The media is all about the money. Even the friggin' news can get under some sponsoring coproration's thumb, which is something I detest. Because when someobody funds you, they have a huge say in what you can and can't report, and also how to portray the funding corporation. I was on my high school's newspaper for two years, and I can tell you that the only objective news is the news that is self-funded. We had to fund ourselves just to print the school paper because we didn't want to be censored. If you want unbiased news, make sure it's self funded.
Unfortunately, disasters, murders and crimes however petty are more immediately important to the public. You know, the old rule: if it bleeds, it leads. And of course, being dramatic also attracts viewers. Before the 90's, words like "disaster", and "catastrophe" were rarely ever used. It's disgusting, really. People think the world is going to Hell. The media's constant reportings on crime tell the public, "Crime is rampant and on the rise!", when the reality is that crime in the U.S. has gone down by 10% over the last decade. But that doesn't attract viewers, does it?
And don't think they're alone in it either. In some of the worst cases, like the Global Warming farse, politicians, the media and lawyers influence the people in ways in which to benefit themselves, in a circel referred to by some as the Politico-Legal-Media Complex, or "PLM". Can you imagine how much money lawyers have made off pointless lawsuits because the media informed the public that something was bad for them?
Here's a great example: A few years ago people became terrified of their powerlines because they had heard the media report that the magnetic fields were potentially harmful to human life. There was a huge lawsuit that never got off the ground, but the lawyers made a killing.
Then, no more than 2 years later, people become fascinated and want to try for themselves the "healing power of magnetic fields". Yes, the same damned thing they were terified of a few years ago and now they strap the things to their heads or whatever every night. No memory at all! It's pathetic really! The overwhelming public can barely learn from it's mistakes because they can barely collectively remember what hapenned even a few years ago!
But, I digress. The media is everywhere and comes in several forms. In a way, the media is like the people. It's not inherently good or inherently bad, but it's how the individuals operate which determines what or who they are. In general I think it's a good thing, but I feel we're reaching a point where despite having the technology to hold conversations between several people from anywhere in the world at once, we've not yet mastered exactly how to control this beast. Freedom of speech and expression make the media open to all who would use it, and so we have to find a way to identify between information, misinformation and disinformation. What we need is a single chain of self-funded, objective news stations which share info between each other and get people the facts of what's important locally and in the world with utmost accuracey.