10 Things the Big media Doesn't want you to Know

[Ragnarok]

http://www.freepress.net/media/tenthings.php

1. A handful of companies dominate.
Five media conglomerates ? Viacom, Disney, Time Warner, News Corp. and NBC/GE ? control the big four networks (70% of the prime time television market share), most cable channels, vast holdings in radio, publishing, movie studios, music, Internet, and other sectors. [Consumers Union/Parents Television Council]

2. Big Media are a powerful special interest in Washington.
Media companies intent upon changing the FCC media ownership rules have spent nearly $100 million on lobbying in the last 4 years. FCC officials have taken more than 2,500 industry-sponsored junkets since 1995, at a pricetag of $2.8 million. [Common Cause, Center for Public Integrity]

3. Consolidation fosters inferior educational programming.
After Viacom purchased the independent KCAL in Los Angeles, children's programming plunged 89%, dropping from 26 hours per week in 1998 to three hours in 2003 (the minimum requirement set by Congress). TV stations air programs like NFL Under the Helmet and Saved by the Bell, claiming they meet educational programming requirements. [Children Now, FCC]

4. Cable rates are skyrocketing.
Cable companies lobbied for and won deregulation in 1996, arguing that it would lower prices. Since then, cable rates have been rising at three times the rate of inflation. On average, rates have risen by 50%; in New York City, they've risen by 93.7%. [US PIRG]

5. Big Media profit from a money-dominated campaign finance system.
In 2002, television stations earned more than $1 billion from political advertising ? more than they earned from fast food and automotive ads. You were four times more likely to see a political ad during a TV news broadcast than an election-related news story. [Alliance for Better Campaigns]

6. Big Media use the public's airwaves at no charge.
The total worth of the publicly-owned airwaves that U.S. broadcasters utilize has been valued at $367 billion ? more than many nations' GDPs ? but the public has never been paid a dime in return. And the broadcasters claim they can't afford to be accountable to the public interest! [Alliance for Better Campaigns]

7. Independent voices are fading.
Since 1975, two-thirds of independent newspaper owners have disappeared, and one-third of independent television owners have vanished. Only 281 of the nation's 1,500 daily newspapers remain independently owned, and more than half of all U.S. markets are one-newspaper towns. [Writers Guild of America, East; Consumer Federation of America]

8. Consolidation is killing local radio.
The number of radio station owners has plummeted by 34% since 1996, when ownership rules were gutted. That year, the largest radio owners controlled fewer than 65 stations; today, radio giant Clear Channel alone owns over 1,200. [FCC]

9. Consolidation threatens minority media ownership.
Minority ownership ? a crucial source of diverse and varied viewpoints ? is at a 10-year low, down 14% since 1997. Today, only 4% of radio stations and 1.9% of television stations are minority-owned. [Writers Guild of America, East]

10. The free flow of idea and information is being stymied.
No copyrighted work created after 1922 has entered the public domain ? an incubator for new ideas ? due to corporate-sponsored legislation extending copyright terms. If laws being considered today had been in effect a few generations ago, you wouldn't have access to products such as VCRs and copy machines. [U.S. Copyright Office, FCC, Electronic Frontier Foundation]

I stumbled upon this while browsing the web and I must say that I am shocked at these statistics.

[Insidious Rex]

Dont be shocked. Its been true for a while. Consolidation is the name of the game. Its been an ongoing struggle with the Bush adminstration siding with the big boys since 2000. Thats why they are pushing so much money into trying to expand the limits as to how many combination media venues you can own.

But be careful... Viacom will probably find this post and purchase the Entmoot servers and turn it into "Nickelodeon Chat" or something.

[Wayfarer]

Quite a while, actually. Or didn't you realize that the major medias are all rife with corruption? Newspapers, magazines, radio, television, film... everyone's selling their own particular brand of propaganda.

The worst thing is that people within the media are in blatant denial about all this, and keep insisting to themselves and to each other that they're neutral and disinterested - news flash, they're not.

[Starr Polish]

Um, this doesn't shock me at all...if people pay attention to their surroundings, most, if not all, of this is glaringly obvious.

[Ragnarok]

I didn't really know much about big media corporations until when people were trying to get Howard Stern off the radio, but that only gave me a vague idea about these corporations. Perhaps I should have been more specific, when I saw some of those statistics I was suprised by how many smaller companies are owned under one media group.

Anyways, by starting this thread I wanted to get some discussion going about people's opinons on the topic and not if its ovious cause theres not much to reply to that.

[Tessar]

No... no... the media would never do this to US! Never...

[Ragnarok]

Originally Posted by Tessar

No... no... the media would never do this to US! Never...

and the same with Europe right?


Vivendi Universal
does business in:TV, Movies, Music, and Interactive
2003 revenues: €25.5 billion (roughly $30.1 billion in U.S. currency)
Vivendi Universal owns: CANAL+, Cineplex Odeon Theatres (42%), MCA
Records, PolyGram Records, Vivendi Telecom, and 26.8 million shares of TimeWarner stock (click a category for complete details)

Vivendi Universal recently sold its cable and movie properties (Universal Pictures, Sci-Fi Channel, and USA Network) to GE/NBC.

Bertelsmann
does business in: TV/Radio, Publishing, Periodicals, and Music
2003 revenues: €16.8 billion (roughly $19.8 billion in U.S. currency)
Bertelsmann AG's holdings include: 11 TV networks, Random House Publishing (which includes Alfred A. Knopf, Ballantine, Doubleday, among many others), BMG Music, Arista Records and RCA Records (click a category for complete details)

http://www.freepress.net/ownership/

[Nibs]

It's kind of odd how none of that surprises me...

[osszie]

Don't Panic!!

All telly's come equipped with an "off" button

[Tessar]

Originally Posted by osszie

All telly's come equipped with an "off" button

A what now?

[BeardofPants]

Nibs?! Oz?! Feckin' hell.... hell musta frozen over again.

[osszie]

Originally Posted by BeardofPants

Nibs?! Oz?! Feckin' hell.... hell musta frozen over again.

the let me out early for good behaviour BoP

'tis good to see Nibs again......don't seem like two mins since we were busting pryramid scammers on here dude....wb