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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 2, 2000)
Campus Icon "Frog" has a Pulse. Do you have one? Check your Pulse, the Oregon Daily Emerald's entertainment section, every Thursday. number of commercials per week on US. network television Katie Nesse Emerald More fluff, less stuff U.S. television advertisements have increased 50 percent since 1983. Corporate mergers are causing the media to be increasingly commercialized. 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 1983 1990 1999 SOURCE: Robert McChesney “Corporate Media and the Threat to Democracy“ Merger continued from page 1 is that it hampers the ability of news organizations to objectively report on stories, University Pro fessor Carl Bybee said.“It’s amaz ing how far we’ve come in terms of accepting that what’s good for the consumer is good for democ racy,” On the other hand, big players in the media industry are prais ing the mergers for their pro claimed ability to increase com munications accessibility, quality and content. The merger of AOL and Time Warner is the largest in history, combining a total revenue of $30 billion and $350 billion in stock, according to CMJ New Music Re ports. Last week, AOL Time Warner Inc. chairman and CEO Steve Case shared his thoughts on the new merger in an e-mail addressed to AOL subscribers. “This really is something to celebrate,” he said. “We are so excited about how this new com pany will speed the growth of the Internet, making the on-line ex perience richer and more mean ingful than ever before, for more people than ever before.” Although it remains to be seen whether Case’s prophecy of en hanced media content will be come a reality, the face of com munications technology is expanding and changing rapidly. “The role of the communica tions industry has experienced a phenomenal shift, moving their focus from information content to providers of entertainment,” Bybee said. According to CMJ, the AOL Time Warner deal will signifi cantly increase the amount of en tertainment and information that is broadcast over the Internet and other media channels. But not everyone thinks such drastic shifts in power are a good thing for consumers. “The commercialization of the media provides many choices for consumers, but what about citi zens?” said University Professor Janet Wasko. Although this recent media merger stands out as a modern day communications Goliath, corporate media mergers have re cently been far from uncommon. In September, MTV parent Vi acom announced plans to merge with CBS, which is already owned by Westinghouse. The four largest media corporations each earn between $15-25 billion per year, University of Wiscon son-Madison Professor Robert McChesney said. Much of this new media con solidation has come forth as a re sult of legislative changes made AOL Time Warner Inc The following companies now fall under the AOL Time Warner Inc. partnership: Internet content providers: AOL.com, CompuServe, Netscape, ICQ, AOL Instant Messenger, AOL MovieFone and Winamp Television networks: TBS, TNT, CNN, The WB, The Cartoon Net work and H BO Print publications: Fortune, Enter tainment Weekly, Sports Illustrat ed, People and In Style Others: Warner Bros. Studios, Time Warner Cable, Warner Music Group and Warner Books SOURCE; AOl Time Warner Inc. in the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Among other changes, the Telecommunications Act deregu lates the number of stations a sin gle company may own, and al lows their audience monopoly range to increase from 20 to 50 percent of the viewing popula tion, according to the media ad vocates group, Fairness and Ac curacy In Reporting (FAIR). Although the legislation was passed by Congress, its legality and fairness are still under scruti ny from smaller organizations and individuals. “So little attention is being paid to anti-trust laws under the guise that it is better for con sumers,” Wasko said. This increase in the number of mergers has raised eyebrows in the communications industry as well. A report on the Telecom munications Act, filed by the Consumer Project on Technology, criticizes the deregulation of cor porate mergers. “As tends to be the case with most anti-consumer legislation, the bill stealthily moved under the guise of ‘encouraging compe tition’ but will, in reality, have the opposite effect by creating huge new concentrations of me dia power,” the report stated. Student Groups Advertise your events in the Oregon Daily Emerald. We have special university rates. Call 346-37 1 2
