Big Media Media Giants Challenging Democracy

Yesterday Wrapped up with our gender unit – exploring whether or not it’s possible to sell products with positive gender messages

Today’s Objectives Understand how “big media” creates major problems in our culture and democracy

Intro Task Take out your responses and share your responses to your nearest neighbor Focus on the first question—what is democracy? Define it. What is journalism’s role in a democracy?

Intro Question Continued 1. What is democracy? 2. What is the role of information – and therefore journalism – in a democracy? 3. What if this were controlled by only a few major corporations? 4. What problems do you foresee arising when only a few major corporations have control over the vast majority of media outlets?

Rich Media, Poor Democracy Watch the following video and, in your journal, note what Robert McChesney’s main point is. What is the problem with big media companies? How could they negatively affect our democracy?

Synopsis If a key indicator of the health of a democracy is the state of its journalism, the United States is in deep trouble. In “Rich Media, Poor Democracy”, Robert McChesney lays the blame for this state of affairs squarely at the doors of the corporate boardrooms of big media, which, far from delivering on their promises of more choice and more diversity, have organized a system characterized by a lack of competition, homogenization of opinion and formulaic programming. Through numerous examples, McChesney, and media scholar, Mark Crispin Miller, demonstrate how journalism has been compromised by the corporate bosses of conglomerates such as Disney, Sony, Viacom, News Corp, and AOL Time Warner to produce a system of news that is high on sensationalism and low on information. They suggest that unless citizen activism can reclaim the commons, this new corporate system will be characterized by a rich media and an ever impoverished, poor democracy.

Let’s See an Example... In the following video, note the difference in tone between Jon Stewart and the hosts of Crossfire. What is Jon Stewart’s main point? What signs do the hosts give that reveal they do not want true discourse?

Video Analysis What is Jon Stewart’s main point? What signs do the hosts give that reveal they do not want true discourse? In what way does this clip display some problems with today’s news media? What problems were evident?

Homework Read “Media Consolidation Silences Diverse Voices” by Obama and Kerry Answer the questions on the half sheet.

Tomorrow’s plan Explore more opinions about media consolidation & its impact on our lives and democracy.