Who owns the MEDIA?

Who Owns the MEDIA?

The world is a circus and I believe the cunning and the entertaining joker of this world is the Media Industry. Although almost every person today reads newspapers or books, watches news channels or reads online, on being asked who owns the media, pretty much all of us would be dumbfounded. Research shows that only ten major companies own the media, we daily use. Two of them are the hugely popular Walt Disney and Sony. This revelation cleared my doubts on why Disney lets Miley Cyrus sing for Hollywood Records. As a matter of fact, that music label is owned by The Walt Disney Empire. The media has grown a lot over the past few years.

So what does this mean for us? The fact that only 10 companies control the content of our viewing is very odd. It means that we are watching or hearing selected pieces of information over and over again because the companies are competing against each other. Suppose if CNN shows footage of some bombing, BBC has to show it too, otherwise its ratings will go down. This then becomes a game of ratings; CNN was convicted of staging a fake bombing. Why was this done? To increase the viewership. This completely shifts our focus of being truly informed. While these companies are going against one another, we are missing the news that is of minor importance. This can have negative impact on path to be “truly informed”. Another negative effect is that the media over emphasizes on controversial news articles. For example, a father is accused of murdering his daughter. Several news channels will make it breaking news. News channels in order to get viewers will project the image of the father as guilty without confirmation. This can ruin the individual’s life. The media needs to use its powers responsibly.

Another example of companies controlling the type of media that reaches us are the Major recording Label. These recording labels, often tries to choose what the listeners should to listen instead of letting the music artist record a song of their choice. The music label tries to manipulate the artist’s image so as to sell the music and this in turn affects the artist’s music. This artist doesn’t have much of choice except to accept the offer. But, Ani DiFranco, a folk rock singer chose to start her own independent music label- Righteous Babe Records. Not many artists choose to take this path because it is very costly. Therefore, not having lot choices is one of the cons of the media industry.

But, today, not all is controlled by these big companies. The cell phone camera has given the viewer power of showing what cannot be shown by the mainstream media. For example, Saddam Hussein’s hanging was recorded on cell phone. It automatically makes an ordinary person into a photojournalist. This power can be harmful when it starts exceeding the limits. It is alright to have a tsunami recorded on cell phone camera, but what right does the owner of the camera have to take pictures of celebrities during their private moments? The limits of what should and should not be reported are being redefined by this easily portable device.

Therefore, we see that the media when owned by only few companies is very selective of what should be shown. This control often limits our knowledge of our surroundings. It can be helpful when it shows us an important news and destructive when it starts media judgment against an individual.