Silenced Voices in Mainstream Media

With a quick Google search, you can find articles to several news networks, from CNN to ABC to Fox News. Each network reports from their own agenda and for their audience based on the audience demographics and political affiliations. Because these networks are the most present in the media and are the first to show up on a Google search, most people picked one or two of these networks to continue to return to for news. These mainstream sites, while the most present, are not the only news networks and opinions out on the web. But these other networks with more radical opinions are harder to find, and there’s a few reasons why.

Taking from MSNBC and Fox, each of these networks has very specific audiences and agendas. In an article titled, “Who’s watching? A look at the demographic of cable news channel watchers”, The Public Opinion Strategies website provides data on the differences in the viewership demographics of MSNBC and Fox News. According to this article, MSNBC appeals to the democratic political affiliations, with 62% of viewers identifying as democrat. The majority of MSNBC viewers (35%) educational status is having some college, and the majority (31%) are between the ages of 50-64. 

As for Fox News, 53% of viewers identify as republican. 35% of viewers identify as having educational status of high school or less, and this is the same (35%) for some college. The majority of Fox News viewers (30%) are also between the ages of 50 and 64. These demographics all play a role in how these networks share news, as they want to appeal to these specific audiences that they hold in their viewerships.  

These are only two examples of the specific and different viewerships that news networks hold; but because of these specific and split audiences, the mainstream news networks like MSNBC and Fox News will report on topics they know will appeal to their audience’s values. 

What are the less mainstream news sources saying then? American Conservative and Anti War are two websites who’s opinions are not presented in the mainstream news. This is because the networks do not want to include very extreme radical opinions in order to reduce the risk of upsetting their audiences who may not hold those extreme antiwar opinions, or find a specific passion for antiwar. 

Being that this is a smaller group of people, mainstream news stays away from it and appeals to their majority with their news stories. The demographics explained above for the examples of MSNBC
and Fox News are looking for specific news sources that are writing about topics in specific ways. 

America is extremely politically divided in today's society. With this division comes clear separation between news sources, with most mainstream sources leaning one way or another. Strong antiwar voices who write for the articles presented above are often silenced by mainstream networks because they do not fit the agenda that is trying to be pushed by other sources. This is clearly an issue, but it looks like it won't be changed due to the dynamic of today's media.