Malone Post 1

I think it is fair to say that US-dominated Western news media shapes the global news agenda.  Most of the major players of the news media that control the world's flow of information are from Western culture.  I imagine it as a hierarchy where the major Western players are at the top and they have the first chance to shape the news in the media.  The information then trickles down to the smaller players and onto other cultures in the world.  But it it is always starting at the top with the large Western corporations then they are able to control many aspects of the information: what part of the message is communicated, how it can be perceived, etc.  To summarize simply, the more powerful players at the top are able to shape how the rest of the world receives its news.  If the power of the media was more spread out and even and there were many players that were on the same level then the world might have a far different view of things. People in the Western culture might not have the assumption that Western culture is the "right" culture and everyone else in the world should change and adapt to the same way of life.