Manufacturing Consent: Filter One

Media, news, is "filtered" by five different sources by the time it gets to us, the consumer public. The first of these filters according to Herman and Chomsky is "size, ownership and profit orientation of the mass media." The technology of mass media is so expensive to own and operate that a large market must be tackled to offset costs. So to start up and build a newspaper or television network can cost millions and millions of dollars. This leaves only the extremely wealthy with the ability to control the media. There are twenty four control groups of American media. For example according to Chomsky in "Manufacturing Consent" (pg 5)

"These twenty four companies are large, profit-seeking corporations, owned and
controlled by quite wealthy people...all but one of the top companies for
whom date are available have assets in excess of $1 billion, and the median
size (middle item size) is $2.6 billion."

Even though it appears to be the cheapest media type to run it is impossible for a working class or even a moderately wealthy person to start his or her own successful newspaper. This leaves media and how we receive it in the hands of financial giants like Rupert Murdoch and Ted Turner.