Corporate ownership of major television news networks is an ongoing issue in the journalism industry, and Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., owner of the FOX News Channel, is leading the race in media profitability.

As one of the top six media consolidations that monopolize major news, News Corp.’s ethical and moral discretions have a considerable effect on exactly what kind of information is presented.

Murdoch controls a sizeable portion of the company on Wall Street and FOX News stations reach 39 percent of American audiences, according to The New York Times. It’s also fairly well known what side of the road Murdoch drives his powerful partisan vehicle on.

Murdoch generously donated money to Bush’s campaign in the last election, and FOX News openly supports the administration and its conservative ideals.

Murdoch’s wallet opens for anyone whose political success is presumed, but News Corp.’s infinite empire of media outlets gives it the power to propagate the conservative Republican agenda through a multitude of channels.

FOX News has precipitously used fear tactics to motivate the public to stand behind the war effort in Iraq, and shamelessly blankets its actions as being responsive to public needs. The network uses smear campaigns to generate doubt about leftist views and their political representatives.

To thwart allegations of bias, FOX News often invites seemingly weak and unattractive liberals to defend the “other side,” and moderates such as Alan Colmes impassively defend liberal views in a laughable parody of what “fair and balanced” reporting should be.

While attaining true objectivity – free of all unconscious and involuntary bias – may be nearly impossible in consideration of human nature, at what point does it become unacceptable to flaunt this journalistic recklessness and fund-based favoritism?

Of course there is the antithetical notion that other news sources like CNN or NPR have an inclination toward democratic values.

Despite this conventional perception, I for one see none of the garishly vulgar and blatant displays of prejudice in these newscasts that are so unmistakable in FOX News programming.

In a profession where integrity is founded on unbiased accuracy and the equality of all speech, how can the industry justify a system that panders to such an extreme ideology? Money has proved to be all of the justification needed.

Various other major news networks, honing in on FOX News’ financial success, attempted to follow suit and jump on the conservative bandwagon. Since most Americans obtain their news and information through television, the voice of the people is effectively being stifled by corporate tycoons.

The result of this media-mogul manipulation has clearly been devastating to the journalistic mission of accurate and impartial reporting.

We may as well fully relinquish the news business to the presidential administration – we have already armed the right with a tightly woven network of finance-driven media outlets.

So much for truthful dissemination of information.