Illusion
of diversity in media, smashed
Kelli
Easterling
lthough
on the surface it may appear that ownership
deregulation within the media industry allows
for more diversity of opinion, this is not
the case.
At
first glance it seems that fewer ownership
rules increase competition. With fewer rules,
there should be more opportunities for media
companies to thrive.
This
is what the FCC keeps insisting as it steadily
increases the number of television and radio
stations along with newspapers that any
one company can own. The FCC insists that
the market will naturally determine the
success or failure of media.
The
marketplace theory relies on the presence
of competition in order to work. Although
it seems that less regulation on an industry
would increase competition, in this case
it doesn't.
As
the number of media outlets that any one
company can own increases so do virtual
media monopolies. Huge corporations own
a steadily increasing number of outlets.
We
should be outraged that this is allowed
because our sources of information are becoming
more limited.
In
an age where there are specialty publications
on any subject, 24-hour news channels and
four newspaper stands on each corner this
does not seem like the case at all. It seems
that we are surrounded by more information
than ever before. While this is true, we
have to examine the sources of it all.
There
are actually just a handful of companies
that control the majority of mainstream
media outlets in the country. Newspapers
and television stations that seem competitive
are often owned by the same corporation.
One may assume that even if there are just
a few corporations in control that they
are competing with one another.
Often,
this is not the case. Many board members
of the companies (being the vastly wealthy
men that they are) often have investments
connecting them with the "competition."
It is also not uncommon for "competing"
board members to share memberships to the
same elitist clubs and hold the same political
values. This does not sound like diversity.
We
rely on the media to provide us with information
about the world around us and give us cues
regarding our place in it. To think that
our cues are coming from General Electric
(yes, GE has huge investments in the media)
is frightening.
Most
people are under the impression that media
corporations are singularly media related
and this is just not true. How can we expect
that huge companies with investments in
everything from light bulbs to nuclear bomb
detonators will want to ensure the diversity
of opinions in the media. That is exactly
the opposite of what would benefit them!
As
regulations are loosened, these corporations
whose only concern is profit, gobble up
small, independent media that can't afford
to compete with giants. There is less real
competition in the world of media as companies
like GE own the right to essentially sell
us their versions of reality for the cost
of a newspaper.
For
those who think that there is no possible
way that journalistic integrity could be
compromised when deciding whether or not
to write a story, remember that in every
workplace there exists a hierarchy of command.
Many good stories just never make it to
print.
Kelli
Easterling is a public relations major at
Cal State Long Beach.
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