Use the following links to take you to a couple of charts that diagram who owns the major media outlets in the United States. After reviewing this information, what's your reaction to these charts? Is too much power over the media concentrated into too few companies? How does this affect the news an average "media consumer" receives? Explain your response.
http://www.nowfoundation.org/issues/communications/tv/mediacontrol.html
http://www.thenation.com/special/bigten.html
Use the link below to see how many radio stations in the United States are owned by Clear Channel Communications. How does this effect the music you hear on the radio? Do you care?
http://www.cjr.org/resources/index.php?c=clearchannel
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I didn’t realize that there are only 10 companies that control the majority of media, and I find this very surprising. The fact that there only are 10 major companies, doesn’t bother me very much … but I do believe it will have an impact on the average media receiver – mainly because each company has a different point of view, which again will influence us as receivers, in terms of what kind of details we will receive and so on. I also do believe there is too much power concentrated into a few companies – first, it is a scary thought how easy it would be for “the media people” to manipulate the information they give us - and second, because this would not create a wide range/variety in news/media. But then again, we receive bias on whatever channel we are going to end up watching anyways, and it is impossible to stay completely neutral, which applies both to people and media producers.
ReplyDeleteWe are able to choose what we want in life, and our beliefs – and we obviously do get influenced by environmental factors, and media is one of them … but we are still able to create an opinion of ourselves.
I have to say that I barely listen to radio, so it doesn’t really affect me very much. But, when it comes to Clear Channel Communications, it’s pretty obvious that this company owns a lot of stations. One question: It’s just saying that Clear Channel Communications own all these stations – I would then assume that someone else is in charge for the production – or?! The fact that there is one huge company that owns tons of radio stations,it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are playing the same music at the same time – though the variety in music is might be lower, than it would be with several companies ;)
According to the charts, there are very few companies who own so much of the media. And that right there can be a problem. One company that owns several media outlets can pose a problem by making a lot of the media uniform. Because that one company will control everything that is said on the radio, TV channels, etc. But in my opinion this isn't necessarily a bad thing. We can still get opinions from other places that are owned by different companies. And of coarse, everyone is entitled to their own opinion so after hearing whatever it is, we can make our own assumptions and have our own thoughts on the topic. We will most likely hear the same information somewhere else whether it is from a different company, or just another person. And I think that is the problem with people. Some people are quick to accept someone else's opinion for their own and not really think about it.
ReplyDeleteAs for Clear Channel Communications, that is just shocking that they control that many radio stations. I think that this definitely affects what we hear on the radio. Clear Channel might have a contract saying that their channels cannot say certain things or even play certain music. So I feel that the radio stations owned by Clear Channel are controlled and maybe limited with what they put on the air. Personally, this doesn't effect me very much. I think that the radio stations are fine to begin with. I don't even think that I would notice a change if they were no longer controlled by Clear Channel. Although it would be interesting to see if any of the radio stations change if they didn't have any company owning and controlling them.
I am not at all surprised by these charts and statistics. The media is slowly becoming a monopoly market as companies continue to buy each other out. The influence of the media is far to great. Disney has this ability to crank out and manufacture superstars overnight (Miley Cyrus, Jonas brothers, ect.) and they create these personas that are not realistic. However, these personas are what is looked up to by the public. Although it is truly unattainable we try to obtain it. We will do whatever the media tells us, slowly, not immediately. After all, Obama won the election. I don't believe that would have happened without media intervention. It is like a frog. If you put a frog into boiling water, it will jump out. However, if you put a frog in colder water and slowly adjust the heat, the frog will stay in to pot and slowly boil until it is dead. The media slowly turns up the temperature until the general public concedes.
ReplyDeleteIt is very surprising information, even though I kind of already knew Disney owned a huge part of the media. I cannot believe that these companies own so much of the television shows we watch. Personally, as much as I don't think it is right for them to control so much, I do not necessarily think that they have too much power. Every company has a right to own what they want and further their business. However, it does affect the “media news” in a detrimental way, because they are always reviewing stories to decide how news worthy they are, and whether or not to air them. So, ultimately, it is not good to have only a few companies in charge of the media because they are like lobbyists. This effects the information we hear about on a daily basis and we deserve the truth, not a skewed version.
