Have a look at the website http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/giants/ which shows who owns the media. Select one of the companies out of Viacom, News Corp, Walt Disney etc and have a look at the type of companies they own. Do you know any of these companies? What do you think is the effect if one company controls so many types of media. Please comment.
These big companies like Walt Disney owns or controls so many media so they can spread about Walt Disney so more people know well about it and make people believe in Walt Disney. Also those many media that Walt Disney keep will be on Walt Disney's side and help Walt Disney then needs help.
ReplyDeleteBut remember they are not just spreading information about Walt Disney but who to vote for and what is cool and pretty and handsome and healthy...is it safe for a huge company that wants to make money to have so much control?
DeleteBig companies like Sony buy and make lot of small companies that can support their company. If the company get lots of suppport it will grow even bigger.
ReplyDeleteBut do you think a company can be too big?
DeleteIt could be but, I think the success or the failure of a company depends on the economy. So it migt not grow too big as well.
DeleteSo what do you think are the effects if a company grows too big?
DeleteWalt Disney:
ReplyDeleteIf Walt Disney controls so many types of media, they have more advantages of advertising their products like Disney channel, Disney land(etc..) by spreading about it in many media. So the effect is people will get interested in it and they might tell their relatives. As a result, Walt Disney will become popular and they will make lots of money.
But what other messages do they want to send? Not just for people to watch the Disney Channel. For example, what if they were one of the companies who didn't want people to know about climate change, or they wanted people in Indonesia to think that smoking was okay. How would this effect the message that they are sending out?
DeleteIf they have the same message to send out in many types of media, they will all support same things which they could make lots of money.
DeleteDo you think the media always sends out good messages?
DeleteNo sometimes good, sometimes bad.
DeleteDisney: I think that if Disney own so many companies they will all have the same kind of messages and will support the same things. They will also grow more and get richer since they own so many companies.
ReplyDeleteThat's right, they will definitely grow richer and support the same things and promote the same messages. What if the Disney message was that everyone young teenage girl should look like Miley Cyrus/Britney Spears etc so that those girls go out and buy all of the stuff that Miley Cyrus has so that Disney make money? If they own so many media companies to get the message out, how will girls feel if they can't afford to look like Miley Cyrus?
DeleteWell, they won't feel good about themselves :( they will feel like they're not good enough and be disappointed at themselves.
DeleteSony controls lot of companies and if the company gets help from the companies that they control, the company will get bigger and bigger.
ReplyDeleteAnd what effect will that have on the messages that we receive?
DeleteYeah, I agree, if they own lots of companies they will get bigger and bigger.
Delete(I choose Walt Disney)
ReplyDeleteIf Disney company have many media, they will be famous and many companies will want to merge with Walt Disney. And they will have advantagew in newspaper because in newspaper company, they will put via on Walt Disney.
But what happens if one big company owns all the media? Is the message fair and balanced?
DeleteNah I dont think so because I mean, they all want the most money. They just do what makes the most money right?
DeleteI agree. So who is cuecrunch
DeleteWalt Disney: Yes, I know around 1/4 of all the media Disney controls. I think the benefit of controlling many types of media is that someone will ALWAYS be a customer of that media. It's like spreading the word about that company; a subtle virus. (I'm not sure if this makes sense).
ReplyDeleteThis makes a lot of sense Sherina and is in fact a perfect metaphor for such big media companies. You have understood this very well.
DeleteI agree with Jun Hyung. It's like a battle of who will get the most supporters.
ReplyDeleteThe reason that companies like Sony buy other companies is for industrial advertisement.People like us only know what is popular and what is out there. And to be popular, you need to be known by a variety of people.thats why companies brand their name on other companies that people trust.this trick is mostly done to put the "trust me...i am connected to this popular company" effect. Also, media is full of law binding rules and obstacles, it is good to know there are other successful companies bound to help you.
ReplyDeleteIt's very true Namitha - but is the media full of law binding rules? What about the media message that climate change isn't really happening because you can't prove it, or that smoking is not addictive. They want to sell their product so they will bend the rules and the truth. Does this mean that they are bound to help you or sell things to you or both?
DeleteMaybe not always help...What i mean is that they cant walk to far away from what the other company believes in or what they want us to believe in. Though the companies are always competing, they also have a slight team work. They all make an agreement to say the same thing, or sell the same way, so that the crowd believes more and the effect is much stronger.I think. That's how i see it.
DeleteI know and recognised many of the things Sony controls. I know that if they control many of these companies they have big power and they can easily get people to believe what they believe by using the things they control that specialise in the area that they want to convince someone of, so it seems more believable.
ReplyDeleteGood Azim, a long and wordy sentence but good thinking. What kind of things do you think media companies want to convince people of?
DeleteMagnus: I think that if all the big companies control so much media, If they say this and that is good, it could change the people. Of course it depends on what the people think. But after a while a lot of people "crack". The companies repeat it so often that it affects the peoples minds. That's what I think.
ReplyDeleteActually I think this is a bunch of junk because the only thing they is money right?
ReplyDeleteSo Magnus, you are cuecrunch? You have written some extremely insightful comments here. There is certainly a lot of brainwashing going on in the media which is this "crack" you write about. This is an excellent way to describe it, and indeed it is about money.
DeleteDo you think Magnus That once a person or society is cracked then they are easier to manipulate into buying things or thinking things?
DeleteOf course they are its like a brainwash just like you said.
Delete