2. Think of your favorite television channels, your
favorite magazines, and your favorite websites.
You may think they’re all their own separate
entity and company, but what you don’t know is
that every form of media is likely owned by a
mere handful of powerful corporations.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_
1ZB5cjylx2o/TLPUhUHuEJI/A
AAAAAAACj4/gXEfI39L1ZQ/
s1600/media-ownership.gif
6. Comcast Corporation
Owns 51 percent of NBC Universal (other 49 percent is
owned by General Electric)
This includes NBC, MSNBC, The History Channel, A&E USA
Network, and Hulu
News Corporation
◦ Owns Fox, Fox News, FSN, TV Guide Channel, and National
Geographic Channel, among others
Time Warner
◦ Controls CNN, HBO, Cartoon Network, TNT, TBS, and the CW
The Walt Disney Company
◦ Owns ABC, ABC Family, ESPN, The Disney Channel, and
Lifetime
7. You’ve all played the game Monopoly, in
which you try to dominate the entire board.
The media industry, on the other hand, is
considered an oligopoly, which is when a
small number of companies owns a large
number of media outlets.
This causes fewer opportunities for unique
ideas to be generated, which causes less
diversity in the media.
8. The conglomeration of media allows
corporations to promote their own products
without the public’s awareness.
With the media being owned by few major
conglomerates, problems have arisen through
various forms of biases
◦ Bias of Inclusion
◦ Bias of Revision
◦ Bias of Omission
9. Coverage in the news that favors the parent
company of the channel
This includes cross promotion, which is when
a media conglomerate promotes its product
on its various other subsidiaries.
◦ For example, Alice in Wonderland, a Disney movie
was promoted on ABC, ABC Family, and ESPN
Cross Promotion
10. Coverage in the news media that is changed in
order to benefit the parent company
According to the Columbia Journalism Review,
"several" former Fox employees "complained of
'management sticking their fingers' in the writing
and editing of stories to cook the facts to make a
story more palatable to right-of-center tastes."
Said one: "I've worked at a lot of news
organizations and never found that kind of
manipulation.”
◦ Bias of Revision
11. A media outlet leaves out part of the news story that can
damage the parent company.
Last summer, when the scandal with Rupert Murdoch
and News Corporation surfaced, it was found that FOX
covered the scandal much less than other stations. FOX
is owned by News Corporation. Coincidence?
http://www.matthewhunt.com/blog/images/themanwhoownsth
enews.jpg
http://www.journalism.org/comme
ntary_backgrounder/fnc_trails_far_
behind_rivals_murdoch_coverage
12. In order to appropriately gauge the various bias
found in the media, one must become media literate.
Diversify where you get your news. This will allow you
to spot what biases are found on various channels.
It is important to know which outlets are owned by
whom, which will overall allow you to see messages
that may be included or excluded based on outlets
owned by the same parent company.
In order to become media literate, you must become
aware.
13. The Jonas Brothers are part of the Disney
Corporation, and Disney is known for making
decisions for the band. This South Park clip
(:00-:35) depicts just that.
◦ South Park: The Boss is Here
