Rough Draft: Media Conglomeration Domination

Jacob Troxell
29 October 2008

The bulk of media in the United States is controlled by only a handful of corporations; the number of media conglomerates shrinks every year as mass mergers and buyouts manipulate the industries structure. Now, in a narrowly concentrated industry the messages, ideas, and beliefs put forth by these company’s run the risk of becoming a victim to censorship in the name of the company self interest. I believe that if the media industry were better regulated, media sources would become less concentrated forcing more competition within the industry, resulting in a better quality media.
Media surrounds us, most are unaware of its almost limitless scope; television, radio, newspaper, the Internet, billboards, movies, music, magazines, telephones, books, the eccentric man on the corner screaming about how you should embrace Jesus, these are all methods of communicating information to an audience. The possibilities are nearly limitless for how information can be presented to the masses; however it is also important to question who is presenting the information. As of late 2008, there are only five companies that control and distribute the media in the United States; five owners and/or board of directors controlling the initiatives behind almost all of the media that Americans receive on a daily basis.
Viacom, NewsCorp, Disney, Time-Warner, and Comcast, these are the companies that make up the media oligopoly. Each company grows daily as they buy up the remaining local and regional media businesses, like radio stations, newspapers, and magazines. The sky seems to be the limit for these media moguls. The company’s seem unstoppable and their influence is undeniable upon the people of the United States, and that might just be the problem.
In 1996 the government passed the Telecommunications Deregulations act. The act was supposed to allow for companies to no longer be faced with restrictions on owning more than one type of media. This would allow them to compete with each other by investing in different types of media ownership, the ideal outcome was that companies would produce better quality products, better prices, and better service because they are competing with one another. Unfortunately, the reality is that the act led to a series of mergers and buyouts of media companies forming them into conglomerates hording shares of the industry. Since the act of 1996 the FCC has failed multiple times to enforce its own bylaws and take action against these companies for disregarding the rules of media ownership.
One of the major media ownership rules put forth by the FCC is that one company cannot control two different types of media companies in the same region. NewsCorp owns three newspapers and two television stations in New York City, and are working to have the FCC regulation overturned, claiming that they own the cable lines that they are transmitting their message through so who is the government to get involved, they also claim that the government is infringing on their 1st Amendment right of freedom of press. This situation represents the problem with our media industry. Newscorp is already conducting a practice that is not in co-ordination with the FCC’s bylaws, owning two different media types in one area and the FCC has not taken action against the company, showing a blatant disregard for its own policies.
The monopolistic use of media in the United States is also leading to problems with broadcast news. Fox, Newscorp’s flagship company, has continuously distorted and influenced its news story in order to appease the company’s right-winged political agenda. Another of the companies faults is that it has also began using product placement advertising during its news programs, during the summer of 2008 an agreement was made that allowed for McDonalds coffee to sit in front of newscasters why the read the news. The companies blatant disrespect for journalistic integrity shakes the trust in all of its countless other media products. These examples can be seen throughout the other companies in the oligopoly.
These are not the only problems with media industry right now, in a world where the mainstream media is threatened some choose to turn to other sources but if all go according to plan, the Internet may be lost as an alternative to these corporations and their agendas.
The Internet emerged in the early 1990’s and made an undeniable impact on the world. Information became instantly available to anyone with an internet connection, whether they wanted the latest stocks, news, web video, chatting with someone halfway across the world; almost anything imaginable was available on the net. Businesses were jumping trying to make money off of the internet, but the beautiful part of the internet as a media provider is that nobody can fully corner the market. Instant publication of ideas, businesses can be built in days, unlimited advertisement and promotion; all of this is available to the public, as long as it’s put in a place where people can find it. The system has negatives to it; it is filled with millions of websites offering imprecise or completely erroneous information trying to establish themselves as legitimate sources. The saving grace to this problem is the average user’s ability to navigate this minefield by using credible sources and information.
Enter Net Neutrality. Proposed legislation that would censor all of the content of the internet showing only what the government deems as appropriate and necessary. Though this legislation has lacked significant support, the idea is still threatening and blatantly unconstitutional. If the legislation is passed, this would be detrimental to the first amendment rights of the American people, delivering one of the final blows against a country trying to find truth.
It seems contradictory to insist the need for regulation of media and limited regulation on the internet, but the two must be seen as separate entities to understand the argument. The internet is a place where anyone can express their opinion, user created content allows people to express themselves. The media industry is a place for businesses to fight and grow and in the end, help themselves and their customers; it is not doing the latter at this point in time.
A better regulated media industry would allow for the growth of competition between media groups forcing the best quality media to the top. The quality of media in the United States is at stake; the media now, which is a full scale example of an oligopoly, faces no real competition to inspire positive changes in their function and material. If we as a country continue to stand by apathetic and ignorant, we can watch our first amendment rights dwindle and die.