Six corporations control 90% of America media

#1

Post by mgh2 » Sat, Jul 31, 2021, 10:09 PM UTC

Six corporations control 90% of America media
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Re: Six corporations control 90% of America media

#2

Post by analyst74 » Sat, Jul 31, 2021, 11:15 PM UTC

This is not news for anyone paying attention to the media space. The big question is ... is there a way out? Or are we destined to have a small number of powerful organizations controlling world's information and in extension, our thought?

Re: Six corporations control 90% of America media

#3

Post by Grakel » Sat, Jul 31, 2021, 11:19 PM UTC

Not really, considering many people spend a majority of their time consuming "indie" content on Instagram or YouTube and it's never been easier to create and release content of any kind.

The more you tighten your grip, the more star systems slip through your fingers.

Re: Six corporations control 90% of America media

#4

Post by paulpauper » Sat, Jul 31, 2021, 11:21 PM UTC

I feel like I have more choice than ever. if you don't watch TV this is not so much of a problem.

Re: Six corporations control 90% of America media

#5

Post by briefcomment » Sat, Jul 31, 2021, 11:21 PM UTC

Grakel wrote: post #3

Not really, considering many people spend a majority of their time consuming "indie" content on Instagram or YouTube and it's never been easier to create and release content of any kind. The more you tighten your grip, the more star systems slip through your fingers.

Yup, I've weaned myself from all of the brands they listed, except for when I consume certain news via an aggregator like HN.

Re: Six corporations control 90% of America media

#6

Post by kube-system » Sat, Jul 31, 2021, 11:22 PM UTC

analyst74 wrote: post #2

This is not news for anyone paying attention to the media space. The big question is ... is there a way out? Or are we destined to have a small number of powerful organizations controlling world's information and in extension, our thought?

I’m sure there’s a way out, considering that I already consume the minority of my media from those sources. The internet is still a lot bigger than what’s listed here, and with cord-cutting, that has extended to my TV as well.

The turn of the century was probably the rock-bottom as far as choice in media is concerned. It has been getting better over the past 20 years.

Re: Six corporations control 90% of America media

#7

Post by thayne » Sat, Jul 31, 2021, 11:23 PM UTC

analyst74 wrote: post #2

This is not news for anyone paying attention to the media space. The big question is ... is there a way out? Or are we destined to have a small number of powerful organizations controlling world's information and in extension, our thought?

Probably not without government intervention. Antitrust or antimonopoly (or anti-oligopoly) enforcement would probably help. Perhaps copyright reform would help, although that is less obvious.

Re: Six corporations control 90% of America media

#8

Post by chrismcb » Sat, Jul 31, 2021, 11:26 PM UTC

But does your average person use more than six sources for news? You'll hear people talk about CNN, MSNBC, nyt, wsj, maybe la times. Most people also have three or four local news and maybe a paper. If you stick with main stream media, I don't think most people look to more than a handful of places.

Re: Six corporations control 90% of America media

#9

Post by prostoalex » Sat, Jul 31, 2021, 11:27 PM UTC

Skeptical about the 90% claim. Is time spent on YouTube, Netflix, Prime Video, The New York Times and Spotify (with Joe Rogan specifically) so insignificant as to be relegated to the "miscellaneous" 10%?

Re: Six corporations control 90% of America media

#10

Post by pessimizer » Sat, Jul 31, 2021, 11:27 PM UTC

It's always important to remember how shocking it was when Ben Bagdikian https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Bagdikian was writing about only 50 corporations controlling US media.

How could you have a functioning democracy with only 50 companies controlling the media?