Not only do corporate entities push for economic incentives, but they also generate an immense influence on society. According to Celia Wexler, “The Telecommunications act of 1996 was supposed to allow more competition”(2) but failed to do so. The passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 called for deregulation of the mass media, thus shifting forms of communications towards the influence of corporate media. This permitted corporations to buy off media outlets, in order to merge into a powerful media empire. Today, the real impacts of the media can be characterized as a “social construct of reality: a theory of knowledge in sociology and communication theory that examines the development of jointly constructed understandings of the world that form the basis for shared assumptions about reality” (Parillo 154). According to Gamson’s research on the media, “Media discourse is part of a process by which individuals construct meaning,” (Gamson). The the deregulation of the media allowed corporations to own media outlets and dictate what societies perceive as truth as well as what is deemed …show more content…
The information age has granted many privileges in the United States, which has distracted the public from the rise of corporate power and influence. Douglas Gomery, Journalism Professor at the University of Maryland argues, “Since 1975 the number of media outlets has indeed increased, but at the same time, ownership has become more concentrated, and today there is less diversity of opinion” (Gomery). Overtime, corporations consistently purchased news outlets and generated more power and influence towards which news gets presented to the