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Breaking the U.S. News Cycle: Understanding Divisive Media Narratives

Updated: Jan 29


After conducting a thorough analysis of the media messaging in the United States of America, I have discovered a direct correlation between American media messaging and the country's communication norms. I have learned that communication norms within the United States of America strongly influence the nation's media content. Yet, on the other hand, the country's media messaging also dramatically impacts how American's communicate with one another. Over the past 50 years, there has been a growing political divide amongst the population of the United States of America. This divide can be partially attributed to the rise of divisive, partisan media that has almost mirrored the growth rate of the nation's political divide. In addition, American consumers' willingness to consume "clickbait" style content, as opposed to mundane updates on daily events, has played a significant role in the shift in the country's media content. Both American consumers and those who create the country's media messaging have played a seemingly equal role in shifting the nation's communication norms.

Most American media outlets incorporate a "profit over people" viewpoint into their organizational decision-making processes. This viewpoint calls one to create content that will produce the most significant profit, regardless of its impact on the media outlet's target audience(s). Sadly, there is an extreme lack of diversity of thought in American news, which is not surprising considering five out of the six companies that control at least 90% of American news are owned by white men (Lutz, 2012). These six companies include Disney, Comcast, National Amusements, News Corp, Time Warner, and Sony (WebFX Team, 2021). Each corporation controls a sizeable market share and sector of American media, allowing them to dictate the content used in the messaging of their subsidiary corporations. In addition, venture capital and private equity firms, such as Alden Capital, have been buying, liquidating, and closing the doors of most local newspapers in the United States of America (Coppins, 2021). The continual mergers, acquisitions, and liquidations plaguing American media and news industries have caused American citizens to become increasingly reliant on the big six media outlets to fulfill their desire for news consumption.

Many American citizens use electronic devices, such as smartphones, computers, televisions, etc., to create a seemingly endless self-fulfilling prophesy of content designed to keep them engaged for the longest amount of time and maximize content creators' advertisement revenue. For example, an individual may use a social media platform to view videos of cute animals. The algorithm controlling the platform will recognize the specific style of content this individual enjoys consuming and provide them with an endless supply of content tailored to peak this consumer's engagement and harvest their energy. Many consumers fall victim to spending hours on their electronic devices while hardly knowing any time has passed. This trend can be partially attributed to the predatory algorithms used by many platform developers designed to keep consumers on their platform for the longest possible time. The developers' reasoning for creating such an aggressive approach primarily stems from the revenue a consumer's harvested energy produces for platform developers from advertisers.

Photo: Kevin Carden

Additionally, the longer a platform developer can keep a consumer engaged on their platform, the more control they have over that individual's thought patterns and communication styles. For instance, if a consumer spends an average of 8 hours a day on Twitter, they are making themselves more susceptible to allowing the developers behind Twitter's algorithm to control how they think and speak. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has only increased the amount of time Americans spend on their digital devices. This increase in screen time across the United States has significantly increased the amount of control platform developers, advertisers, and content creators have on the average American consumer's thought patterns and communication norms. The Overton Window is a lens through which one can see which ideas are generally accepted or rejected by the American population. Ideas inside the Overton Window are considered "politically safe," while ideas outside of the Overton Window may be too radical for the public to accept. The Overton Window dictates what ideas a politician runs on, regardless of political affiliation. If they support ideas inside the Overton Window, they have a better chance of getting elected than if they support ideas outside of the Overton Window. Anything that changes the public's perception of an idea can cause a shift in the Overton Window. Sadly, in the United States of America, media is the most influential force to cause shifts in the Overton Window. With most American media being controlled by six companies, these six conglomerates have the most significant level of control over policies created in American politics. In addition, these six corporations can control American consumers' thoughts and communication norms who still allow their energy to be harvested through the creation of and engagement with their self-fulfilling prophecies.


Photo: VectorMine


Of the six media conglomerates that control 90% of American media, Disney is the largest, with a valuation of $265.78 Billion, according to Macro Trends December 3, 2021, DIS valuation analysis. Disney's subsidiaries include Vice News, ABC News, ESPN, A&E Networks, LucasFilm, the History Channel, Marvel Studios, Pixar, GameStar, Interactive Studios, Lifetime, and Freeform. As a result, Disney is a heavily diversified firm with a reach spanning nearly every corner of the American entertainment industry. This sizeable reach and control gives Disney's Chief Executive Officer, Robert A. Iger, significant control over the organization's one billion+ monthly active consumers, according to Harvard's May 2021 Mainstream Media Ownership Index. In addition to traditional entertainment, Disney also runs many of the world's most popular theme parks and cruise ships. Of the six media conglomerates that control 90% of American media, Comcast is the second largest with a total valuation of $236.58 billion, according to Macro Trends December 3, 2021, CMCSA valuation analysis. Comcast is a heavily diversified media conglomerate, providing internet, cable, and phone services to millions of Americans. However, Comcast expanded its control of American media with its acquisition of NBCUniversal in 2013. Then in 2016, Comcast acquired DreamWorks Animation, giving the firm effective control of DreamWorks and Universal, two of America's largest cinematographic publishing houses. In addition, Comcast controls NBC, MSNBC, and CNBC in terms of news corporations, giving the firm's owner Brian L. Roberts effective a notable level of control over his nearly 500,000,000 monthly active consumers, according to Harvard's May 2021 Mainstream Media Index.

