and conservative issues. 

Fox News: Fox news is a cable television and political commentary network. It was founded in 1996 by Rupert Murdoch. He attempted to purchase CNN, when that failed, he decided to create his own news channel. 

Wall Street Journal: The Wall Street Journal is a daily business and financial newspaper based out of New York City that is sold throughout the United States. It was founded by Charles H. Dow to cover business and financial news in 1889. As of 2024, it had 3.5 million digital subscribers.

New York Post: The New York Post is a conservative newspaper based in New York City that was founded in 1801 by Alexander Hamilton. It is the oldest news source, and it uses print, digital, video, social, audio, app, television, and commerce to get information to reach its audience.

Pros and Cons

Just like most other things in the world, there are both positive and negative effects of mainstream media.

Pros:

• Keeps people connected. Because of mainstream media, everyone is able to know what is going on in the world. This, however, can also be negative because there are certain things mainstream media can take way out of proportion.

• 
  Give voice to people. If you're not rich or "important" in this world, it is unlikely people will care about what you have to say. However, with mainstream media, if you have a problem, you want the world to hear, you can simply reach out to a news network and your story will be heard.

Cons:

• Can be used for disinformation. "Fake news" is a very common saying nowadays. This saying is not inaccurate. Many mainstream medias like to twist the truth to reach their target audience, but it's not necessarily true.

• 
  Take over personal connections. Because social media and technology are so big now, people are always on their phones. This takes away from face-to-face conversations as everyone now chooses to be on their phones rather than connecting with other people.

Effect on Me, My Family, Friends, and Generation

Personally, I grew up watching the news. Our daily routine was to wake up around 6 in the morning and do our chores while the news was on. We weren't allowed to watch anything else because my parents wanted us to know about what was going on the world.

Though watching the news is how I grew up, I rarely ever watch the news on TV anymore, which I believe is due to the increase in social media platforms and streaming services. Now, I tend to watch Netflix while doing my chores and getting ready in the morning. When I have downtime, I choose to watch TikTok rather than turn my TV on and watch the news. I believe this is very similar for other kids in my generation. A lot of us choose to watch Netflix, Hulu, Instagram reels, or TikToks rather than turn on the news, especially because we can get very similar information from there.