The media

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News and entertainment are communicated in a number of different ways, using different media. The media include print media such as newspapers, books and magazines, and electronic media such as the radio and television. The print media supplies the information in a written form through the press (people who write for newspapers and magazines) and publishing companies, which produce them. Radio and television channels or stations produce and distribute audio and audio- visual programs or broadcasts which cover the main events and developments. Recently there has been considerable expansion of multimedia businesses which provide integrated media services containing sound, pictures and text, accessed by audiences around the world through networks such as the Internet.

National and local newspapers in the usa

Because of the size of the USA, there are few national newspapers. Apart from the popular USA Today only the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune and the Wall Street Journal have anything like a nationwide readership, mainly thanks to satellite technology. The Times is generally regarded as America's most prestigious paper. The Journal is the leading and financial and business newspaper and currently has a circulation of about two million, the highest in the country. But there are influential regional papers, among them the Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the Philadelphia Enquirer, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, the San Francisco Examiner and the Christian Science Monitor (not a religious paper, despite its title). USA Today, founded in 1962, is the leading popular daily paper, with short news reports, lively feature stories and items of practical advice. The tabloid weekly newspaper, such as the National Enquirer and the Star with the circulation of around 4.5 and 3.5 respectively, are sold in supermarkets throughout the county.

There are more than 1,500 daily newspapers in the USA. Each one is usually sold only in one part of the country, e.g. in a city, but they cover national and international news. In larger cities, there is often more than one newspaper and the different ones express different political opinions.

Radio and television in the usa

In the USA radio is controlled by private commercial companies, with the exception of National Public Radio, which is supported by grants and donations. By 1928, the USA had three national radio networks, two owned by the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and one by the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS). At first, sound broadcasting was almost entirely for entertainment, but schedules are now more varied, and some stations broadcast purely educational programs.

In 1985, there were over 9,000 radio stations in the USA, the largest number in the world. Of this number, over 1,000 were noncommercial, that is, no advertising or commercials of any type are permitted. These public and educational radio stations are owned and operated primarily by colleges and universities, by local schools and boards of education, and by various religious groups.

At the same time, there were close to 1,200 individual television stations, not just transmitters that pass on programs. All radio and television stations in the United States must be licensed to broadcast by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Although the FCC regulates radio and television transmission, it has no control over reception: there are no fees, charges, taxes or licenses in the United States for owning radio and television receivers or for receiving anything that is broadcast through the air. Laws prohibit any state or the federal government from owning or operating radio and television stations. (Stations such as the Voice of America may only broadcast overseas).

Most commercial radio stations follow a distinctive "format", that is a type of programming that appeals to a certain listening audience (some stations have more than one format). To change from one format to another, stations need permission from the FCC.

Most television production is in the hands of the Big Three: the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and the American Broadcasting Company (ABC). These recently have been joined by a forth: The Fox Broadcasting Company (FBC) commonly referred to as Fox (often stylized FOX) and owned by Rupert Murdoch. There is also non-commercial television, the Public Broadcasting System (PBS), which is financed by grants from companies and individuals. It offers quality drama programs, children's programs, and national and international news programs.

The majority of commercial television stations receive most of their programming, roughly 70 percent, from the three commercial networks: ABC, CBS and NBC. These networks are not television stations or channels. They sell programs and news to individual television stations which choose those they want to broadcast. These affiliated stations also create some of their own programming; produce their own state and local news programs and purchase films from other sources.