Who Owns The Media? The 6 Monolithic Corporations That Control Almost Everything We Watch, Hear And Read

Back in 1983, approximately 50 corporations controlled the vast majority of all news media in the United States.  Today, ownership of the news media has been concentrated in the hands of just six incredibly powerful media corporations.  These corporate behemoths control most of what we watch, hear and read every single day. 

They own television networks, cable channels, movie studios, newspapers, magazines, publishing houses, music labels and even many of our favorite websites. Sadly, most Americans don't even stop to think about who is feeding them the endless hours of news and entertainment that they constantly ingest.  Most Americans don't really seem to care about who owns the media.  But they should.  The truth is that each of us is deeply influenced by the messages that are constantly being pounded into our heads by the mainstream media. 

The average American watches 153 hours of television a month.  In fact, most Americans begin to feel physically uncomfortable if they go too long without watching or listening to something.  Sadly, most Americans have become absolutely addicted to news and entertainment and the ownership of all that news and entertainment that we crave is being concentrated in fewer and fewer hands each year. 
    
The six corporations that collectively control U.S. media today are Time Warner, Walt Disney, Viacom, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., CBS Corporation and NBC Universal.  Together, the "big six" absolutely dominate news and entertainment in the United States.  But even those areas of the media that the "big six" do not completely control are becoming increasingly concentrated.

For example, Clear Channel now owns over 1000 radio stations across the United States.  Companies like Google, Yahoo and Microsoft are increasingly dominating the Internet.
But it is the "big six" that are the biggest concerns.  When you control what Americans watch, hear and read you gain a great deal of control over what they think.  They don't call it "programming" for nothing.

Back in 1983 it was bad enough that about 50 corporations dominated U.S. media.  But since that time, power over the media has rapidly become concentrated in the hands of fewer and fewer people....
In 1983, fifty corporations dominated most of every mass medium and the biggest media merger in history was a $340 million deal. … [I]n 1987, the fifty companies had shrunk to twenty-nine. … [I]n 1990, the twenty-nine had shrunk to twenty three. … [I]n 1997, the biggest firms numbered ten and involved the $19 billion Disney-ABC deal, at the time the biggest media merger ever. … [In 2000] AOL Time Warner’s $350 billion merged corporation [was] more than 1,000 times larger [than the biggest deal of 1983].
--Ben H. Bagdikian, The Media Monopoly, Sixth Edition, (Beacon Press, 2000), pp. xx—xxi

Today, six colossal media giants tower over all the rest.  Much of the information in the chart below comes from mediaowners.com.  The chart below reveals only a small fraction of the media outlets that these six behemoths actually own....


Time Warner
Home Box Office (HBO)
Time Inc.
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
CW Network (partial ownership)
TMZ
New Line Cinema
Time Warner Cable
Cinemax
Cartoon Network
TBS
TNT
America Online
MapQuest
Moviefone
Castle Rock
Sports Illustrated
Fortune
Marie Claire
People Magazine

Walt Disney
ABC Television Network
Disney Publishing
ESPN Inc.
Disney Channel
SOAPnet
A&E
Lifetime
Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Buena Vista Theatrical Productions
Buena Vista Records
Disney Records
Hollywood Records
Miramax Films
Touchstone Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures
Pixar Animation Studios
Buena Vista Games
Hyperion Books

Viacom
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Home Entertainment
Black Entertainment Television (BET)
Comedy Central
Country Music Television (CMT)
Logo
MTV
MTV Canada
MTV2
Nick Magazine
Nick at Nite
Nick Jr.
Nickelodeon
Noggin
Spike TV
The Movie Channel
TV Land
VH1
News Corporation
Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Fox Television Stations
The New York Post
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Beliefnet
Fox Business Network
Fox Kids Europe
Fox News Channel
Fox Sports Net
Fox Television Network
FX
My Network TV
MySpace
News Limited News
Phoenix InfoNews Channel
Phoenix Movies Channel
Sky PerfecTV
Speed Channel
STAR TV India
STAR TV Taiwan
STAR World
Times Higher Education Supplement Magazine
Times Literary Supplement Magazine
Times of London
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
20th Century Fox International
20th Century Fox Studios
20th Century Fox Television
BSkyB
DIRECTV
The Wall Street Journal
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Interactive Media
FOXTEL
HarperCollins Publishers
The National Geographic Channel
National Rugby League
News Interactive
News Outdoor
Radio Veronica
ReganBooks
Sky Italia
Sky Radio Denmark
Sky Radio Germany
Sky Radio Netherlands
STAR
Zondervan

