(ALIVE) Oligarchy in News: only 6 Corporations control almost everything what you read, see and hear on the news every day
A
"Who Owns The Media? The 6 Monolithic Corporations That Control Almost
Everything We Watch, Hear and Read"
Economic Collapse Blog
October 6, 2010
Back in 1983, approximately 50 corporations controlled the vast majority of
all news media in the United States. Today, ownership of the news media has
been concentrated in the hands of just six incredibly powerful media
corporations. These corporate behemoths control most of what we watch, hear
and read every single day. They own television networks, cable channels,
movie studios, newspapers, magazines, publishing houses, music labels and
even many of our favorite websites. Sadly, most Americans don't even stop to
think about who is feeding them the endless hours of news and entertainment
that they constantly ingest. Most Americans don't really seem to care about
who owns the media. But they should. The truth is that each of us is deeply
influenced by the messages that are constantly being pounded into our heads
by the mainstream media. The average American watches 153 hours of
television a month. In fact, most Americans begin to feel physically
uncomfortable if they go too long without watching or listening to
something. Sadly, most Americans have become absolutely addicted to news and
entertainment and the ownership of all that news and entertainment that we
crave is being concentrated in fewer and fewer hands each year.
The six corporations that collectively control U.S. media today are Time
Warner, Walt Disney, Viacom, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., CBS Corporation
and NBC Universal. Together, the "big six" absolutely dominate news and
entertainment in the United States. But even those areas of the media that
the "big six" do not completely control are becoming increasingly
concentrated. For example, Clear Channel now owns over 1000 radio stations
across the United States. Companies like Google, Yahoo and Microsoft are
increasingly dominating the Internet.
But it is the "big six" that are the biggest concerns. When you control
what Americans watch, hear and read you gain a great deal of control over
what they think. They don't call it "programming" for nothing.
Back in 1983 it was bad enough that about 50 corporations dominated U.S.
media. But since that time, power over the media has rapidly become
concentrated in the hands of fewer and fewer people....
In 1983, fifty corporations dominated most of every mass medium and the
biggest media merger in history was a $340 million deal. . [I]n 1987, the
fifty companies had shrunk to twenty-nine. . [I]n 1990, the twenty-nine had
shrunk to twenty three. . [I]n 1997, the biggest firms numbered ten and
involved the $19 billion Disney-ABC deal, at the time the biggest media
merger ever. . [In 2000] AOL Time Warner's $350 billion merged corporation
[was] more than 1,000 times larger [than the biggest deal of 1983].
~ Ben H. Bagdikian, The Media Monopoly, Sixth Edition, (Beacon Press, 2000),
pp. xx-xxi
Today, six colossal media giants tower over all the rest. Much of the
information in the chart below comes from mediaowners.com. The chart below
reveals only a small fraction of the media outlets that these six behemoths
actually own....
Time Warner
Home Box Office (HBO)
Time Inc.
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
CW Network (partial ownership)
TMZ
New Line Cinema
Time Warner Cable
Cinemax
Cartoon Network
TBS
TNT
America Online
MapQuest
Moviefone
Castle Rock
Sports Illustrated
Fortune
Marie Claire
People Magazine
Walt Disney
ABC Television Network
Disney Publishing
ESPN Inc.
Disney Channel
SOAPnet
A&E
Lifetime
Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Buena Vista Theatrical Productions
Buena Vista Records
Disney Records
Hollywood Records
Miramax Films
Touchstone Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures
Pixar Animation Studios
Buena Vista Games
Hyperion Books
Viacom
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Home Entertainment
Black Entertainment Television (BET)
Comedy Central
Country Music Television (CMT)
Logo
MTV
MTV Canada
MTV2
Nick Magazine
Nick at Nite
Nick Jr.
Nickelodeon
Noggin
Spike TV
The Movie Channel
TV Land
VH1
News Corporation (Rupert Murdoch)
Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Fox Television Stations
The New York Post
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Beliefnet
Fox Business Network
Fox Kids Europe
Fox News Channel
Fox Sports Net
Fox Television Network
FX
My Network TV
MySpace
News Limited News
Phoenix InfoNews Channel
Phoenix Movies Channel
Sky PerfecTV
Speed Channel
STAR TV India
STAR TV Taiwan
STAR World
Times Higher Education Supplement Magazine
Times Literary Supplement Magazine
Times of London
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
20th Century Fox International
20th Century Fox Studios
20th Century Fox Television
BSkyB
DIRECTV
The Wall Street Journal
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Interactive Media
FOXTEL
HarperCollins Publishers
The National Geographic Channel
National Rugby League
News Interactive
News Outdoor
Radio Veronica
ReganBooks
Sky Italia
Sky Radio Denmark
Sky Radio Germany
Sky Radio Netherlands
STAR
Zondervan
CBS Corporation
CBS News
CBS Sports
CBS Television Network
CNET
Showtime
TV.com
CBS Radio Inc. (130 stations)
CBS Consumer Products
CBS Outdoor
CW Network (50% ownership)
Infinity Broadcasting
Simon & Schuster (Pocket Books, Scribner)
Westwood One Radio Network
NBC Universal
Bravo
CNBC
NBC News
MSNBC
NBC Sports
NBC Television Network
Oxygen
SciFi Magazine
Syfy (Sci Fi Channel)
Telemundo
USA Network
Weather Channel
Focus Features
NBC Universal Television Distribution
NBC Universal Television Studio
Paxson Communications (partial ownership)
Trio
Universal Parks & Resorts
Universal Pictures
Universal Studio Home Video
These gigantic media corporations do not exist to objectively tell the truth
to the American people. Rather, the primary purpose of their existence is to
make money.