The third-largest, and only one of the six major media conglomerates not owned by a white man, Sony is worth a whopping $146.44 Billion, according to Macro Trends December 3, 2021, SONY valuation analysis. Sony has a variety of subsidiaries in industries including music, film, internet, technology, gaming, and banking. Sony's Chief Executive Officer, Kazuo Hirai, has been with the firm since 2012 and has grown it to the media giant it is today through a strategy incorporating technical innovation accompanied by mergers and acquisitions. Time Warner is the fourth-largest of the six most prominent major media outlets, with an estimated net worth of $80 billion. Time Warner controls a diverse portfolio of corporate assets, including Warner Brothers Animation Studios, The C.W., Hulu, DC Comics, HBO, TIME, LIFE, NetherRealm, Monolith, Rocksteady, WaterTower Music, Warner Music Group, and Time Warner Cable. Time Warner's Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Bewkes, is tasked with operations and controlling the content produced by Time Warner and its subsidiaries.

News Corp is the fifth-largest of the six corporations controlling at least 90% of American media, with a valuation of $56 billion (WebFX Team, 2021). News Corp owns a variety of publishing, broadcasting, news, entertainment, and media companies. Some of News Corp's subsidiaries include Daily Telegraph, Dow Jones, New York Post, The Daily, The Mercury, The Sun, The Times, The Wall Street Journal, Fox News, Fox Business, F.X., STAR, Fox Sports, National Geographic, Market Watch, Barron's, and 20th Century Fox, according to News Corp's website. News Corp's owner, Rupert Murdoch, controls the news stories on which News Corp and its subsidiaries report. According to Harvard's Index of U.S. Mainstream Media Ownership, Rupert Murdoch has the power to influence the thoughts and communication norms of over two billion humans. The sixth-largest media conglomerate in the United States is National Amusements, with an estimated value of $43 billion. National Amusements controls CBS News, Viacom, BET, Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon, VH1, MTV, CMT, Comedy Central, Showtime, Paramount+, CBS Sports, and over 950 movie theaters, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission. National Amusements is owned by Sumner Redstone, who can dictate what content is sent out to the conglomerate's 250 million+ monthly active users, according to Harvard's May 2021 U.S. Media Ownership Index.

These six conglomerates, along with companies from other industries, have been responsible for the rise of partisan media in the United States of America over the past 50 years. While they are not the only ones at fault, the aggressive algorithms created by platform developers to keep humans trapped in a seemingly infinite loop of their personal self-fulfilling prophecy are also to blame. Yet, while content creators, platform developers, and advertisers have created a machine meant to harvest the time and energy of consumers, it is hard to visualize a consumer as a perpetrator of the rise in partisan media. For example, suppose a consumer wants to find a news article that suits their personal viewpoint. In that case, they flock to their preferred format for media consumption and open their thoughts to the views and ideologies of others. Sadly, in the United States, news companies have created a divide that has only grown over the past 50 years. Analyzing this trend from a macro-perspective could cause one to ponder why the small group of individuals who control American media seek to divide its consumers.

One possible explanation for the intentions of those who push negative messaging to consumers is population control. For instance, there are two neighbors, Billy and Bobby. Bobby is a democrat who only consumes media from left-leaning sources, while Billy is a republican who only consumes media from right-leaning sources. Both Billy and Bobby sincerely trust their sources of information, even though the information they are consuming is telling them to hate their neighbor. Billy and Bobby honestly believe each other are evil and, as a result, partake in a daily fistfight every afternoon at 2:00 PM EST. The problem with this situation is not Billy nor Bobby. The problem is that the media they consume is priming them with messages of hate and fear instead of messages of love and happiness. In addition, the aggressive algorithms platform developers use on consumers, accompanied by new work-from-home policies at both Billy and Bobby's jobs, causes each of them to spend the majority of their waking lives in front of a screen.