CBS Corporation
CBS News
CBS Sports
CBS Television Network
CNET
Showtime
TV.com
CBS Radio Inc. (130 stations)
CBS Consumer Products
CBS Outdoor
CW Network (50% ownership)
Infinity Broadcasting
Simon & Schuster (Pocket Books, Scribner)
Westwood One Radio Network

NBC Universal
Bravo
CNBC
NBC News
MSNBC
NBC Sports
NBC Television Network
Oxygen
SciFi Magazine
Syfy (Sci Fi Channel)
Telemundo
USA Network
Weather Channel
Focus Features
NBC Universal Television Distribution
NBC Universal Television Studio
Paxson Communications (partial ownership)
Trio
Universal Parks & Resorts
Universal Pictures
Universal Studio Home Video


These gigantic media corporations do not exist to objectively tell the truth to the American people.  Rather, the primary purpose of their existence is to make money.
These gigantic media corporations are not going to do anything to threaten their relationships with their biggest advertisers (such as the largest pharmaceutical companies that literally spend billions on advertising), and one way or another these gigantic media corporations are always going to express the ideological viewpoints of their owners.

Fortunately, an increasing number of Americans are starting to wake up and are realizing that the mainstream media should not be trusted.  According to a new poll just released by Gallup, the number of Americans that have little to no trust in the mainstream media (57%) is at an all-time high.
That is one reason why we have seen the alternative media experience such rapid growth over the past few years.  The mainstream media has been losing credibility at a staggering rate, and Americans are starting to look elsewhere for the truth about what is really going on.

Do you think that anyone in the mainstream news would actually tell you that the Federal Reserve is bad for America or that we are facing a horrific derivatives bubble that could destroy the entire world financial system?  Do you think that anyone in the mainstream media would actually tell you the truth about the deindustrialization of America or the truth about the voracious greed of Goldman Sachs?

Sure there are a few courageous reporters in the mainstream media that manage to slip a few stories past their corporate bosses from time to time, but in general there is a very clear understanding that there are simply certain things that you just do not say in the mainstream news.
But Americans are becoming increasingly hungry for the truth, and they are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the dumbed down pablum that is passing as "hard hitting news" these days.

So what do you think about the state of the mainstream media?  Please feel free to leave a comment with your opinion below....

Hat Tip - 

The Economic Collapse

SUNDAY TIMES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY CARTOON

Says it all really.

(NEW) LABOUR FREINDS OF ISRAEL -

 http://www.spinwatch.org/-articles-by-category-mainmenu-8/70-british-politics/5000-labour-friends-of-israel

CONSERVATIVE FRIENDS OF ISRAEL -

http://www.redress.cc/stooges/redress20090119

LIB DEM FRIENDS OF ISRAEL

http://www.redress.cc/stooges/slittlewood20120303



 http://eyreinternational.wordpress.com/2012/01/07/uks-electoral-commission-to-investigate-friends-of-israel-groups/

Census 2011: Polish becomes the second language

An influx of workers from Eastern Europe has transformed the face of the UK over the past decade, with some areas such as Boston, Lincs, and Ealing in west London seeing the most dramatic changes. 

A total of 546,000 people in England and Wales said that Polish was their “main” language, second only to English in England. A total of 562,000 people said that they spoke Welsh, predominantly in Wales. 

Although four million people living in England and Wales – or eight per cent of the population – said English was not their first language, only 138,000 admitted having no English or Welsh at all.

