Media

Newspapers

There is no “national press” in the United States, as it is in the British Kingdom. The main reason for this is that mostly the local newspapers are read in the U.S.A. However some of the newspapers can be found throughout the country (for example The Wall Street Journal). Reading the Sunday paper is a tradition in the U.S. (one Sunday issue of The New York Times from 1965 contained 946 pages and cost 50 cents) for some people it is an alternative to going to church. It usually takes them a whole day to get through it. Most of the newspapers, which are read in America, are of “high quality” - they do not feature crime, sex, and scandal. Some of the largest newspapers are at the same time newsgathering business. They not only print newspapers, they also collect and sell news, news features, and photographs to hundreds of other newspapers in U.S. and abroad (The New York Times’, The Washington Post’s and the Los Angeles Times’ are the best known). Some of the U.S. papers, even though they are not worldwide or even countrywide, have a great influence on public opinion throughout the world. That is because some of their articles are quoted or bought by other newspapers.

Radio and Television

There is a great variety of radio and television stations in the U.S.A. It can be divided into two main groups: commercial and non-commercial. The second group consists mostly of religious, university and educational stations. Private companies own the first group. To start a new radio or television station you have to get a license from Federal Communications Commission (FCC). However to receive anything that is “in the air” you don’t have to pay any taxes or fees. The government or any federal institution cannot own television and radio. If a company has one of the media (radio, newspaper, television, etc.) it cannot own another in the same area. It also can’t have more than 12 stations in the country. The government does not have any control on the stations, they can say whatever they want, as long as they do not break the law. Every single station has to provide public with different views on certain matters and it has to enable local society to present their concerns “on air”. Those rules were established to avoid anyone having bigger influence on the public opinion.

Books

Despite fears that so-called electronic media might damage book publishing, the opposite seems to be true. In fact, the U.S.A. leads in number of books read per capita. This is mainly because of the “love of reading” which are traditionally developed in American schools. Secondly, public libraries have always been very active in communities throughout the country. The general policy of the libraries has always been to get books to people rather than to protect the books from people. The third and probably the most important reason is that there are no laws which protect book sellers or fix prices. Actually books are sold about everywhere in drug stores and supermarkets, department stores and 24-hour shops.