- Does something represent a problem (does it have undesirable consequences)?
- uninformed, misinformed electorate--what happens to groups that don't fit the media business model (e.g., lower income)? Who covers their interests?
- Possible problems--one is the news media industry--corporate concentration, business models put profit ahead of news; second, how does this affect people's understandings of social problems?
- Are they social? Do they affect a large number of people?
- What kinds of issues are neglected or ignored when news reflects a narrow, corporate viewpoint?
- How do media and money affect institutions like democracy?
- What are the possible causes?
- Commercial model of news (advertising-dependent)
- Corporate concentration of news outlets;
- Lack of 'media literacy' among public? Lack of coverage of these issues???
- Propaganda-rich environment (this is not a new problem);
- Powerful interests aligned with powerful media
- What are the consequences?
- Government may represent monied interests ('required' to get elected); People may be misinformed;
- Democracy may be dysfunctional;
- Who benefits?
- Media owners, advertisers, shareholders, those who benefit from a narrow, corporate framing of issues, lobbying campaigns,
- Major funders of political campaigns,
- Who has the ability, the power, to influence public debates about a particular social problem?
- Hmmmmm . . . . think about this one and the assignment you're working on.
- Project Censored -- who goes there for news?
- Who should do something about the social problem?
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