Okay, so I don't know if you are conservative or liberal, russian or chinese and please don't be offended when I say this (because it is true) but deregulation has truly (I'm not cursing, this is not an exaggeration) fucked up the journalism industry.
Any novice can listen to the news and know that something is amiss when he gets more information from foreign news sources then dear america where we can supposedly say anything we want. It doesn't take a PoliSci scholar to see that when you listen to Fox News you get the republican spin on the story and when you listen to CNN you get the democratic spin. Nobody gives the full circle story anymore and in-depth research has become getting a quote from an elephant and and donkey while ignoreing the smaller third party opinions- who actually have something to say as well. If you were a Ron Paul fan you know what I'm talking about. As much support as he was getting you'd think the news would've interviewed him at least once. Having a healthy press is important for a free society. Unfortunately this society, while free from Government dictatorship is being enslaved by a Corporate one.
But it wasn't until I took my Communications class here that I found out how pervasive corruption in our media is, and how it got that way.
Allow me to give you a very short history lesson:
The Telecommunications Act of 1996, was signed by President Clinton in an effort to deregulate the media industry and promote more competition and ingenuity. It has done the opposite by lessening ownership restrictions. This has led to a small number of companies consolidating into huge monopolies (oligopoly). Basically, the information that our society gets is controlled by just 5 or 6 companies- TimeWarner, Disney, NewsCorp, NBC, Universal, Sony, Viacom, and CBS.
These companies use "synergy" tecniques to make more money. For example; Newscorp, owns a pulbishing company called Harper Collins.
Harper Collins publishes a book, lets call it "Larry the Duck"
New York Post, also owned by Newscorp promotes the book by writing a reiew of it, which will most likely be positive.
the author goes to interviews on different TV shows owned by Newscorp such as FOX news.
a film called "Larry the Duck" is produced by 20th Century FOX.
the movie is promoted on MySpace.com and FX which Newscorp also owns
the New York Post writes a good review on the movie
then comes the after market where the movie and book gets DVD sales and reruns and spin off TV shows all within Newscorp's domain.
You see we're in a situation here where its no longer the editors and writers decideing what information the public needs-- its the companies with the big wallets.
Most news stations don't even bother paying for those investigative reporting pieces we had in the days of muckrackers because its just too expensive (partly cuz newspapers are failing and partly bcuz the companies want to save money)
1984 needs to be rewritten but instead of the government controlling everything its going to be Coca-Cola or some company like that.
Luckily though the Internet is still the wild wild west. So everybody be sure to keep downloading songs illegally so that it stays that way- the most free form of expression ever!
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5 comments:
First comment. Theres this line in Fight Club where Edward Norton's character says something like "When deep space exploration ramps up, it'll be the big corporations that name everything."
Second comment. The only re-writing of 1984 has already happened (sort of) to a world controlled by corporations. Its called Blade Runner. However, that wasn't the focus of the story.
Third comment. Coca-Cola basically keeps Israel in power. Its a sad sad thought to know that a company decides whether or not a nation remains in power. I think you were the one to actually point that out awhile ago on Facebook.
Fourth comment. I know its a video game, but Metal Gear Solid 4 has an interesting take on this kind of idea. It depicts a not too distant future world where the big name companies own PMCs (private military companies) and the money from an economy based on war keeps the world running. They pretty much control everything. The US kinda saw a version of that in Iraq. Dick Cheny owns Blackwater, the largest operating PMC on the planet. He/They got WAAAAAAY rich from the stuff they did in Iraq.
Fifth comment. I'm actually okay with the idea. Its easier to fight a company than it is a government, so when the company runs the government, I think rebellion is simpler. Example. You murder the CEO of Viacom. The cops and maybe the FBI look for you. You murder the President of the US. EVERYBODY and their mom come after you. Of course, this is concerning Che Guevara type revolution only.
Sixth comment. I have no intention of assassinating the CEO of Viacom or the US President.
Seventh comment. Our world is a fucked up place.
first- I love that movie and they should show it in elementary schools as a part of education ;)
2nd- iwanttogotothere
3rd- i didn't know about the coke/isreal relationship !
4th-I've started playing that game, or one of the game- I'm playing it chornologically and its pretty awesome though Im not that far into it
5th- yes, companies will be easier to fight and wars hopefully won't be so bloody (unless Lockheed Martin gets its own country) but the bad side is that it's easier to see the slavery that governments inflict than it is to see the slavery that companies inflict
I'm glad someone agrees with me. In my communications class last semester, we talked about this as well. There's a reason it's called Corporate America, though.
Side note: Starbucks, Caterpillar, Coke-a-Cola, U.S. government, and many others support Israel.
And you considered working for Caterpillar?!!
Do you guys know anything about other Company's countries
Coke and Starbucks (or whoever owns them) have a lot of interests in most of the world. I forget where I read it, or if it were even a viable source, but apparently Coke will fund African governments based on a commitment to buy their products once they're in charge. There was one specific revolution they mentioned and I've completely forgotten what it was, I'll start looking it up.
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