Who Owns The Media?

What problems are raised by the media ownership patterns described on this site?
When focusing on a topic like this, I narrowed my research down to one report, The Politics and Policy of Media Ownership. On June 2, 2003 the Federal Communications Commission voted controversially to relax broadcast ownership limits after completing a mandatory review of its regulations. It was a striking change in the structure of the media system. The decision opened up cross-media ownership in the same market, inviting newspapers and broadcasters to operate under one roof in every major city. It also permitted a substantially increased media concentration in local and national television markets. The new rules would permit one company in one city to own three television stations, eight radio stations, the daily newspaper, and the cable system. This market condition leans toward favoring larger firms.

Public response to the new rules was greatly negative. In the last six months of 2003, the FCC waged a campaign to reverse the rule changes made. The policies and regulations, which shape the media system, became political issues for the American people.


Are the criticisms raised in the following article valid?
The criticisms are definitely raised in the following article. Regarding if those criticisms are valid or not; wellI'm not too convinced. "Two things are disconcerting. One is, there's disproportionate amount of profits being reported offshore. And then, even for the profits that are reported onshore, they're paying less than 35 percent," said Martin Sullivan, a contributing editor for Tax Analysts. They aren't paying the amount of taxes that they should be paying because they are taking advantage of the various loopholes that exist in the corporate tax structure. Carney does state in this article that these loopholes being described are legal in order to reduce their tax burden. It is that statement that makes me question that validity of the criticism in the article.
In a statement, General Electric said that it "pays what it owes under the law and is scrupulous about its compliance with tax obligations in all jurisdictions." The company claims that its zero-dollar tax bill is largely a result of losses at its financial arm, GE Capital, die to the Wall Street meltdown. This statement always brings up awareness. GE is claiming that they aren't doing anything that is illegal. So how can this huge corporate business be criticized if the law is permitting what they are doing to keep their taxes lower?

Who Owns The Media?

What problems are raised by the media ownership patterns described on this site?

      When focusing on a topic and issue like this, I narrowed my research down to one report, The Politics and Policy of Media Ownership. On June 2, 2003 the Federal Communications Commission voted controversially to relax broadcast ownership limits after completing a mandatory review of its regulations. It was a striking change in the structure of the media system. The decision opened up cross-media ownership in the same market, inviting newspapers and broadcasters to operate under one roof in every major city. It also permitted a substantially increased media concentration in local and national television markets. The new rules would permit on company in one city to own three television stations, eight radio stations, the daily newspaper, and the cable system. This market condition leans toward favoring larger firms.

      Public response to the new rules was greatly negative. In the last six months of 2003, the FCC waged a campaign to reverse the rule changes made. Remarkably, the policies and regulations, which shape the media system, became political issues for the American people.

Are the criticisms raised in the following article valid?

      The criticisms are definitely raised in the following article. Regarding if those criticisms are valid is not; well I’m not too convinced. "Two things are disconcerting. One is, there's disproportionate amount of profits being reported offshore. And then, even for the profits that are reported onshore, they're paying less than 35 percent," said Martin Sullivan, a contributing editor for Tax Analysts. They aren't paying the amount of taxes that they should be paying because they are taking advantage of the various loopholes that exist in the corporate tax structure. Carney does state in this article that these loopholes being described are legal in order to reduce their tax burden. It is that statement that makes me question that validity of the criticisms in the article. 

      In a statement, General Electric said that it "pays what it owes under the law and is scrupulous about its compliance with tax obligations in all jurisdictions." The company claims that its zero-dollar tax bill is largely a result of losses at its financial arm, GE Capital, due to the Wall Street meltdown. This statement always brings up awareness. GE is claiming that they aren't doing anything that is illegal. So how can this huge corporate business be criticized if the law is permitting what they are doing to keep their taxes lower? 

Role of Evolving Forms of Media on Senior Citizens

CompuKol Connection-
Senior Citizens an Social Media:
http://www.compukol.com/blog/senior-citizens-and-social-media/

To summarize the article up:
Senior citizens have a tremendous influence over social networks and corporate media. Businesses are finding that they are getting involved with similar activities to other groups of people, such as email, social networking, photo sharing, and looking at current news and weather. Facebook and YoutUbe are two of the most visited sides by senior citizens. It is a good way for them to connect with their younger family members and friends. It is a wonderful way to stay connected and to learn about all sorts of interesting things.

Twitter is another popular site for seniors. It eliminates some of the loneliness that many senior citizens experience.

The social media sites are not catering to seniors because of who they are. They are catering to them because of who they represent: a large market share of retail dollars and a constant resource. With our senior population growing in number all of the time, it is important to understand that they generate a great deal of online traffic, marketing dollars, and valuable insight based on their vast experiences. Senior citizens are an extremely lucrative group for businesses to target. If businesses choose to dismiss them as weak or foolishly missing out on an important part of the population that can make a sizable contribution in presence and in sales.