These gigantic media corporations are not going to do anything to threaten
their relationships with their biggest advertisers (such as the largest
pharmaceutical companies that literally spend billions on advertising), and
one way or another these gigantic media corporations are always going to
express the ideological viewpoints of their owners.
Fortunately, an increasing number of Americans are starting to wake up and
are realizing that the mainstream media should not be trusted. According to
a new poll just released by Gallup, the number of Americans that have little
to no trust in the mainstream media (57%) is at an all-time high.
That is one reason why we have seen the alternative media experience such
rapid growth over the past few years. The mainstream media has been losing
credibility at a staggering rate, and Americans are starting to look
elsewhere for the truth about what is really going on.
Do you think that anyone in the mainstream news would actually tell you that
the Federal Reserve is bad for America or that we are facing a horrific
derivatives bubble that could destroy the entire world financial system? Do
you think that anyone in the mainstream media would actually tell you the
truth about the deindustrialization of America or the truth about the
voracious greed of Goldman Sachs?
Sure there are a few courageous reporters in the mainstream media that
manage to slip a few stories past their corporate bosses from time to time,
but in general there is a very clear understanding that there are simply
certain things that you just do not say in the mainstream news.
But Americans are becoming increasingly hungry for the truth, and they are
becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the dumbed down pablum that is
passing as "hard hitting news" these days.
So what do you think about the state of the mainstream media? Please feel
free to leave a comment with your opinion below....
Reprinted with permission from the Economic Collapse Blog.
BobF
Previously on alt.obituaries (Thu, 7 Oct 2010 18:11:34 -0500 to be
exact), "A" <aa...@att.net> bored everyone silly:
* * * * * * * *
More males than females have Asperger syndrome.
While every person who has the syndrome will experience
different symptoms and severity of symptoms, some of the
more common characteristics include:
* Average or above average intelligence
* Inability to think in abstract ways (eg: puns, jokes, sarcasm, etc)
* Difficulties in empathising with others
* Problems with understanding another person's point of view
* Hampered conversational ability
* Problems with controlling feelings such as anger, depression
and anxiety
* Adherence to routines and schedules, and stress if expected routine
is disrupted
* Inability to manage appropriate social conduct
* Delayed understanding of sexual codes of conduct
* A narrow field of interests. For example a person with Asperger
syndrome may focus on learning all there is to know about
baseball statistics, politics or television shows.
* Anger and aggression when things do not happen as they want
* Sensitivity to criticism
* Eccentricity
* Behaviour varies from mildly unusual to quite aggressive
and difficult
no...@nowhere.com
>Warner, Walt Disney, Viacom, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., CBS Corporation
>and NBC Universal.
I'm surprised The Onion didn't make that list.
Kenny McCormack
Terry del Fuego <t_del...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>On Thu, 7 Oct 2010 18:11:34 -0500, "An Unemployed Eight-Year-Old Girl"
><aa...@att.net> copied 'n' pasted:
>
>>Today, six colossal media giants tower over all the rest.
>
Indeed. It is almost as if someone sensible has taken over the A account.
--
> No, I haven't, that's why I'm asking questions. If you won't help me,
> why don't you just go find your lost manhood elsewhere.
CLC in a nutshell.
B. R. Slim
> In article<e8tsa6d8ffk39abkc...@4ax.com>,
> Terry del Fuego<t_del...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>> On Thu, 7 Oct 2010 18:11:34 -0500, "An Unemployed Eight-Year-Old Girl"
>> <aa...@att.net> copied 'n' pasted:
>>
>>> Today, six colossal media giants tower over all the rest.
>>
>> Suddenly you're uncomfortable with the "free" market? Interesting.
>
> Indeed. It is almost as if someone sensible has taken over the A account.
>
I don't disagree with the content of the post, but wtf is so sensible
about posting this shit in a.o? The Resident F'loon just wants to start
another crackpot political discussion. I predict this thread will soon
be all about the poster himself. Oh, wait. It already is.
Kenny McCormack
I very much agree with everything you wrote. True on all accounts.
I was just commenting on the incongruity of "A" posting something that
*isn't* insane.
--
But the Bush apologists hope that you won't remember all that. And they
also have a theory, which I've been hearing more and more - namely,
that President Obama, though not yet in office or even elected, caused the
2008 slump. You see, people were worried in advance about his future
policies, and that's what caused the economy to tank. Seriously.
(Paul Krugman - Addicted to Bush)
islanders
Or Ed Conrad
islanders
Or Ed Conrad
BobF
Previously on alt.obituaries (Fri, 8 Oct 2010 11:12:01 -0500 to be
exact), "A" <aa...@att.net> wrote thusly:
> You and that other dope (B.R. Slim) just aren't smart enough to
>see the bigger picture (see my reply below).
B. R. Slim
>
> You and that other dope (B.R. Slim) just aren't smart enough to see the
> bigger picture (see my reply below).
>
>
In the bigger picture, you're still a fucking idiot.