ReplyDeleteThe amount of media sources certain companies have control of affects us deeply because they are able to present their bias in what we listen to. In response to the amount of radio stations that Clear Channel Communications owns, this is a problem because they choose what we listen to. If a bigwig at Clear Channel says, "Hey, man. I hate reggae," then buh-bye to that. This example may be a little extreme, but so is this kind of control. They deem certain stories more newsworthy than others; we do not get all of the facts. However, television, paper, etc. news stations compete for awards and more viewers/listeners/readers and are therefore more motivated to provide the most prominent news in a better fashion. These companies are doing what they can to, I assume, get rich and have power and control. The problem, however, will occur when one company owns everything. Then there’s no competition and we are hearing and believing whatever this corporation puts in front of our eyes. Where else will we turn to for information? Who can we believe?
ReplyDeleteI am not surprised about how such few companies own so many channels. This is bad because since such few companies control the air we will be hearing the same bias over and over again. Since we hear things such as the news through the TV. we will only be hearing the things they want us to hear. Therefore we only know what they want us to know.
ReplyDeleteClear water communication systems owns alot of the radio in a lot of places. This can be looked at as good or bad. I think this because people everywhere will be hearing the same bias things. One thing that might be bad about this is that this company owns a lot of the radio and can do what they want with restricting things and such. Therefore we won’t always being getting the best thing no matter what.
I was surprised that one company can own so many networks. I do think too much power over the media is concentrated into too few companies because it means that a single company can have too much influence on the average “media consumer”. Some companies could take advantage over this fact and deliver nonfactual news. When the news being delivered is manipulated, people are misinformed and cannot form logical opinions. Although I think a company should be able to control the media to a certain extent, there should be a limit.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised that so few companies own most of the media. I do not necessarily think this is a good thing, since every company has different opinions and they can easily change people's stance on things. Having so little companies controlling the majority of the media effects the average "media consumer" because the less information a person has on a certain topic makes it easier to be persuaded by someone else's opinion. As a result people hear things presented in a certain way and agree with it because they don't know the other side of the issue, so they are not thinking for themselves they are just being led blindly by other's opinions.
ReplyDeleteClear Channel Communications owns a shocking amount of radio stations. I do not think the amount of stations they control is a good thing, because they have total domination on what is said and played on those hundreds of stations. The executives at Clear Channel will have certain opinions and the thousands of people who listen to their stations across the United States will be affected by their beliefs.
It does not surprise me that only a handful of companies control so much of the media.
ReplyDeleteThis is not good because we get the same news from the same people and we do not get it from a variety of points of view thus causing bias in our news. If a company wants us to hear something, we hear it, and if they do not want us to hear something, we do not hear it. They can control it all.
The fact that Clear Channel Communication owns so many stations, is not good. Beacuse they own so much, it causes a great deal of bias. Also, the variety of music will not be as large and we will not always be listening to what we want to listen to. I do not really listen to the radio and I am not effected by this, but I do think that a company should only be allowed a certain amount of stations under their ownership.
These numbers and statistics are unsuprising to me. These days companies are monopolizing eachother and buying eachother out, trying to promote their own business over others. I didn't realize the extreme of how much of the media Disney specifically owns, but it is expected. It is an extremely large company that has a wide influence on many people.
ReplyDeleteThis could be a good or bad thing since obviously the media is very bias, even in unexpected scenarios.
Clear Channel Communication has control over so much of the media that they are able to monitor and control everything that is displayed to the media consumer.
When someone is exposed to certain opinions and facts in the media their opinions will begin to change.
I was both surprised and not the least surprised at the number of companies that own so much of the media. I think that there is to much power in power to these companies to influence the media that we hear. Because so few companies own so many media sources we are bound to hear what they want us to hear. They also will make you believe their side and influence you. They can also control what news stories we hear or wont hear. The power left to these companies is unbelievable, and they shouldn't be allowed to have so much freedom and control over people. This effect the person who gets the media because they only get what the companies want them to hear and not the other maybe valuable news stories that are available. People are loosing out by companies owning so much of the media.
