Post 8: EOTO 2

Media Consolidation is the process of fewer and fewer corporations gaining ownership of news sources. It has a lot to do with the quality and accountability of American journalism. There are only six companies that have a hold of all of the TV networks. They are Comcast, Newscorp, Disney, Viacom, Time Warner, and CBS. According to the chart below, they make up 90% of the media we watch and read today. Back in 1983, there used to be about 50 networks controlling all the media, but since the Telecommunications Act from 1996, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) loosened their regulations on cross-ownership. It is a monopolization on news outlets, specifically an anticompetitive monopolization for it absorbing all of them. It is in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act from 1890 (federal antitrust law) yet it seems that networks are able to get away with it Scott free. As a result, this has created a disconnect with people's opinions and the news broadcasted. This is because the business leaders are choosing what stories to broadcast rather than the journalists. There are only six angles to current events that will be televised. Like what I covered in my fifth post, certain stories just get overlooked entirely and pushed away into obscure locations. With sites like Anti-War and The American Conservative, it seems like even Google is working with them to keep this information away from the people. It is almost like they are trying to brainwash people and they are able to get away with it. 

When it comes to learning new information, I am very easy to persuade. I am probably the easiest man to mislead and I will get passionate about opinions I form, whether they are right or wrong. I would say this generation tends to flock towards popular opinions these days. In video games, it seems like one video making of a game will deter thousands from even giving it a try with "Videogamedunkey" being a popular example of a content creator. I have taken steps to look at both sides of an argument so I can my own opinions. I have been learning a lot about the world in my Philosophy class like the processes needed to create our smartphones. Kids in third world countries are essential enslaved and forced to mine for materials like titanium. That is something I just happened to learn in school. I will find so many interesting stories on YouTube, but something like that never shows up. We are consumers in the smartphone market where there are new phones released every year. A story like that would likely hurt that market, so taking measures to block that content makes sense. It just is not right to keep so many people out of the loop on topics like that though. It is like they know how people will react, so they hold out on the truth. With Media Consolidation, we are kept from the most important information of all, what is currently happening in our governments. From the start of America, citizens were encouraged to have the government working with us. However, throughout our history, it has felt like they have been trying to find exploits anywhere that it is convenient. Protest is a way we get our voices to them. To maintain their power, they have to keep valuable information from us so they don't have to make any changes they don't want to. 

Links Used:

Media Consolidation Meaning and Affect: https://billmoyers.com/story/media-consolidation-should-anyone-care/

Monopoly Law: https://www.classlawgroup.com/antitrust/unlawful-practices/monopoly/ 

Telecommunication Law: https://tacomacc.libguides.com/c.php?g=599051&p=4586162