Who Rules America?

The Power of the Media: 

We live in a multimedia world that is largely owned and controlled by a handful of large media corporations.

If you're looking at who rules or owns America, it's the same people that propagandize (to) America.

American media doesn't just report news, - it's not independent of the system, but a pillar of it - it reinforces the world view and defends the interests of those who rule America.

With new global digital enterprises like Google, Facebook and Twitter growing in importance worldwide, US-based  media became a transnational force.

Is the media helping strengthen our democracy or is it helping divide us?

Even as the world is known for its diversity, American media is not. Editorially and ideologically, the power elite tends to reflect the views of the government and the people who shape its views.

Americans tends to vote and engage with the system on the basis of that which they hear (which of course is being controlled by these big companies)

Because people are wanting to sell newspapers and articles to get money and publicity, the larger nature of how the system operates tends not to get emphasized.

• Scandals sell papers
• Personality sells papers
• Celebrities sell papers

The government does not represent the people, but rather some very particular interests, and this is very widespread in America.

There is a lack of diversity within the media that makes it unrepresentative of the country it serves in racial, ethnic and gender terms.

The illusion of the media and news is still so powerful that people confuse where power actually exists. 

The media companies are really part of this whole system of who rules America. They're part of these interconnecting and interlocking relationships with financial institutions.

In a way, the media is owned by everyone, since everyone has access to posting stuff on social platforms.

There is some debate on how free the internet really is, given corporate control and government censorship, but it does make possible more interactivity. At the same time, media attention still tends to revolve around the political elite with authority even if that elite doesn't necessarily have the power to shape priorities or impose policies.

"The more they watch, the less they know". 

Media criticism tends to revolve around what's being covered and not being covered, and not on the way media narratives shape how we think and what we think about - that's the power of the media.