Sunday, October 18th, 2015
Stephan: It has been increasingly impressed on me, as we gear up for the 2016 elections, how overwhelmingly corporate media has moved from the traditional role of journalism into propaganda, agit prop, and very selective coverage -- have you noticed? And that this extends far beyond journalism into media of all kinds.
So I went searching for actual data on media ownership. Did you have any idea that six corporations -- GE, Newscorp, Disney, Viacom, Time Warner & CBS -- control about 90 per cent of what everyone in the United States reads, watches, or listens to?
And to make matters worse this authoritative little report, the best short piece I could find, is out of date. It was written in 2010 and updated in 2014. The consolidation of media has grown even more since then. Things are worse than this report.
This is why a free and unfettered internet is so important. It is the last place for information to be disseminated. It is why I started SR.
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 Read the Full Article
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 Read the Full Article
This is the reason that investigative reporting is no longer an important part of the news as it once was. These corporations all parrot each other and try to force THEIR opinions down our throats. With all due respect to parrots.
And look at the speed at which CNN took down the poll of the Democratic debate after they found out that Sanders had actually won the debate, as well as the comments which all liked Sanders. By the way Time-Warner owns CNN, and contributed to H. Clinton’s campaign fund. If the people had their way, we would turn toward a Socialist Democracy which I believe would be a great way to turn our country into a great one again, not the “Capitalist Pigocracy” which we now live under.