Read the rest here -

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/9836825/Census-2011-Polish-becomes-the-second-language.html

Anonymous Calls for Civil War to Overthrow the US Government

Should we be following Anonymous' lead ?

How many lies have we been told by the LIB/LAB/CONned ?

How many times have we been betrayed by the LIB/LAB/CONned ?

How much Money have the LIB/LAB/CONned stolen from us ?

How many LAWS have been created to PUNISH US, the INDIGENOUS POPULATION ?

How much Money  has been stolen from OUR PENSIONERS to give to FOREIGN COUNTRIES and IMMIGRANTS ?

WHEN DO WE SAY ENOUGH IS ENOUGH ?

----------

"In the latest video from Anonymous, they have called for the most aggressive action yet. They're asking the American people to join them in a "call to arms" for the destruction and overthrow of the US Government.

In the statement, Anonymous says the government is calling them "terrorists" because they truly fear a people's uprising.

"The United States Government insists on labeling us as terrorists. The question is, "who do we terrorize?" Is it probable that the United States government is truly afraid of we, the people?"

They are not calling for denial of service attacks on government websites or protests as is their normal modus operandi, but for freedom activists to join them in full blown war to overthrow the US Government and return it to the control of the people.

"We are not calling upon the collective to deface or use a distributed denial of service attack on a United States government agency website, or affiliate. We are not calling upon the people to once again occupy a city or protest in front of a local building, This has not brought on us any legislative change or alternate law. It has only brought us bloodshed and false criticism. For the last 12 years, voting has been useless. Corporations and lobbyists are the true leaders of this country and are the ones with the power to control our lives, To rebuild our government, we must first destroy it.Our time for democracy is here, Our time for resolution is here, This is America's time for revolution, To restore our constitutional rights, to once again, be free therefore, Anonymous along with the American people have decided to openly declare war on the United States government. This is a call to arms."

The hacktivist collective lists a long train of abuses that can no longer be allowed:

• We refuse to be a police state
• We refuse to be brutalized and dehumanized by the very people our tax dollars fund to protect our cities and streets
• We will not allow the government to control our destiny, our right to build a life for ourselves
• We demand freedom from government control, taxation, repossession and death
• You will not come to our doors and take our guns, our property, you will not force the citizens of this great country to participate in the unlawful act of government mandated healthcare. 
• We the people refuse to put in your control our health, our bodies, our minds, our lives. 
• We will not grant permission for the government to deploy drones over our homes and communities. 
• We must end the federal reserve. A private central bank should not issue our currency, set interest rates and run our economy. Rather, we need to return control over the currency to the American people where it belongs.

They claim that all peaceful attempts to affect change within the system have failed and the time for action is now.

"Our peaceful actions, patience and restraint have been demonstrated as we watched and waited for our Congress and Representatives to speak for the American citizens and protect us from the tyrant that sits in the oval office and happily strips the American people of our rights, one by one, executive order by executive order. We have waited long enough.""

WORK AND ETHNICITY IN THE UK - WHO TAKES MOST FROM THE TAXPAYER

Key points

• One in seven adults aged 25 to retirement from ethnic minorities are not working but want to, lower than a decade ago but still much higher than that for White people.
• Over the period 2008 to 2010 (i.e. the current recession), the proportion of adults aged 25 to retirement from ethnic minorities who are not working but want to one percentage point.  This is a noticeably lower rise than that for White people (one percentage point compared with two)
• According to the 2001 Census, around 15% of non-retired White British men aged 25 and over do not work, with similar proportions for White other and for Indians.  By contrast, the equivalent proportions for Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, Black Africans and Black Caribbeans are 30-40%.
• Around 30% of non-retired White British women aged 25 and over do not work, with only slightly higher proportions for Black Caribbeans, White other and Indians.  For Black Africans, the proportion rises to almost 50%.  But what really stands out is that the vast majority - 80% - of Bangladeshi and Pakistani women do not work.
• Closer examination of the reasons for not working suggests that much of the differences in work rates for Black Africans is explained by the high proportion who are students.
• According to the Labour Force Survey, the proportion of adults aged 25 to retirement who are both not working and say that they do not want paid work is, at 35%, much higher for Bangladeshis and Pakistanis than for other ethnic groups (10-15%).  By contrast, the proportion of adults aged 25 to retirement who are both not working and say that they do want paid work is, at 15%, not vastly dissimilar for Bangladeshis and Pakistanis as for other ethnic groups.

