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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.
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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.
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