The China Syndrome

While American critics of China blame media censorship for Beijing's initial mishandling of SARS, this opinion piece in The New York Times argues that the US is no less vulnerable to the influence of the state. According to economist Paul Krugman, although media companies in the United States are privately owned, they remain deferential to the political regime. The nexus between the US government and major American television networks was revealed in the partisan, rather than impartial, representation of the US led war in Iraq. Although alternative points of view are available, Krugman says, in the US there exists "a system in which the major media companies have strong incentives to present the news in a way that pleases the party in power, and no incentive not to." Proposed changes to government regulations could clear the way for media giants to expand their reach even further, a worrisome development for those concerned about the viability of American democracy. – YaleGlobal