Steve,

I spent about 15 years in the media - first in Hollywood and then 8 years in news production at CBS, ABC and FOX affiliate TV stations.
It is really easy to control the news because all the proposed stories go through just a couple of point people designated as the "News Director" or the "Executive Producer" who have the final say on what hits the air. Consider Operation Mockingbird.
I used to keep an email folder of all the stories I proposed. I always got the same response of "That's interesting" and never a follow up. It didn't matter how much documentation I could produce, they just would not touch certain topics.

Further, all the national and international news reported in the US comes from the top down in a pyramid fashion : All local news stations subscribe to the 'CNN Feed' that provides story summaries with video and the 'AP Wire' that does the same. So most of the newscast is pre-packaged, and then the local stations re-write it for their anchors to report, plus add in the local stories in their respective markets.
After banging my head against a wall for years, God finally gave me an unmistakable sign to leave the business (and the country) behind. Nowadays it is family and farming for me.
Steve, you and your associates continue to do amazing work.
Thank you,S.D.

Nov 2, 2014