Excerpt:
While the Obama administration made the decision to escalate the war in Afghanistan by adding 30,000 more troops, polls throughout 2009 show a U.S. public divided on whether the war is even worth fighting, let alone in need of escalation.
Yet the mainstream, corporate media has marginalized opposition to the wars, making it seem as if few oppose the wars, when in fact a majority of Americans do oppose the wars.
The same sort of dismissal of anti-war sentiments is evident on network and cable TV news as well. After cheerleading the American people into war in Iraq by endlessly repeating claims that Saddam possessed weapons of mass destruction, it is obvious that corporate media in the U.S.a is pro-war. The real question is: Why?
There is no simple answer, but looking at trends in U.S. journalism in the past 30 years can provide insight. Simply put, there are five reasons that U.S. corporate media is pro-war, marginalizes anti-war sentiments, and omits and/or distorts the truth: 1) Self-censorship by journalists. 2) Censorship of journalists by superiors. 3) Adherance to the profit motives of parent companies. 4) Fear of losing access to government sources. 5) Censorship by the government.
When five corporations control all of U.S. media, and at least one (GE) actively profits from defense contracts, how can we expect a diversity of opinion, let alone the truth?
Read more here: http://www.examiner.com/x-23316-Madison-Independent-Examiner~y2009m12d6-Corporate-media-marginalizes-opposition-to-war