Syllabus Blog #1: "Who Owns The Media?"

"Who Owns The Media?

Have you ever wondered "Who Owns The Media" and who controls what we see and what options we have? The media has an immense influence on all us. The corporations that make up the media have the power to control what we do and how we do it No matter what you do or where you go “the media” is manipulating us. I put “the media” in quotations because “the media” isn’t one person; “the media” is made up of corporations that are constantly developing ideas that benefiting them. The six major corporations that run the media are General Electric, Walt Disney, News Corp, Time Warner, Viacom, and CBS. General Electric alone owns NBC Entertainment and all the channels having to do with NBC. General Electric also owns various production and distribution companies, international channels, various programming shows such as The Today Show, and the Early. They also publish SciFi Magazine. Walt Disney owns so many things it takes up multiple pages. Some of the companies that Walt Disney owns are Disney Media Networks. Disney Media Networks consists of The ABC Television Network and everything pertaining to ABC including the production company ABC Studios. They also own various production and distribution companies such as Walt Disney Television. Each of these corporations makes up “the media” and what is acceptable in society.

We don’t realize how many decisions we make a day that are influenced by “the media.” When I say “the media” I mean the people that work for the corporations that make decisions on what information and products are available. Often the reason we choose a product is because we have seen it in the media before. The reason you chose to wear what you wear is because a celebrity, someone you know or someone in the media has it. When “the media” advertises a product we go out and buy it. No matter if a product works, doesn’t work or if it’s good or bad we are offered it by “the media.” “The media” has made sure that we don’t consciously know they are controlling us. We don’t think that we buy is because its the only think “the media” has to offer we buy it because we like it. We think we are being individuals if we pick what we like except we only like what we like because its what has been chosen already. In society new trends develop over night. A good example is the iPod or the iPhone. I didn’t ask for an iPod because I thought it was a good product that worked well I wanted an iPod because all my friends and the people around me had them. The problem with having only major corporations that own “the media” is it doesn’t leave a lot of room for different voices and opinions to be heard. Even if we are trying to be an individual we still look to the media for whom and what we want to become. It’s like going to the supermarket. The supermarket only offers certain cereals and we choose from what we are offered. In society “the media” has so much power sometimes its scary to think about. “The media” is also how we form our identities. We look to media outlets such as television, magazines, and movies for ideas on what type of people we want to become along with our own life experiences.