Analysis:
The facts and viewpoints given in the article are consistent with some of the core themes and theories seen in the U.S. politics. One of the talking points among the intelligentsia is the dangers posed by lack of diversity and representation in the mainstream media’s coverage. As we learn from the article, this situation gives rise to production of news content that serves the interests of select media elite. This concentration of power in the hands of large media conglomerates makes it easy for them to set the political agenda on the national scale. It is no surprise then that the issues that they cover are infested with their personal biases, prejudices and interests. The general public, made helpless by this system, are presented a narrow political agenda that holds no real significance for them. In other words, while the media has the power to elicit a policy response from the government, the outcomes tend to benefit the media elite rather than people.
Added to this imbalance of power between the media and its consumers is the relative lack of alternative sources of information for the latter. A majority of Americans depend on the mainstream media for information on the political developments of their country and the world. With lack of alternative representation in the media, a distorted world view can be imposed upon an unsuspecting viewer. This is consistent with what is mentioned in the article, i.e. the American public is steadily losing confidence in mainstream media, presumably because of the general public’s realization of the biases inherent in its organization.
The theory that the media sets the agenda for government policies is weakened by the fact that news coverage is generally superfluous and that their main source of information is the government agencies themselves. When seen in light of this knowledge, we see one basic flawed argument from the article’s author, namely that the media significantly influences public opinion. To the contrary, it is the government, which perpetrates its bureaucratic interests by exploiting the opportunities provided by the media.