ReplyDeleteI am surprised that the media is owned mainly by 10 different companies. This definitely has the potential of bias. Yes too less of companies owning too much media can impact our lives by only exposing us to specific things. They will expose us to their company but they also limit what we listen and watch. This can sway us in different directions but it can also keep us focused on one thing like country music. One company may focus on a certain type of music and a different type of TV show. If we like one, it sways us to feel like we have to like the other. And if not so many companies own a lot of the media, we do not have the exposure to a wide variety of opinions like in the news. The more that one company controls the more control they have of us.
ReplyDeleteWith Clear Channel Connections owning so many radio stations, they monitor what we listen to and what we hear so they can persuade us to believe what they believe. They monitor what we listen to and that has a huge impact on us. I don’t necessarily care because I don’t listen to the radio a lot but I think that maybe the media should be owned by more companies because not everybody is the same so we don’t all believe and think the same way.
It struck me as very odd that only a handful of companies control all of the media. It makes me wonder how much of the information I see, hear, or read about comes from the same source. If this is true then that limits the different opinions about the subject as well as the information given about it. However, I don't believe that ten companies is a limited number. Ten companies means ten different point of views which I think to be plenty. Additionally, it's not like all these companies are radically bias in there own way. Sure they might be a little but they are all stuctured to give the people the correct information. And as far as the people go, everyone will have their own opinion anyway no matter the circumstances so I don't believe limiting the power to ten companies affects the information they receive. Plus, if they're that into getting reliable information, they can always check multiple sources.
ReplyDeleteI typically don't listen to the radio very often so Clear Channel Communications owning most radio stations doesn't concern me. Even for those who do tune in I don't think are affected by the limited source of music. Radio stations do what their job is and that is to play popular music. I feel that Clear Channel Communications does just this as well as the other companies. There may be a couple of cases of bias such as the company doesn't like to play inappropriate music but I think it is all for the better of the population.
I agree with many of the comments from above, I am not very surprised by the information and statistics shown. Though I figured it to be more than 10 large media heads it is not surprising. The competition between the 10 must be enough for them to keep their views and bias private most of the time and focus on the facts. I believe that the we as watchers are still getting variety because before I looked at these charts I would have never guessed it possible for so few to control so much! The average viewer is not in any trouble from my point of view unless they all band together which is not very likely.
ReplyDeleteNow knowing "Clear Channel Communications" owns so many radio stations across the country explains why a song can be so popular everywhere. I don't personally think it is good or bad because you are not getting breaking news on the radio as much as listening to some tunes. It is hard to say weather the Clear Channel Communications tries to regulate certain music from not making it big time however honestly I am not very concerned.
It's surprising to me that there is such a small amount of different owners of the television world. With the variety we see everyday on our TV screens, the idea of only a few large corporations owning all of TV is mind boggling. However, it is not surprising that they hold so much power. Who ever controls the media, controls how people think and what people believe. By controlling what is allowed into the homes of the average American, a corporation is able to augment their sales through a severe over-marketing strategy. These corporations are driven by the greed for money and power. BY controlling all aspects of media, they can dissuade any bad words towards them.
ReplyDeleteSince Clear Channel Communications owns more radio stations then I care to count, it should bring one to wonder if they are really choosing what they listen to. However, by looking at how tuned in people are to what's in or not in their music genres it comes down to the matter that we really don't care what we listen to most of the time as long as it is somewhat desirable. The fact that Clear Channel Communications should be daunting but considering the wide range of radio stations they own, we as a mass audience hardly know the difference.
It's kind of scary that there are only a few commanies that own pretty much all of the media. This means that as viewers we are only being subjected to a small amount of perspectives. Along with this it allows the companies to be more biased.
ReplyDeleteNicole O.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is really scary. My raido station is on this list and its crazy that there like agenst the policys when they are working for this major company. So the poeple who are trying to stand out of the goverment are also owned by the goverment. This shows that the goverment controlls a lot......
I think that it is scary that pretty much all of the media is owned by only a few companies. Since the media is owned by the same companies, those in charge of the companies get to decide what goes into the news, which creates bias. I think that it is way too much power in too few companies, if the bigger companies shared some of their power in the media, maybe there wouldn't be as much bias.
ReplyDeleteThe media is created by few large companies, creating bias in the media. The fact that it is only controlled by few people, shows only few oppinions and that is theirs. People across the world listen to radio and use it as their sourse of infomation. Therefor people only get few oppinions or songs on the radio.