Will Evolving Forms of Journalism Be an Improvement?

A major change emerging in the digital age has been the rise of participatory journalism. "User generated content" is a broader term for all the ways in which individuals have expanded opportunity to produce and distribute their ideas and products across the Internet.

Participatory journalism can take two forms: civic journalism and independent digital voices. Civil journalism refers tot he journalistic practice of engaging communities in dialogue. Many media outlets have tried to strengthen their ties tot he community by encouraging comment and reporting about important civic concerns. The second form of participatory journalism refers to the explosion of voices have have developed as independent news reporting and commentary. There are blogs, digital newsletters, Web sites, YouTube videos, and more, where individuals report and comment on the news.

Deuze, Bruns, and Neuberger offer case studies of three newspapers on three different continents that have adopted different approached to participatory news. Deuze et al. view these as hybrids of the top-down process of traditional journalism and the bottom-up process of grassroots involvement. On the other hand, David Simon readily admits that the industry has harmed itself with its business practices and failure to adapt to the digital environment. His point is straightforward. Journalism is a profession. It requires full-time commitment and consistent attention. It cannot become the province of the occasional commentator.

Eran Ben-Porath argues that the primary change in journalism in this era has been the shift from traditional practices to dialogic formats in which conversationally based news has become predominant. When dialogue, rather than reporting, is the format, the authority of the journalist is lessened, conversationalists are often not journalists but commentators or partisan spokespersons, and the audience changes from receivers of information to witnesses of conversation. Ben-Porath also argues for diminished authority and accountability for the news organization; the organization did not make the "claims"; their guests did. Thus the organization's accountability for accuracy is diminished.

Is Advertising Good for Society?

Professor Dllas Smythe described commercial media as a system for delivering audiences to advertisers. The creation of a consumer society, materialism, and high expectations conflict with many cultural expectations, histories, and social systems in many countries where advertising is considered a Western, capitalist construct. John Calfee takes the yes side on the issue of whether or not advertising is good for society. He thinks that advertising is very useful to people and that the information that advertising imparts helps consumers make better decisions. He maintains that the benefits of advertising far outweigh the negative criticism. Contrary to his belief, Dinyar Godrej defends the no side to this issue. He believes that advertising doesn't really tell us anything new about products, but instead, it acts upon our emotions to create anxiety if we don't buy products.

John Calfee focuses on how the information in ads benefits consumers, Advertising functions in the public's interest, and that even the controversies about ads can be beneficial because they can result in competitive pricing for consumers. A thorough understanding of how advertising functions in society, and as an industry that is responsible for billions of dollars annually, helps form a person's views on the impact of advertising in their lives, and in the lives of others. It also helps to think about what products are advertised and to whom. It should also be noted that there are many forms of advertising.

Dinyar Godrej does a great job of reminding us that there are many subtle styles of influence that go beyond the initial knee-jerk reaction to advertising as a harmless by-product of industry in the twenty-first century.

To keep the cost of newspapers down, to help deliver "free" TV and radio to the public, ad to help consumers understand what issues were important in society. Many defenses of advertising relied on helping consumers make more informed decisions about how to spend their money. But over the years, the real impact of advertising has been more critically considerate. Since the growth of technologies that are more individually used, like the Internet, the advertising industry has responded with a far more complicated structure to attract attention, and a far more complicated system of appealing to audiences they consider are most easily persuaded.

Hate Speech Recorded Oral Presentation

Lyrics: 

The media is fueling the fire,
Causing ideas of hate to transpire,

Exaggerated stories and wrong information,
It's inflating our minds with a false allegation,

The media is putting influence into their words,
If the story sells, it's abused until it's heard,

It's a virus that's spreading a terrible threat,
It's on your t.v, radio, and especially the Internet,

Reports of political figures being slandered,
Personal attacks to win elections, today, look standard,

It's tearing our communities apart,
The media is careless, it doesn't have a heart,

So, you can't believe everything on the news,
They side with the stories, that are juicier to use,

Societies are suffering, they need to be fixed,
The social anxieties need media reform from post conflicts,

This can be a important element for prevention,
The media-empire of influence needs intervention.

Music, politics and society

The songs on the list posted on our media, politics and society class website, were not current songs. These songs were written during times of political upheaval, gathering, and change. All of these artists may not have intended to present a political standpoint. The artists' vision is conveyed through their song. Songs become political because they convey a message. The viewer or listener has a better connection to the song because of the message. Each viewer looks at the lyrics and message differently.

For an example, I will talk about the song, imagine by John Legend. One of the main lyrics that is repeated and emphasized is the statement, "I am a believer." It may be viewed today as impractical, but being a believer is timeless. Looking forward instead of dwelling on the past is what this song really focuses on. John Legends imagines the world where there is no trouble. He emphasizes how people will have peace, no greed or hunger, and no killing your brothers and sisters. Living life is peace.