GreedWatch--stopcorporategreed.org

Who Owns the Media?

"The past two decades have witnessed the number of major corporations that dominate television, movies, music, radio, cable, publishing and the Internet dwindle from 50 to less than two dozen, with much of the control concentrated in fewer than 10 massive conglomerates. While enriching investors, these changes have endangered democracy – which demands an informed citizenry with access to variety of voices and viewpoints.

This shift has been aided and abetted by government policies that explicitly reward a cartel of industry giants at the expense of the public interest. While the media moguls crow about “deregulation,” the last thing they want is genuine market competition. History shows that the relaxation of media ownership rules always leads to more market consolidation and less competition. " To read more:
http://www.freepress.net/issues/ownership

"In 2004, television became a $52 billion industry. The networks know this fact. They know how much money is at stake and they know how much power the TV industry possesses. The huge corporations that own networks and stations know exactly how big television has gotten. There should be no doubt about the true agenda of the television industry. Through all the hirings, firings, lawsuits, regulations, market shares and scandals that cloud the landscape, the community of television will continue to share one common goal. There is one overarching ideology in which every member of the television establishment believes. To truly understand television, one must understand television's true (yet hidden) agenda....

American TV networks make billions of dollars and each one would betray the spirit of profitable TV by challenging the status quo. Television will always protect the current state of affairs and no slurs will ever be hurled upon the ideologies of greed, materialism or consumerism. "You don't get rewarded in commercial broadcasting for trying to tell the truth about the institutions of power in this country," said veteran TV journalist Bill Moyers in December 2004. "I think my peers in commercial television are talented and devoted journalists, but they've chosen to work in a corporate mainstream that trims their talent to fit the corporate nature of American life. And you do not get rewarded for telling the hard truths about America in a profit-seeking environment."

HOW'D THEY GET SO BIG?

A GUIDE TO THE USA MEDIA HOLDINGS OF:
GE, TIME-WARNER, WALT DISNEY CO., VIVENDI-UNIVERSAL, NEWS CORPORATION
BERTELSMANN AND CBS-VIACOM
click here

CJR's online guide to what major media companies own, including smaller corporate media companies: http://www.cjr.org/tools/owners/

Media Reform Information Center, Links and Resources on Media Reform
http://www.corporations.org/media/

http://www.thenation.com/special/bigten.html
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20020107/miller

http://www.mediachannel.org/ownership/chart.shtml

http://www.takebackthemedia.com/owners.html


www.publicintegrity.org/telecom/


http://www.moveon.org/moveonbulletin/bulletin7.html

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Top Telecommunications and Media Companies

And tool to find out who owns the
media in your region

http://openairwaves.org/ or http://www.publicintegrity.org/telecom/ same site

list of biggies in each field of media, and links to more info

http://www.publicintegrity.org/telecom/rank.aspx?act=industry

"You watch television to turn your brain off and you work on your computer when you want to turn your brain on."
-- Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Computer and Pixar, in Macworld Magazine, February 2004

http://turnoffyourtv.com/

More profiles of the big media companies: http://www.oligopolywatch.com/stories/2003/07/12/media.html

http://www.oligopolywatch.com/stories/2004/04/07/television.html

http://www.oligopolywatch.com/stories/2004/07/04/telephony.html

http://www.oligopolywatch.com/stories/2004/01/31/bookPublishing.html

http://www.oligopolywatch.com/stories/2004/07/25/music.html

the Big-8 mega-media companies http://www.freepress.net/ownership/chart.php

the big-8 cable companies http://www.freepress.net/ownership/chart.php?chart=cable

the big TV station owners http://www.freepress.net/ownership/chart.php?chart=tv

the big printed media owners http://www.freepress.net/ownership/chart.php?chart=pub

the big phone & cable companies http://www.freepress.net/ownership/chart.php?chart=telecom