What stories make the news? Some media watchdogs will say that broadcast journalism is a corporate controlled vehicle for the "right." Who tells the stories? Some believe that the "groupthink" mentality of liberal reporters always puts conservative views last. Unlike other industries, media is unique in its power to select what information is (and isn't) made available to the public, in turn shaping our views about common concerns. What does the public want? According to a 1997 Media Watch survey:

• Almost half of respondents want to see the media acting as watchdogs "protecting the public from abuses of power," but over 60% feel that the media are "often influenced by powerful people and organizations."
  
  
• 3 out of 4 people believe the media displays some political bias in coverage.

What's happening in America's newsrooms? Rising costs of news production coupled with increasing consolidation of media ownership mean the media crafts their news from fewer and fewer sources - often each other. It used to be that ace reporters would "scoop" a story, asking the hard questions and digging for details. Now journalists often rely on prefab press conferences, public relations statements and one-sided video news releases for critical information. How can we be sure we're getting the whole story? Where can we go to get the reporting that reflects our cultural, gender, economic or social perspectives?

• From 1994 to 2002, full-time radio newsroom employees dropped 44%, part-time 71%. The number of network TV news correspondents has been cut by a third in the last 20 years. Those who remain have 30% more work. Newspapers now have about 2,200 fewer full-time newsroom employees than in 1990.
  
  
• Since 1975, two-thirds of independent newspaper ownership and one-third of independent television ownership have disappeared.
  
  
• Between half and 70% of people who go online also get their news there - 80 to 150 million Americans.
  
  
• Ethnic radio stations are preferred by 43% of Hispanics, African Americans and Asians surveyed in California, 36% prefer ethnic television stations, networks and programs to mainstream broadcasts.
  
  
• Over half of the Asian and Hispanic population reads newspapers in their own language or read both their own language and English papers.

How can we identify spin, hype and bias in the news media? How does the news shape our views? Where can we get credible information on issues when there seems to be a political agenda to everything? Can news be gathered and reported in a more balanced way? Which news organizations and journalists are doing a good job? What makes them different? How does ethnic media function in specific communities?