1. Who Owns the Media
6th Grade

2. Bellwork
What is pop culture?

3. Objectives Understand who owns the media in the United States
Understand how the corporate media system works
Understand the arguments that some people make in favor of the corporate media system
Understand why some people are against the corporate media system

4. Who’s in Charge? General Electric – Comcast, NBC, Universal Pictures
News Corp – Fox, Wall Street Journal, New York Post
Disney – ABC, ESPN, Pixar, Miramax, Marvel Studios
Viamcom – MTV, Nick Jr., BET, CMT, Paramount Pictures
Time Warner – CNN, HBO, Time, Warner Bros.
CBS – Showtime, NFL.com, Smithsonian Channel

5. Development of Corp Media
Early America – no corp media system, 1000’s of individuals and small organizations created newspaper and newsletter
Newspapers – during the 1800’s, newspapers became big business in the U.S.

6. Radio
Radio came on the scene in the 1920’s and became hugely popular. There 2 main types of progammers
Independent Programmers – small radio stations geared toward specific audience
Corporate Programmers – created entertainment and news programming geared toward a general audience

7. Radio Regulation
In 1927, the Federal Radio Act created the Federal Radio Commission to make sure that radio operated under PICON – “public, interest, convenience, or necessity”
In 1934, the FCR was disbanded and the Federal Communication Commission was created

8. Deregulating the Media
Under Ronald Reagan in the 1980’s, the media was heavily deregulated, meaning rules imposed by the FCC were lifted. One of the these rules was how many stations one company could own.

9. How the Corporate Media System Works
It exists to make $$money$$!
Advertisements make the money.
Eyeball to advertisers principle. Media are not really in the media to sell TV shows, magazine articles, and so forth. They are in the business of selling eyeballs of as many viewers as possible to advertisers.

10. Arguments in Favor of the Corporate Media System
The “No Government” argument
It’s better than government control (where censorship could occur).
The “Democracy” Argument
People who use the media vote with their eyeballs. If no one is watching, then it will go away.
The “Quality Programming” Argument
The “eyeball to advertiser” system can act as a quality assurance system.

11. Arguments in Favor of the Corporate Media System
The “New Media Outlets” Argument
Thanks to the internet, more small companies and individuals have a voice.

12. Arguments Against the Corporate Media System
The “Conflict of Interest” Argument
The purpose of the media is to keep powerful people in check, but if powerful people own the media, who is keeping them in check?
The “Rich Media, Poor Democracy” Argument
One of the important functions of media is investigative journalism, and that isn’t cheap.

13. Arguments Against the Corporate Media System
The “Market Censorship” Argument
When ideas don’t get much media coverage exclusively because these ideas don’t sell.
The “Lack of Programming” Argument
Because media is all about making money, sometimes media outlets are hesitant to taking risks on innovative ideas.