ReplyDeleteIt surprises me that only a few companies own all the major news/radio networks. Which allows them to manipulate the news to their pleasing and their own personal intrest. This reminds me of the discusion we had in class about how politicians are basicly bought out by special intrest groups or huge companies that wish to control our government. I find it wrong for these companies to own so many public service stations. We need to set regulations on how many staions or networks companies own. This would allow for a more open news networks instead of special intrest groups showing what they want to.
ReplyDeleteI was suprised by the fact that so few companies control most of the media. I think that it creates a lot of bias in the news because each station is allowed to broadcast the same things. One thing that is censored on one channel will most likely be censored on all the sibling channels too. It is then highly unlikely that that story ever reaches the public.
ReplyDeleteI was amazed that so few companies owned the media, and I believe that it’s not a good or a bad thing. With only a few companies reporting the news then that means that the public only gets to here one side or one opinion on the situation instead of getting different views. Also the companies probably just report the same thing just saying it in different ways. Though there is some truth on what these companies are saying, which makes it a good thing becasue then people can make their own decision about the situation.
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ReplyDeleteI think it’s crazy to see the amount of control those top ten companies have! They control exactly what we see and the things that we are exposed to…. They could totally manipulate the media and change the way that we look at things. For example: during the run for president the channels could show adds only for that person they like, and I don’t think that is right. I do think that they have so much power in so little companies, there should be more stations that can have somewhat more power.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of radio stations in the United States that are owned by Clear Channel Communications, but there are not many in Colorado when compared to that of California. I don’t listen to any of the radio stations in Colorado that Clear Channel Communications owns.
I think that with so many people trying to control the media is really crazy. because its like people trying to control the stock market.I mean like once one thing falls in the stock market then your pretty much done with. And the media always crashes saying thing that they shouldn't thats probably why so many pole want to control the media like on that list that just blew me away so i think that every one is trying to controlled the media.
ReplyDeleteI rhink that it is fine that so many organizations own the airwaves. I believe it to be a symbol of Capitalism. We can still buy a station, we can broadcast on it if we have money to. Also I do not think that so few owning so many radio stations will affect our news. This is becausemst stations just play music, and the ones that dont are talkshows. Many of these are privatley owned and nothing is stopping someone from publicly disagreeing with them on air. In addition to this i dont get my information from the radio. Usualy if i hear something on the radion that sounds interestion i go home and watch tv to learn more about it of just use googl. That way you have access to many different sources and are able to fact check easier.
ReplyDeleteI feel so shocked by how many companys just one owns, because for a long time I thought that some were just independant. Now I see that they are like a fragment of a picture. I feel that the bigger companys need to let some of their smaller companys be independant because they can still be successful without the help of a major corporation. I feel that greed is taking too much power thinking that we are just brainless. I have seen the commercials that they put on. They make me feel like Im a 2 year old. It is just low for a corporation to think that we are so dumb that we will beleive anything.
ReplyDeleteAfter looking at the charts I think its ok on how the one company owns so many of the smaller companies. I think it unites the media and controls what is put out, which i think is something that needs to be controlled. If there was a bunch of independent companies the competition would rise into conflicts and I believe having all the companies tied into one minimizes that.
ReplyDeleteAfter looking at the charts I think its ok on how the one company owns so many of the smaller companies. I think it unites the media and controls what is put out, which i think is something that needs to be controlled. If there was a bunch of independent companies the competition would rise into conflicts and I believe having all the companies tied into one minimizes that.
I think that since only a few companies own almost all of the major media this has its pro’s and con’s because the smaller companies get money and more popular from these huge corporations. Also it gives a little bit of a diversity because every huge company cant be broadcasting the same story. On the other side those few corporations have a lot of control over what they are want you to see.
ReplyDeleteWell I don’t really listen to the radio that much but I think that it looks worse than it really is. Clear Channel owns a lot of the radio stations and had a lot of power over them, but the listeners hold most of the power because without us they wouldn’t make any money so I think the radio stations have a little more power. Also the radio stations aren’t really bias they just play the popular music at the time to get listeners.
I can't believe these companies own book publishers to sports teams. I thought these companies were just one and independent. the top ten companies can practically control everything we here. I didn't know disney owned most of the media, I thought they were just a tv show and movies. It scares me that some of these companies have so much power over us.
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