In mass communication research an new paradigm of media trend is emerging. Most important of all findings in this research is the fact that despite the economic situation, the media remain true to their initial line and view the state of the American- and world-economy positively, rather than negatively. Furthermore, they always remain true to the chosen story line, rarely abandoning its utilization. Current social- or mass-communication science theories are unable to provide a reasonable explanation of this phenomenon. This forces us to establish a new - major trend - hypothesis.
A partial explanation of the phenomenon described in different researches could be provided by the media-logic hypothesis, but for that it is supposed to be reconsidered. Media logic has several sub-logics, among which the commercial logic is most important one. Major-trend hypothesis builds upon this logic and understands the commercial logic of the media as the most important of all logics. With commercial logic the primary goal of the media is the generation of revenue and the survival or prosperity of the product in question. It is not denied that there are other very important functions that have to be assumed by the media outlet, or that these functions are of vital importance for democratic societies. However, it must be argued that without selling the news and, consequently, a media outlet as a consumable good, it would be impossible for the media to assume other functions.
Therefore the most important logic of the media is to create the product that can be sold with high success. Consequently, every media product has to be considered primarily as a commercial good that needs buyers. The state-funded media outlets should be seen as an exception. Furthermore, the media has two options: first, to identify the trend (by finding the most sought after products among consumers - to identify demand); second, to create the trend (create the product that will become trendy).
Independently of the fact, which way will be chosen to create the product, it is very difficult to establish the products which has a needed demand. The longevity of any product - and especially the successful sale of the media's products - depends on the customer's trust in its quality. For the media, this trust is dependent on the assumption by the customers that what the media thinks about any particular subject in question is true. In this way, the media differs very much from other institutions (such as governmental or non-governmental offices) where communication and especially consequential communication matters, but is not primarily a tool for trust establishment.
As an example let us take a close look at US Federal Reserve Communication- Knowingly, US Fed is very important US institution. The primary tool for the establishment of trust for the Fed is the growth of the American economy and the maintenance of controlled inflation and low unemployment rates. Communication in this case is a mere tool for interaction with the markets and the media. Curiously, in-depth analysis of the Fed's communications indicates that there is not trust between the Fed and the market participants; rather, there is a significant distrust, caused by communications by the Fed that are deliberately designed to establish a certain level of suspense among market participants. This, according to the Fed's communication policy, helps to keep markets in equilibrium.
The media, however, is interested in neither market equilibrium nor economic stability. Its major concern is the establishment of a trusted product that will sell for as long as possible. This is only manageable by establishing a story line - or major trend - which will remain unchanged throughout the weeks, months or even years and remain stable throughout the changes in the "real world". As indicated in the research, the media are forced to react to the major events that contradict their arguments, but they always try to downplay the negative aspects of even most negative events, and then re-establish the major trend as soon as possible. According to this research, it is not the political forces or elites that influence the media's coverage; it is the underlying media logic itself that forces the media to keep the established trend for as long as possible, remaining incredibly unwavering to any outside factors. The development of a major trend and the commercial necessity of its support by any means damn the media to biased coverage of events and poses a great threat to democratic societies where the choices of the citizens increasingly and sometimes completely depend upon objective - and according to the commercial logic, nearly impossible - media coverage.
Sulkhan Metreveli is a researcher and political publicist. He is associated with University of Zurich, Switzerland. Main areas of his research include media influence of markets, institutions and public sphere. More about the author can be found on http://www.metreveli.net
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