Photo: Olha


Plato's Allegory of the Cave offers insight into the system used to control human beings for thousands of years. While the system has evolved, it is still used for the same purpose and manner it has been throughout history. Plato's allegory of the cave describes a cave with prisoners chained together. Behind the prisoners is a fire. Between the prisoners and the fire are people carrying puppets and other objects. The people between the prisoners and the fire cast shadows on the wall, which the prisoners believe to be real. Yet, suppose a prisoner finally sees the fire and realizes the shadows are fake, then proceeds to depart to the cave and discovers an entirely new world outside that they did not know of while in the cave. The freed prisoner then returns to the cave to tell the other prisoners of the world he has found that is more real than the shadows in the cave. However, upon return, the freed prisoner can no longer see due to his exposure to sunlight. This experience causes the other prisoners to fear leaving the cave, believing they will be hurt if they attempt to escape. This allegory provides insight into the idea of belief versus knowledge, determining what is real from what is false.

In the United States of America, many Americans sadly spend most of their waking hours in front of a screen. While technology has practical and positive purposes, it can also be used negatively. For instance, if Billy and Bobby are constantly fighting over issues media outlets tell them to care about, they will not unite against an external threat. This sensation can be seen on a larger scale in the United States of America, where media messaging has successfully divided Americans by any labels society chooses to put on an individual (e.g., race, religion, class, politics, etc.). With America being a cultural melting pot and one of the most diverse nations on the planet, assigning human beings into different groups can have its pros and cons. While societal groupings can help one positively express their cultural identity, they can also be used to pit different groups against one another. Americans need to realize that their neighbor does not want to harm them and most likely only wants the best for them. This need for American's to love one another is one of the reasons intercultural communication is so crucial to the survival of the United States. If Americans can work to communicate with their fellow human beings in a manner that reflects peace and love, they will most likely receive the same treatment in return.

The media content commonly broadcasted in the United States of America reflects the country's communication norms, and also, America's communication norms reflect the content and messaging in the nation's media. While a small number of individuals primarily controls American media, it has shown to have a significantly persuasive effect on the communication styles of the nearly 333,000,000 citizens of the United States of America. American consumers continue to indulge in content that makes their communication styles more negative. In contrast, content creators continue to make a seemingly endless stream of divisive content because that is what is selling. This negative style of media messaging has influenced American's communication norms poorly, which is reflected back to American's through the media they virtually create through their own self-fulfilling prophecies. Analyzing this situation from a macro standpoint could cause an observer to compare American media consumers to the prisoners in Plato's cave analogy. While they sit and watch the shadows cast on the wall by a small number of people through their screens, there is a whole world outside waiting to be explored. However, as long as Americans believe those casting the shadows on the wall when they tell them to be fearful and hate their neighbor, they may never experience life the way God intended for human beings to live. The media messaging of hate and fear causes consumers to operate at a low vibrational frequency. Operating in a state of low vibrations makes it nearly impossible for them to see the fire on the other side of the cave and realize the shadows they have been watching on the wall are nothing more than an illusion. Therefore, it is understandable for those creating media messaging to want to keep consumers in a state of low vibrations since that is when it is easiest to control them and harvest their energy and resources.



Plato's Cave


However, if Americans decide they no longer want to be kept at this low-frequency state, perhaps the media will shift to messages promoting love and happiness? After all, many companies that control American media's goal is to profit, regardless of the human cost. If consumers' demand were for positive content and they refused to consume harmful content, this would be beneficial for raising the collective vibrational frequencies of media consumers. Large organizations would cease to produce the negative, divisive content that floods American media today, yet they would relinquish their control over the population. For instance, if media conglomerates only produced positive content that raised individuals' vibrations and platform developers stopped making algorithms designed to harvest consumers' energy, maybe American communication norms would change for the better? Yet, part of that change would include a decreased reliance on the media conglomerates, which would hurt their organizations' long-term revenues. This reduced reliance would stem from more individuals realizing the shadows the media conglomerates were casting on the cave walls, through their screens were not real, and deciding to leave the cave and experience life the way God intended for human beings to live. In an attempt to have more human beings stay in the cave, watching the shadows, large media conglomerates would most likely not shift to producing positive content that raises Americans' vibrational frequencies. While it is understandable for the corporations not to want to lose the energy and resources they continue to harvest from the human race, individuals still have the option to leave the cave (put down their screens) and go outside and experience the beauty of the natural world. Americans do not have to be influenced by media messaging and can control it if they choose to. Yet, for that to happen and for the country's communication norms to not be entangled in the machine that creates the style of content some Americans love to consume, content creators need to start creating media messaging that focuses on what brings people together rather than what tears them apart.

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