2004-9-26
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VOICE ONE:
Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA, in VOA Special English. I'm Bob
Doughty.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Faith Lapidus. This week, we begin a two-part look at the
media in the United States.
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VOICE ONE:
Americans get some of their news and entertainment from public
television and radio. These public media receive money to operate
from private citizens, organizations and government. Many of their
programs are educational.
But most of the American media are
run by businesses for profit. These privately owned media have
changed greatly in recent years. Newspapers, magazines and
traditional broadcast television organizations have lost some of
their popularity. At the same time, online, cable and satellite
media have increased in numbers and strength. So have media that
serve ethnic groups and those communicating in foreign languages.
In general, more media than ever now provide Americans with news
and entertainment. At the same time, fewer owners control them. Huge
companies have many holdings. In some areas, one company controls
much of the media.
VOICE TWO:
One dramatic change in American media is the increased success of
cable television. It comes into most homes over wires. It does not
use the public airwaves, as broadcast television does. Like
broadcast television, most cable television programs include sales
messages. This is true although people must pay to see cable
television in their homes.
Thirty years ago, few people had cable. Today, about sixty-eight
percent of American homes have cable television. Television by
satellite also is gaining popularity.
VOICE ONE:
Over the years, traditional broadcast organizations have tried to
appeal to as many watchers as possible. Many cable companies,
however, present programs for one special group of viewers. For
example, there are stations for people who like books, cooking,
travel, golf or comedy.
Some cable channels also launched programs with sexual material
or language that could not be used on broadcast television. American
law considers that the broadcast airwaves belong to the public. So
broadcast networks traditionally guarded against offensive content.
But the networks have reacted to the popularity of cable by also
showing more suggestive material.
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VOICE TWO:
In the past few years, "reality" television programs have become
extremely popular. They show situations as they happen, without a
written story. They cost less to produce than other kinds of
programs.
In the United States, CBS
Television started reality programs in two-thousand with "Survivor."
Sixteen people who did not know each other lived together on an
unpopulated island for thirty-nine days. They had few supplies. They
formed alliances. They also plotted against one another.
The cameras recorded the action as they competed to stay on the
island. Each week the group voted one of the people off the island.
The last one to remain took home one million dollars.
VOICE ONE:
The computer has also changed American media. By two thousand,
the government said more than half of American homes had computers.
At least one person used the Internet in more than eighty percent of
these homes. Other people use the Internet in schools, at work and
at libraries.
The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press released a
study of Internet use. The center's Internet and American Life
Project found that forty-four percent of Internet users share their
thoughts on the Internet. Some write commentaries about politics and
other issues on Web logs, or blogs.
VOICE TWO:
The Pew Center says some young people today learn about politics
in another non-traditional way. Earlier this year, the center
questioned more than one thousand five hundred people. One in five
who were younger than thirty said they usually get political
information from television comedy programs. That is two times as
many as four years ago. They watch programs like "The Daily Show"
with Jon Stewart and "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."
VOICE ONE:
The studies also show that thirty-three percent of both young and
older people said they sometimes learn about politics on the
Internet. Their answers showed a nine percent increase in Internet
use for this purpose since the last presidential election.
The Internet is also playing a financial part in political
campaigns. For example, the candidates for president have received
millions of dollars in gifts over the Internet.
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VOICE TWO:
The Project for Excellence in Journalism says almost forty-one
million Americans watched nightly network news in nineteen
ninety-four. By last November, that had dropped below thirty
million.
Tom Brokaw of NBC, Peter Jennings of ABC and Dan Rather of CBS
are the main reporters, or anchors, on these shows. Mister Brokaw,
however, plans to leave the position after the presidential
election.
And just last week, CBS launched
an independent investigation into a report on another news program
on which Dan Rather appears. The recent report added to questions
about President Bush's military service during the time of the
Vietnam War.
Mister Rather presented some documents given to CBS News. Last
week, however, he apologized. He said he could no longer trust that
the documents were real.
VOICE ONE:
The Project for Excellence in Journalism reports that eleven
percent fewer people buy daily newspapers than in nineteen ninety.
It also says many people no longer believe what they read in the
newspapers. The project says that in nineteen eighty-five, eighty
percent of readers trusted newspapers. In two thousand two, only
fifty-nine percent said they believed what they read.
VOICE TWO:
In May of last year, a reporter was forced to leave The New York
Times. Jayson Blair invented facts in some stories or copied from
other newspapers. And in January of this year, a top reporter at USA
Today, Jack Kelly, resigned for similar reasons.
More recently The New York Times apologized for some of its
reporting before the Iraqi war. It said it depended too much on
information from unidentified officials and Iraqi exiles. Also, the
Washington Post found weaknesses in its own reporting.
Another media story recently has involved some newspapers that
lied about their circulation. The Chicago Sun-Times admitted
misrepresenting its number of readers during the past two years. In
addition, The Tribune Company reported that two of its publications
had overstated the number of copies they sell.
VOICE ONE:
It is natural for owners and investors to expect to make a
profit, though some media owners say they would be happy just not to
lose money. They say they are operating a newspaper or radio station
mainly as a public service. But media organizations usually depend
on money from businesses that advertise their products and services.
Reporters often express concern about pressure from media owners.
Reporters sometimes say they cannot write some stories for fear of
loss of advertising. But there are also many examples of aggressive
reporting that serves the public interest.
Many people, though, say they do not believe they are always
getting fair reporting. They often accuse journalists of supporting
only one set of political beliefs.
The Pew Center reports that about twelve percent of local
reporters, editors and media officials questioned say they are
conservatives. This compares with thirty-four percent who identify
themselves as liberals. The difference found between conservatives
and liberals is even wider on the national level. But most
journalists say they do not let personal opinion interfere with
their reporting.
VOICE TWO:
In the United States, newspapers serving ethnic groups and
speakers of foreign languages are doing better than many others.
Their popularity demonstrates America's big gains of people of
foreign ancestry, especially Hispanics and Asians. These groups are
also watching and listening to an increasing number of television
and radio stations in their own languages.
VOICE ONE:
Next week, we tell about government and court decisions affecting
media operators. And we present issues about freedom of expression
in the media.
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VOICE TWO:
Our program was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by Caty
Weaver. I'm Faith Lapidus.
VOICE ONE:
And I'm Bob Doughty. Join us again next week for the second part
of our report about the media in the United States, on THIS IS
AMERICA in VOA Special English.