The Corporate Media's Threat to Freedom

There is no similarity between the corporate media and a "free press." The corporate media operates according to its structural make up, which requires it to serve the interests of ownership and maximize profits. Its top down style of management ensures that it will align itself with the political centers of power, which create the opportunity for greater prosperity. This explains why the media giants have consistently concealed the Bush administration’s attacks on civil liberties, supported the expansion of executive power, and paved the way for global war. After all, they are just acting in their own best interest, accommodating the political establishment to allow for more consolidation and expansion. One hand washes the other.

The cozy relationship between the administration and the media has made it nearly impossible to tell where one ends and the other begins. In fact, the media is the primary instrument of state policy. Its task is to shape the public's perception of government and to project a benign image of the US to the world beyond.