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Image 1 – Media ownership matters – monopolies over media can lead to covert (or in this case not so covert) saturation or dissemination of a single opinion of the media controller.
Audiences today must be wary of where they access media. Media giants have incredible power over not just obvious issues such as programming and advertising, but also over the subliminal messages portrayed through their channels of communication, and their hold over access to information.
According to the following infographic, in America (where much of the western world’s media consumption is dictated) six key companies have a monopoly over the market.
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Image 2 – American media ownership has been consolidated and monopolized by six key companies.
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Rupert Murdoch is the Australian owner of one of the world’s largest media companies.
Of particular interest to Australian audiences is Newcorp’s prevalence in this core group, as it the company is owned by Australian (and now American citizen) Rupert Murdoch, and stretches far beyond the boundaries of the US, with large holdings on Australian shores.
Companies such as Murdoch’s Newscorp are ingrained in our media culture, their share in Australian media so varied that it is possible the average citizen, unintentional and unknowingly, may be consuming solely Newscorp or Newscorp-associated product; this means consumers are easily steered towards certain opinions without their realisation.
This is the effect of media ownership and control at a personal level; it is however prevalent on a number of different levels in society today.
Individuals who have control over the media can easily dictate public opinion on a wider level, such as in the political arena.
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Image 4 – Corrupt former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi owns a large portion of Italian media.
In Italy, for instance, former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi controlled the lion’s share of the country’s media personally. According to an article published by News.com.au (incidentally, a Newscorp subsidiary), in 2009, “Mr Berlusconi [owned] the three biggest commercial television stations, [controlled] state television, [owned] a newspaper with his family, a magazine Panorama, a major publishing house and an advertising agency”.
This means Berlusconi, whose most recent leadership was fraught with indiscretions, including accusations of involvement in prostitution (BBC) and more recently, the publishing of wiretapped conversations regarding a failed bank takeover in one of his newspapers (Guardian), would certainly have had some ability to hide information from the public before, during and after his term(s) as prime minister.
I am not fluent with the media regulation laws of any country, however I do believe if it is not, then it should be, the right of the individual to access true and reliable information, particularly in regards to their political sphere – but in a greater sense, on any level.
Individuals place their trust in media organisations to deliver fair and true reports; it is accepted that platforms such as blogs are certainly limited by the ability of the individual author to express their own opinions, however, should organisations whose apparent purpose is to deliver the news be allowed to be subject to personal or political preference? I think not. We must be able to access information about what is going on in our world without having to cross-reference and check each individual fact.
P.s. Thankyou Business Managed Democracy for Image 1.
P.p.s. Thankyou creativecrista for Image 2.
P.p.p.s. Thankyou Salon for Image 3.
P.p.p.p.s. Thankyou Zimbio for Image 4.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
