These businessmen decided to ask the Federal Government to regulate aviation. They felt if the government could provide the necessary structure for aircraft design, production, operation and navigation, aviation might actually have a future. The regulatory system that we all work within today, originated because American business asked for it and the federal government agreed to help. The media provides a valuable service to a primary customer who is willing to pay a handsome fee. They provide an open and receptive audience to their customers, their advertisers, in return for grabbing and holding the public attention as long as possible.
Television is the very best at achieving that goal, but the popular print media is no slouch either.
Fifty cents for a daily newspaper comes nowhere near being able to pay for writing, editing, printing and distributing their product. As you watch your favorite program, try to actively consider your mind to be a product delivered to the advertisers, and your perspective will change over time. Death and destruction may not be fun, but is a form of macabre entertainment that we as humans just can t seem to turn away from, and the media take serious advantage of that weakness. This is especially true with aviation. Most people have at least one significant airplane accident imprinted in their memory.