future-of-journalism

Class:

The post below is something I grabbed off a blog last night by a commentator who I don't know. He misreads a posting on my website and puts words into my mouth which are actually those of U.S. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. But he also provides some useful links on media ownership, which is a topic we'll discuss sometime in March, I think.

-- bill

HERE IS THE BLOG ADDRRESS:
http://ytownherb02.blogspot.com/2006_01_01_ytownherb02_archive.html
http://ytownherb02.blogspot.com/2006/01/media-conglomeration-does-it-serve_27.html

MEDIA CONGLOMERATION: Does It Serve The Public's Best Interest?

Media conglomeration happens when large media corporations buy up smaller
media companies and convert them into subsidiaries. These small media
companies are usually struggling financially and are not economically
solvent. Without financial assistance, many of these small media companies
could not continue to operate and would eventually cease to exist. These
small financially troubled media companies are blindly lured under the
seemly protective umbrella of the large media corporations. The federal
government sees no violation in anti-trust laws, but congress is
investigating. A blog posted by Bill Densmore quotes U.S. Rep. Bernie
Sanders, I-Vt.: "One of our best-kept secrets is the degree to which a
handful of huge corporations control the flow of information in the United
States" --

ANTITRUST: Sanders -- Media conglomeration can't be ignored by Congress
http://mediagiraffe.blogspot.com/2005/10/antitrust-sanders-media-conglomeration.html

Sanders further explains how congress is reacting to Anti-trust
allegations. Even though parent corporations infuse cash into their small
new subsidiaries; utilize other subsidiaries for packaging and marketing;
and open up global markets, conglomeration affects the diversity of media
messages. The quality of the media content will decline and the uniqueness
of the media message is lost. There is a sameness that becomes universal
throughout the conglomeration. There is also corporate instability where
corporations, in order to raise cash, sell off subsidiaries that are
unprofitable. So does Media Conglomeration really serve the public's best
interests?

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OTHER LINKS: Media Conglomeration Gone Wrong
http://ualbany.blogspot.com/2005/12/media-conglomeration-gone-wrong.html

Media Conglomeration is so Passe.
http://newswithafeeling.blogspot.com/2005/06/media-conglomeration-is-so-passe.html

My Beef With Big Media -- by Ted Turner
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2004/0407.turner.html

Corporate Media & Consolidation
http://www.thenation.com/directory/corporate_media_consolidation

A New Direction for Media Reform
http://www.democraticmedia.org/issues/mediaownership/index.php

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posted by Herb Green at 10:02 PM 0 comments links to this post

// posted by newshare @ 8:44 PM