Money and Power
Corporate Media Control
Some of the most serious conflicts of interest in journalism occur at the organizational level. An independent media organization has one set of interests, but a media organization that is part of a larger industrial conglomerate, or a group of converging media organizations, may have several conflicting interests. For example, in the United States, NBC TV provides favourable coverage of its corporate owner General Electric. And in Canada, CanWest and Quebecor newspapers promote television programs that are broadcast by “sister companies” belonging to the same parent company.
Required Reading
Hrynyshyn, D. (2005). Review essay: The mainstreaming of media critique. Canadian Journal of Communication, 30(4), 673–679.
In his review essay, Hrynyshyn (2005) explains that corporate control of the media has long been identified by critics such as Noam Chomsky & Edward Herman (1988.) Later, communications scholars, in turn, argued that these critics had perceived economic structures in a rigid way, not recognizing the agency of the audience.
By now, corporate media power is not a secret but is already well understood across the political spectrum. Hrynyshyn goes on to describe how the trend toward monopoly control of the media accelerated in the 1990s, leading both to social resistance against neo-capitalism and to the rise of ultra-conservative politics and media, such as the Fox News Channel.
Digital computer networks further expand the range of media distribution. The public involvement in the critique of media politics and economics suggests that the ideas of communication scholars have impact outside the university.
Study Questions
Sum up Bagdikian’s approach to analysis of media monopoly? What are some of the reviewer’s objections?
McChesney provides a conservative critique of “the liberal media.” It is hard to deny that this critique serves the interest of an increasingly conservative mainstream media trying to retain an air of balance and objectivity. Why is the Internet not an alternative? Why does the reviewer not buy McChesney’s analysis of the Internet?
What are the three common problems shared by the books under review?
The critical assumption that neo-liberal or right wing forces have conquered the media overlooks much successful criticism of the conservative establishment. Can you give an example of movements or incidents of audience resistance to corporate media pressures on public opinion?
