3/28/2020 0 Comments Media Ownership :: essays papersMedia Ownership Ownership of the media by a small handful of companies has created several problems for democracy since it’s existence. Because the media has been such a major source of information for us Americans we must learn to be skeptical of these large corporations and their motives. Commercialism and the lack of diversity of the media are two such problems that have been created due to these large corporations. The main source of money for any media outlet, whether it is CNN or the local newspaper, is from advertisers, not the audiences like you would expect. “In a survey of 118 news directors around the country, more than half, 53 percent, reported that advertisers pressure them to kill negative stories or run positive ones.†News directors have also reported that outside TV consultants have been brought in to stations to critique their newscasts and improve ratings by often issuing blanket edicts about what should and should not be covered in doer to attract the most advertising dollars. (Just, 1) This fact now being known makes us aware that the media is often swayed from criticism of the products or mistakes of the corporations that give them this money. Important defects or corporate issues that we need to know about have possibly gone unannounced due to the fear of losing sponsors and profit. The only way to guarantee diversity of opinion in the media is to have diverse ownership over it. The airwaves are a limited resource with a few channels still remaining. The Federal Communications Act says that the airwaves belong to the public, which has somehow has gone ignored over the years. Having been exposed to a less diverse range of ideas over the past few decades has left us assuming that what we see and hear in the media is all that there is out there. This is obviously no way to maintain an active marketplace of diverse ideas and opinions. This is defiantly no way to keep a true democracy. (Bagdikian, 2-3) As you can see the corporate ownership of the media has become a problem to our existing democracy. Not only has the media become extremely commercialized it has also taken away the diversity that we need to make an honest judgment about something of importance to us.
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My Theory of the Universe You are about to be transported to a very strange world, read on if you dare! The planet you are on is a giant disco ball, rotating clockwise. (Earth) This disco ball is in a place that has two stories. It is on the first story ceiling, but the ceiling is made of glass so the disco ball can be seen from both floors. The walls of the room are black. There is a big yellow spotlight in one corner of the room that slowly moves up and down. (Sun) There is another spotlight in the opposite corner, but this one is white and has a rotating filter to block some of the light out. (Moon) This filter starts at one end of the light, works its way across, and then works its way back. (Phases of the Moon) There are many spots on the walls of the room that are just reflections off of the disco ball. (Stars) These spots seem to form different patterns on the walls and move along with the disco ball, but not always at the same rate. (Constellations) There are two very shy people in the room that sometimes leave the room. When they are in the room they stand by the walls and always wink for some reason, so all we can see of them is one of their eyes. (Mercury & Venus) Then there are three very weird people in the room that are always in the middle of the room doing the Waltz. They do this some how by themselves and they to are always winking. They are sometimes on the first floor and sometimes on the second floor. (Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn) There is also one guy dressed in a white polyester leisure suit, gold chains, and rings dancing to "Stayin' Alive." (comet) It seems as though everyone in the universe hears their own music. He is only in the room for a little bit; he makes his way across the room then leaves, he must get tired really quick! Sometimes when he is dancing or even when you can not see him dancing, (must have forgot his gold chains) somehow he loses a ring because we can see it fly across the sky. (shooting star) Then there are two people, one directly below the ball and one directly above the ball when they are there. They both dress in silver lamay (shiny stuff) that makes all different colors that we can see. (Northern/Southern Lights) Occasionally some stupid guy stands in front of one of the spotlights and
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