What it boils down to, is what are the goals of the media? Are they there for the good of society? In other words, are they government agents? Well, the CBC certainly is. Even though it's supposed to be independently run and stuff. But, governmentally independently run. The other media? What's their stance? Well, they're privately owned, by a variety of people. Do they want to be a mouthpiece for the American or Canadian government? Probably not. They want to be a mouthpiece for the American people. They'll try to give people what they want. Which is what? Rah rah America, presumably.

But, are they obligated to do rah rah America? Well, no. They are private companies in a free market society. They should be able to do whatever the hell they want. If people don't like it, they won't watch it and it'll go out of business. Now, we all know that things aren't like that. There's all sorts of regulations imposed by the government and such things, to make sure they're on the level. But you know, there really shouldn't be. The media supposedly prides itself on getting to the truth, and telling it like it is, shit like that. Can't do that when the government's on your back. But they have to keep up pretenses of telling the truth. So, they show the bin Laden speeches. People want to see those, by the way. So they're giving people what they want. In fact....people determine the truth. If people want to see it, the media prints it up, or shows it on the screen. And then that becomes the truth, plain and simple. Neat eh?

So, to answer my own question, the role of the media is to maximize their profits, same as any other private company. And they will do this however they can. They will show what they think people want to see. The images you see on TV, they're not the truth. They say that pictures never lie. But they can be passed through the filter of the American people. God bless America.