The United States offers the illusion of choice every day in regards to our entertainment, reading, television, and other media, but in fact, these media "choices" are controlled by a large oligopoly. These huge conglomerates control, process, and provide the media that we consume and utilize on any given day. The big six by revenue are listed below:
Walt Disney
Media, consumer products, parks, resorts, hotels, cruise lines, ABC (media) ESPN (sports), Marvel (comic media)
News Corp
Newspapers/multi-media, (UK, Australia, USA). Dow Jones (includes WSJ), HarperCollins (books)
21st Century Fox
Spun off from News Corp TV/movies
Time Warner
HBO/Cinemax, Time (print media), IPC Media (print media), Groupo (media), Turner Network (multi-media), Warner Brothers (multi-media)
CBS
TV, print media, radio
VIACOM
Paramount (movies), MTV/Nickelodeon
Comcast
Cable, NBC Universal (TV/multi-media)
While there is something to be said about the synergy and consolidation in media as providing better pricing overall to the consumer, with both higher quality and superior service, the flip side is that diversity is minimized, controversial or innovative viewpoints are stifled, and the lust for power and money has been magnified.
While this is the age of the internet in which any viewpoint, any opinion, any idea can be solicited to the public, if you are not on the right wavelength, connected to the right people, or have made nice to the power brokers, your views will be marginalized with little or no hope of ever achieving a foothold into the American psyche.
America still does offer freedom of the press, but if nobody actually reads or listens to what you have published or said, you are the sound of one hand clapping. It isn't so much that mass media deliberately wants to censor your voice, it has a lot more to do with the fact that if you are not with the program, that mass media can't market successfully what you say, can't make money off of what you proclaim, or such, they will simply ignore you and ignoring you is their perfect response.
Mass media always wants to give you a choice but it's always the choice of "heads I win, tails you lose." The choices that you are really offered are essentially going from one conglomerate to another, as long as you're doing business with one of the big boys, the oligopoly are happy. Sure they compete with each other but they understand that not everyone wants the same thing, at the same time, and that people will gravitate from one media to another, depending on their age, income, social background, and whatnot. All they really want from you is your attention, your money, and some sort of loyalty.
The mass media understands that America is the world leader in media in all of its many forms, and if mass media can't get its own population to adhere to certain standards and behaviors, how would it be possible to influence others beyond our own borders. Mass media has little interest in a strong nuclear family which demonstrates clear, independent and moral right thinking. While that is okay in a few exceptional cases, mass media wants to be your family, your daddy, your mommy, your sister, your brother, and your special friend. They will tell you what to do, what to think, and how best to please them, and all you have to do in returnis simply absorb their message day by day.