Who owns the media?
The media is owned my six different companies, AOL Time Warner, The Walt Disney Co., Bertelsmann AG., Viacom, News Corporation, and Vivendi Universal. Among these six companies they control all forms of media, from television to the radio, if you want to be involved with media, you must be involved with at least one of these six. Each company has many sub companies under it, or else they would never be able to get away with running the entire media. The reason the companies do this is so they can target different groups of people at the same time.
When you think if Disney, you think of Mickey Mouse, and other younger forms of media. So if Disney wants to make horror movies they must form a new image. This is why they came up with Touchstone. This way a younger audience can still relate to disney, while an older audience can relate with Touchstone, even though they are all the same company. This is a trick that allows all media to be controlled by these six companies. There are a few small independent companies that have their own forms of media, life public access television, but they can not compete with these larger companies. These smaller companies are very important though. These independent companies allow us to view a form of media that is not controlled by a large corporation. On the other hand it is also a good thing that there are six large corporations that control the media, for without them we would not have access to as many different forms of media as we do. Also if there was only one large company there would always be a bias view, and you would never know if what you are watching was fact or an opinion. With six different companies you can compare what each is saying and come up with your own ideas.
The six major companies control almost all the media that you and I see every day. It is important to understand that all media is controlled by these six companies so that we don't think smaller companies are really "small." It is also very important to be aware of what you are watching. If you were to believe that every smaller company isn't owned by a larger company you might think their reasons for saying something has to do with personal views, and not the views of a large company.
When you think if Disney, you think of Mickey Mouse, and other younger forms of media. So if Disney wants to make horror movies they must form a new image. This is why they came up with Touchstone. This way a younger audience can still relate to disney, while an older audience can relate with Touchstone, even though they are all the same company. This is a trick that allows all media to be controlled by these six companies. There are a few small independent companies that have their own forms of media, life public access television, but they can not compete with these larger companies. These smaller companies are very important though. These independent companies allow us to view a form of media that is not controlled by a large corporation. On the other hand it is also a good thing that there are six large corporations that control the media, for without them we would not have access to as many different forms of media as we do. Also if there was only one large company there would always be a bias view, and you would never know if what you are watching was fact or an opinion. With six different companies you can compare what each is saying and come up with your own ideas.
The six major companies control almost all the media that you and I see every day. It is important to understand that all media is controlled by these six companies so that we don't think smaller companies are really "small." It is also very important to be aware of what you are watching. If you were to believe that every smaller company isn't owned by a larger company you might think their reasons for saying something has to do with personal views, and not the views of a large company.
posted by Aaron @ 12:47 PM
1 Comments:
At 7:18 PM,
Nettrice said…
Viacom>MTV
Who controls what we watch, read and listen to?
"One of the largest global media empires, Viacom has a financial interest in broadcast and cable television, radio, Internet, book publishing, and film production and distribution. Some of this vertically integrated conglomerate's highly recognizable properties include the CBS network, MTV, Infinity broadcasting, Simon & Schuster, Blockbuster and Paramount Pictures. With such a diverse portfolio of properties, Viacom is one of the most profitable media giants as CBS is a top draw for older viewers while MTV remains the most popular teen orientated media outlet." - http://www.cjr.org/tools/owners/viacom.asp
It's not just Disney and AOL/Time Warner who owns mass media but there are only 6 or 7 corporations in the world that own the largest media outlets.
What effect do you think this has on free speech in the U.S.?
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