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for ramifications on the objectivity of the mainstream media can be found upon examination of the MSNBC and NBC news networks. As stated above, these networks are owned, at least in part, by General Electric, a corporation that has historically been active in reconstruction efforts in war torn nations involved in military conflicts with the United States. However, it is less widely known that General Electric has contracts in Afghanistan, and even less so that it is active in Iraq as well. In fact, GE's reconstruction activities in Iraq were not disclosed in documents the Defense Department provided to the Center for Public Integrity in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. While information on the corporation's activities in Iraq did not find official disclosure, in April 2003, media sources did report that GE Energy rentals, a subsidiary of GE Power Systems, provided electrical generators and light poles to the U.S. military in Iraq. While it was unwilling to divulge the value of that contract, it is evident that GE's investment in the reconstruction process in the Middle East is significant; the contract in Afghanistan for gas services, awarded by the US Army Engineer District, was worth $6,801,493 as of March 31st, 2003, having increased from an initial value of $5,927,870 due to the continued necessity for reconstruction and expansion (Center for Public Intergrity website).

It is clear that GE Power Systems has a substantial interest in and profits significantly from the Iraqi and Afghani wars, specifically in the reconstruction of the damaged infrastructures of those countries. It is plausible to hypothesize, then, that MSNBC and NBC, owing their continued existence to GE, might face a degree of subjectivity in their reporting, particularly on matters concerning the Iraqi and Afghani wars.

Yet another limitation placed on the potential for fair, unbiased reporting in the mainstream media is imposed by the very sources of the information it reports. Due to the extensive, industrialized nature the United States' society, it has a need for continuous media coverage of manifold events occurring simultaneously around the globe. Logically, and according to Herman and Chomsky, the necessary information for such an extensive array of foreign events can only be collected and delivered by large businesses and government organizations with the necessary monetary and material means to do so. Thus, the bulk of information supplied to the mainstream media

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