The role of the american mass media in the information warfare of the 21st century

Abstract

The active spread of information and communication technologies in the 21st century has led to an unprecedented openness of the information space. Mass media got the opportunity to influence not only the internal audience, but also external consumers of media content. Such an impact began to manifest itself in many aspects: in advertising thanks to transnational companies (TNCs), in the film industry thanks to the expansion of Hollywood products, in book publishing due to the massive demand for foreign literature, and also in the formation of an information picture of the world thanks to the “international” status of a several American media (The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN). Such a scaling of the influence of the American mass media on the perception of information by the world community allowed them to reach a new level of media influence and take an active part in the information warfare, which reached a new level in the 21st century. The article examines the methods of the US mass media in the struggle for informational superiority and also analyzes the struggle of American publications for public opinion.