Scythe

I have an essay coming up:

In which ways do media corporations use technology to influence populations, and in which ways can this be considered a positive or negative thing?

And I thought that it would be a rather interesting topic to discuss here on the News&Politics board (and elisheva agreed with me).

I've learnt in my research that certain individuals who belong to some big corporations (such as Silvio Berlusconi & Ruper Murdoch) own a vast amount of newspapers and other media and could therefore quite easilly control the information that we all receive. I don't know if I think that they should be allowed to do this. It's almost like Censorship.

This article goes into it in alot of detail.

quaist

Interesting topic!

Well, I think that as long as the media does just "inform" the population as objective as possible (means f.e. in a war: not just reports from the death toll of one side), it's okay. It must be possible for the consumer the build his/her own opinion about the news he/she gets. That'd be the optimum.

migamoo

A lot of large, well-known companies are conglomerates of smaller companies they have merged together or bought. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if these companies own newspapers or news organizations/telecommunications in general. A great example would be AOL-Time Warner. These companies also feel they should be allowed to promote whatever agenda they wish and they try to do so. This could be political, or just plain financial. Do they actually have the right to do so? I'd say both yes and no. Do they have the right to follow their interests, yes. But I do not feel they should expect everyone to follow suit.

lytab5

I agree - this is a very interesting topic!

I believe that media and information is already very controlled and maybe I can offer some examples:

1. A few years ago we made an excursion into a radio station. The states biggest radio station to be correct.
   We kinda "travelled" through all departments and after a while we came into an office with two persons. They were introduced as the music choice comitee.
   Basically, they listen to all the music that is send into the station and they decide what song they like and that's basically the song that is played. The rest goes into the trash can...
   I was like pointing at them and asking: "Just the two of you?"
   The answer was without hesitation - yes.
   Two people who decide what song is played in a state.
   
2. Yesterday the media "discovered" that two german people went missing in Irak. Kidnapping is likely.
   Fact is that the government knew about the disappearance since last Tuesday.

I think that many sources have the ability and the resources to hide information or keep silent about many facts...

sunnykerr

Just look at the lead up to the war in Iraq. How all these newspapers and news organizations ran what basically amounted to the same story. How very few of them, if any, looked even a bit deeper.

You can also look at how non-media conglomerates control information. We've all heard of stories where advertisers pulled their ads from certain programs or certain stations because they didn't like... whatever it is they didn't like... That's a form of control, too.

migamoo

That's true Sunny. A lot of companies will refuse to do something because it doesn't fit in with that they are trying to sell or who they are trying to sell to.

quaist

Thanx for the info, lytab5, didn't know that there were only 2 people responsible for that...

But how do you know that media knew that issue with the kidnapped Germans that long?

Scythe

One of the examples I found was about Silvio Berlusconi - The former Italian Prime Minister. He owned the majority of Italy's newspapers and television stations and it could be said that he used them to encourage people to vote for him. One re-election year he even sent every Italian family a copy of his autobiography.

Lexis

Oh my...and I thought Blair and his spin doctors were bad! His autobiography? Well, at least he was encouraging literacy.

Scythe

Can anyone think of any beneficial effects that media corporations could have?

quaist

Well, without them, we wouldn't really be informed about what's going on in the world, I guess.

Scythe

Hmm, but wouldn't we still be informed by smaller companies who could make their own newspapers or tv channels?

migamoo

With larger companies, you might have faster access to information because it's spread over a larger surface.

Scythe

Good thinking Ash!

sunnykerr

And you're more assured of a continued source of information as large corporations are less likely to go under, as compared to smaller companies who may not be able to afford the competition.