Music and Manipulation

As I have watched the news over the past few weeks, I have begun to notice more and more the effect that music has on me as a viewer. Nearly every news show or network has an overly dramatic, quasi-epic theme song that provides me with a subconscious mindset as I watch the news. For example, here is the CNN theme song that they play during promotional advertisements for their network, and for introductions to their nightly news program:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwasO3udSqQ
This next clip is a clip of the theme song to the 1996 action film, "The Rock," featuring Sean Connery and Nicholas Cage (two of the most prolific action stars of the modern movie era).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPrHH3DOaSE
In my humble opinion, the CNN theme has an even more cinematically epic feel to it than the theme for the action film. The inflated spectacle of the music before these news programs compels me to imagine action in the newscast similar to that in an action movie with a similar musical score. The tone this music sets for the newscast means that CNN must maintain a similar level of energy in their newscast as they maintain in the theme music or run the risk of boring their viewing constituency. CNN must, to some degree, keep their stories sensationally and emotionally stimulating if they wish to preserve this intensity. In contrast, NPR, a public radio station, has a much lower key attitude with regards to its theme music. Here is a collection of NPR themes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MU6K8MBr78
While these theme songs are by no means completely mundane, they produce a much less adrenaline-ized buildup and thus influence me to hear their news broadcasts with a much less dramatic expectations. Of course, I understand that CNN has corporate and monetary motives while NPR has much less emphasis on these thing, but that does little to change my view that the music skews my perception of the news.
        As I have contemplated the topic of music in media, I have realized more and more how profoundly music affects my day to day perception. A walk from the Sam Phil steps back to Pease House listening to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P9mmZyGb4s makes for a dramatically different experience than the same walk listening to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3DJhwAhrjY. As I look back on many of my most memorable experiences, I realize that music has skewed my perception of a great number. For example, my most vivid memory of last spring occurred as I sat on the great lawn playing the acoustic song in the link above on my guitar, watching the sun set. I have seen many sunsets and I have spent countless hours playing guitar outside, but that particular moment stands out in my mind because the music I was hearing affected my ability to glean beauty from my surroundings. Music has a subtle and undeniable affect on memory and on my view of life and the news.