The Negative Impact of Conglomeration of Media Companies on Audiences

It being the leading source of news since the printing press. We put our faith in the media to report accurate facts unbiasedly. Between 1983 and now the media industry has consolidated from 50 individual companies to 6. That means that though the impression given is that there are a multitude of sources to attain information, the messages being communicated are all one in the same. The limitation of media sources cause a ripple effect of limited information, allowing these companies to control the public’s perception on

Media corporations have been merging into fewer (and larger) entities which are better able to control the flow of information to the public. Because of their size and power, they can prevent unfavorable coverage of their activities in the media outlets they own. In 1983, 50 corporations controlled the vast majority of all news media in the U.S. In 1992, fewer than two dozen of these corporations owned and operated 90% of the mass media; controlling almost all of America's newspapers, magazines, TV and radio stations, books, records, movies, videos, wire services and photo agencies. Now only 5 huge corporations - Time Warner, Disney, Murdoch's News Corporation, Bertelsmann of Germany, and Viacom (formerly CBS) - now control most of the media industry in the U.S. General Electric's NBC is a close sixth. Democracy can't exist without an informed public. We rely on unbiased news from independent

This article is about the threat of merger and the influence of a monopolistic media. The

The media industry in the United States of America (US) is one such industry. As a powerful communication tool, the media has attracted many companies but only a handful has grown big. These media giants have dominated the local market and are currently seeking to conquer the global media industry in search of better profits.

Canada is considered to be a cultural mosaic, where all cultures are embraced opposed to a melting pot where it is expected to adopt one culture. Government regulated media is more favourable than policies based off of self-regulated solutions when addressing Canada’s media industries and cultural needs. Canadians place importance on national identity and without government regulated policies, the content in the media would have minimal Canadian information. According to the Aird Commission, when Canada’s media was operating through private enterprise, many stations expressed conflicting content, however, with state regulated media, broadcasting allows the nation to have a unified vocation. One unified message being sent to the nations citizens is more beneficial than multiple broadcasts on differentiated and insignificant information.

Canada has a rich history of print journalism, particularly during the mid 19th century. The Globe and Mail and the National Post are Canada’s two leading national papers, sold across the country. Both have acclaimed editorial pages featuring some well known political figures in Canada. Andrew Coyne and Jonathan Kay were often featured in the National Post. Jeffrey Simpson and Margaret Wente are often featured in the Globe. In a political aspect the Globe

Today’s media is far too consolidated. In 1983, fifty companies owned 90% of the media, but in 2011, that same 90% was owned by just 5 (1). This is why I propose that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) lower the limit on the amount of market share that an organization can own; moving us closer to an ‘ideal democracy’. I also add the stipulation that if media was struggling to find a foot hold in the market, the FCC could grant all media outlets non-profit status; however, this stipulation is simply a clause in case breaking up outlets had unintended consequences and this will not be explored through this paper.

The first source illustrates a cartoon that presents an electronic store displaying different forms of the news, including TV stations, newspapers, and a radio. Deviations in their names are evident. Yet, the pronunciation is the same. The radio and newspaper also are homophones of The Merger and ConglomoCorp owns them all. The cartoonist uses this to highlight how oblivious people are to this problem. The news sources are placed near each other to allow the audience to realize that the same company owns them all. The news sources are questioning why media concentration is considered as bad in society. Media concentration is the process of individuals or a corporation owning increasing shares of mass media. The cartoonist believes that the

Although what Ashley Hovey spoke about, the industry of technology and media, is not necessarily in line with my professional interests, it is definitely aligned with my recreational interests. Like many millennials, I am an avid watcher of on-demand streaming services like Netflix/Hulu, and an abandon-er of television. With the growing popularity of non-traditional media sources, there has been a mantra amongst millennial news sources that the medium of TV is dying Thus, it was incredibly interesting to hear Ashley’s perspective, as a person who works in TV, on the state of the industry. For one, it was surprising to hear how important advertising revenues are to big companies like Comcast. Although I knew that advertising revenues are high, I did not know that they are Comcast’s #2 source of revenue and in turn, a lot of its initiatives are aimed towards optimizing ad gains.

Over the centuries, the media has played a significant role in the shaping of societies across the globe. This is especially true of developed nations where media access is readily available to the average citizen. The media has contributed to the creation of ideologies and ideals within a society. The media has such an effect on social life, that a simple as a news story has the power to shake a nation. Because of this, governments around the world have made it their duty to be active in the regulation and control of media access in their countries. The media however, has quickly become dominated by major mega companies who own numerous television, radio and movie companies both nationally and

Until the 1980s, the control of the media was in the hands of the national government. From then, the control shifted to private outlets and by the 1990’s, there were more than fifty multinational companies who controlled it (“Mass Media”). Today, only about six major companies control the larger fraction of media in America (Williams, Par. 1). Norman Solomon wrote in the New Political Science Journal that most reporters and editors work for just a few huge companies. These journalists and editors are on the payroll for “mega-media institutions”, of which, only about six exist (Solomon 297). How much will the public learn if these companies generally control the output of information?

Thesis Statement: The collective power of Federal Communications Commission in media mass system maintains and establishes new implications.

Comcast is a large cable and satellite television provider in the United States. The company has been plagued with internal weaknesses and external threats in recent years and is in desperate need of turning around its customer service department as quickly as possible. Aside from customer service, the way the television industry is marketed to is changing, Comcast has to stay on the cutting edge in price, product quality, flexibility of plans, and customer service. Comcast has many different areas of their business that need to be analyzed to see where they can invest time and monetary resources to improve the quality of their product and service to their customers.

The rapid enhancement of technology in the contemporary society leads the phenomenon called ‘media convergence’. This is a process that developing the interactive communication constantly across multiple media platforms around the globe. Moreover, after human beings entered the twenty-first century, along with the development of digital and network technologies, media convergence patterns have become more mature on account of three major factors – technology, economic and market (Langtry, 2012). Moreover, the technical factor mainly refers to the digital and network technologies bring the interoperability, interchangeability and connectivity of media, so that the media convergence has become a possible and an inevitable. However, Media convergence is not only a simply technological shift but also “alters the relationships between the existing technologies, industries, markets, genres and audiences” (Jenkins, 2004, p.33). Indeed, media convergence is an accommodative process for the “existing media, communication industries and cultures to adapt with new technologies” (Dwyer, 2010, p.2). Along with the technological development, which is integrating the resources of different mediums, this operation of media convergence brings both changes and challenges in the media industry (Thomas, 2011). However, advertising industry is one of the sectors of communications and cultural industry that cannot avoid media convergence. This literature review paper will analyze

There are implications regarding production and distribution of media content to a public audience. “In the media, as in any industry, big corporations play a vital role, but so do small, emerging ones. When you lose small businesses, you lose big ideas. People who own their own businesses are their own bosses. They are independent thinkers. They know they can’t compete by imitating the big guys–they have to in- novate, so they’re less obsessed with earnings than they are with ideas. They are quicker to seize on new technologies and new product ideas. They steal market share from the big companies, spurring them to adopt new approaches. This process promotes competition, which leads to higher product and service quality, more jobs, and greater wealth. It’s called capitalism” (Ted Turner). “Today, the only way for media companies to survive is to own everything up and down the media chain” (Ted Turner). I believe that conglomerates thrive better when they aren’t in the hands of many, because the idea of the company can get changed into something it was not intended to be. With more people in the ownership, ideas can flow and possibly broaden the company, but I feel that too many people are unnecessary. In the sense of large companies, many advisors may be needed. “The