Media Corporations

I will start by letting you know that I am currently in a Media Literacy class at the College of Staten Island. Over the past semester I have learned a lot when it comes to interpreting the media. Picking between what to believe and what is just nonsense that the media conglomerates produce to make money. However, there is a large amount of the public that has not taken a media literacy class and may not be able to stop the media from brainwashing them. Media companies will do whatever it takes to make that extra dollar or to gain that extra viewer, even if it is at the cost of straying from the truth. People ignorant to the tactics of the media will inevitably succumb to the sinister ways of the media, leading to an army of naive zombies that falsely think they control their lives.

90% of the media is controlled by 6 companies. I mean come on, do you really believe that you can get all the information you deserve when only six companies basically control every piece of media you consume? These six companies construct an illusion of choice by creating tons of sub companies that unknowing people perceive as independent sources of media. So when you are watching different channels that you many think are independent, you realistically might be watching multiple channels owned by the same corporation, which means they will all have the influence of that corporation. For example if you watch ABC, ESPN, or a Pixar film, do you think you are consuming different sources of media and increasing your media literacy? False, those three sources of media are owned by Disney. So whatever Disney says they can produce they produce. Here is a perfect chart showing the unbalanced distribution of ownership.

The majority of people that consume media are controlled by the media. Whatever the media says, they take as truth because they believe the media is for the good of the people. FOX News will produce what they think will give them the best ratings. There could be millions of things wrong with this country but if those topics are not selling, FOX News could care less. For example the public is brainwashed to think that the government is regulating banks after the 2007 housing crisis, only because the News Corporations report it. When topics are reported on the nightly news, people take that as the truth, not realizing that the news companies are owned and influenced by the same people creating all of the problems. I mean come on, if you were doing something illegal and knew someone was going to report on it, and you could stop them, you would! Same thing the media giants are doing. If a scandal is uncovered, it may get leaked some how and be in the media for a little bit, but all of a sudden the media will some how forget about those issues and move on to other topics, leaving the public to forget what happened. 

So what is the best way to not be brainwashed by the media giants? Broaden your horizon with the media you consume. Make sure you know the background of the media source you are consuming, or at least try to know, since it is very hard to narrow down who exactly owns everything. Do not simply take whatever the media is producing as the truth, do your own research and create your own opinion. The more and more you interpret the media with scrutiny the more you will realize you have no idea what the truth actually is. You will start to realize the media you have been consuming is bias and does not report the whole story most of the time. So get out there, unplug your mind from corporate media sources, so we can open the mind of the world.