What if all media were owned by one company? It seems that that is the direction we are heading.
I find it strange that Walt Disney Corporation, a company which owns movie production labels such as Miramax, Buena Vista and Miramax also owns the ABC television network. After all ABC broadcasts “Ebert and Roeper at the Movies”, a television show which focuses solely on reviewing upcoming feature films.
Does this mean that Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper are obligated to love ever Disney title that they view? That sounds like a conspiracy theory, but perhaps the they are obligated to at least feature Disney’s releases on their program, even if they garner a negative review – there’s no such thing as bad publicity, right?
However, Disney CEO Michael Eisner had this to say about Walt Disney Cooperation’s ownership of ABC: "I would prefer ABC not to cover Disney...it's inappropriate for Disney to be covered by Disney...ABC News knows that I would prefer them not to cover [Disney]” (The Guardian, 2002 Par. 7).
Really? Check out this promo for ABC’s “The Wonderful World of Disney”:
The Torstar Corporation also delves into cross media ownership. In addition to the Toronto Star, it owns seventy community newspapers including The Hamilton Spectator, and The Kitchener-Waterloo Record (Media Ownership Issues, 2001). Torstar also has a 20% stake in CTVglobemedia (Wikipedia). This kind of cross media ownership greatly limits the public's access to diversified opinions and information. For example, we are basically getting the same news whether we read it in The Hamilton Spectator or The Toronto Star, or view it on the CTV six o’clock news. It’s all the same.
The implications of cross media ownership greatly increase the importance of independent media sources. Thankfully, there are websites such as www.independantmedia.ca, which provides the public with a directory of non-corporate journalism sites. It is also the official web site of MANA (the Media Alliance for New Activism), “Canada's largest network of independent media groups. This website of MANA seeks simply to aid those who are looking for alternatives, or wish to get involved in building independent media” (Independent Media, Par. 4) I can only hope that sources like these will prevent the rise of one greedy, giant media owner. Having access to only one source of information is a lot like having access to only one of your five senses – it would forever force you to experience and learn about the world in a singular way, causing you to miss out on the variety in the would around you.
"A Directory of Non-Corporate Journalism." Independent Media. 19 Nov 2008
< http://www.independentmedia.ca/ >.
Attallah, Paul., Regan, Leslie. "Media Ownership Issues." Introduction to Communication. 24 Sep 2001. University of Ottawa. 19 Nov 2008
< http://courseweb.edteched.uottawa.ca/CMN1120/mediaownership.htm >.
Cowling, Jamie. "Protect us from Disney." The Guardian. 06 May 2002. 19 Nov 2008
< http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2002/may/06/mondaymediasection1 >.
"Torstar." Wikipedia. 19 Nov 2008 < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torstar >.
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