NEW LABOURS FAVOURITE IMMIGRANTS ABUSING NEW LABOURS FAVOURITE PERVETS

IMMIGRANTS DOCTORS AND NURSES ARE NEGLECTING AND KILLING PATIENTS IN HOSPITAL

Stafford nurse 'left in job for two years despite blunders'

A nurse at scandal-hit Stafford Hospital was allowed to continue working for two years even though a patient died after she left her in the care of a student nurse, a hearing was told. 

 

"Reni Biju told fellow nurses that the patient, who had chronic heart problems, was fine as she took a break.

But when a colleague checked on the critically ill woman, referred to as patient A, she was not breathing and died shortly afterwards. 

Despite the blunder Biju was allowed to carry on working on the same ward for another two years before being picked up for a string of other alleged mistakes.

Biju was supposed to be observing patient A hourly but left responsibility to a student nurse during a night shift in July 2008, the Nursing and Midwifery Council heard. 

Amanda Hamilton, for the NMC, said the woman’s condition was not stable and the nursing staff were asked to carry out hourly modified early warning system observations, known as MEWS. 

She said: “This patient was allocated to Ms Biju, but she delegated the task of observations to a student nurse.
“Ms Biju went on her break at 3am, and reported to Staff Nurse Morris that there were no issues with the patient.
“But when Staff Nurse Morris went to check on patient A, she was unresponsive.” 

Efforts were made to revive patient A, but she died shortly afterwards.
Ms Hamilton continued: “'MEWS had not been completed since 1.25am, and it is clear that shortly before that time her respiration had accelerated and her oxygen saturation was unstable. 

“Observations had not been done and Staff Nurse Morris had not been alerted to any deterioration in patient A's condition.”
Ms Hamilton said there were signs that patient A's health was failing at 10pm the previous night, but the alarm was not raised. 

Between 400 and 1,200 patients are thought to have died due to substandard care at the two hospitals run by Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust from 2005 to 2008. 

Robert Francis QC, who has just chaired a public inquiry into failings there, is expected to hand his report to Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, at the end of the month. 

Biju, who has admitted failing to monitor Patient A after 1.25am, was allowed to keep her job but ran into difficulties again on a night shift on June 2, 2010, it is alleged. 

Patient B was transferred to the nurse’s ward after suffering a stroke, and soon started to develop breathing problems.
Ms Hamilton said another staff nurse, Sarah Benn, had to “bypass Ms Biju” and speak to another colleague to get assistance for the patient. 

“Ms Biju appeared to be more concerned that the patient had not passed urine, so she was not getting her priorities in the right order,” she said. 

“Patient B was confused and wanting his family. It was left to Ms Morris to increase patient B's oxygen levels and change the face mask.” 

When patient B's family arrived on the ward, it is alleged Biju failed to tell them his condition was deteriorating.
Biju is also accused of ill-treating an elderly patient on June 10, 2010, when she asked for help going to the toilet. 

“Patient D complained about Ms Biju, saying she pressed her patient bell but Ms Biju came to her aid and merely turned off the bell and left,” said Ms Hamilton.
“She buzzed again because she needed help to go out to the toilet.
“Ms Biju came again but didn't give any assistance, merely passing patient D her walking aid but without assisting her to the lavatory.” 

Biju, who is attending the hearing in central London, denies that her fitness to continue practicing as a nurse is impaired by misconduct.
The hearing continues."

Stafford nurse left in job for two years despite blunders


This is the tip of the iceberg, between 400 and 1,200 patients between two Hospitals.

Work this out over the whole of the NHS and the figure would probably be 40,000 to 120,000.

Don't get sick, become old or poor as this country will not care for your welfare.

Unless your an IMMIGRANT.