"The Corporate Media"


Hilbert College

Annotated Bibliography:

Corporate Media

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(Note: This paper was written at the University of South Carolina)

Bagdikian, Ben H. (1972) The Effete Conspiracy and Other Crimes By the Press. Harper & Row.

Although this book is older than most of the others used in the bibliography, it provides insight into what contributed to his more famous book The Media Monopoly. The Pentagon Papers and the president and the press are covered in two sections of the book. More relevant to my paper are his criticisms of the press. Bagdikian believes that good newspapers can only be run by strong individuals because their papers are driven by an obsession to cover the world news. The newspaper is confronted with difficulties when it is realized that it must be a godless corporation run for profit and also a community institution.

Bagdikian, Ben H. (1983) The Media Monopoly. Beacon Press.

The author describes how democracy is hurt by the media monopoly, that is few corporations owning the newspapers, television, etc. He discusses how subtle the corporation's suppression of negative press can be. He states that corporations depend on the media to influence public opinion. Much of the media has become "gray fluff" so as not to disturb advertisers or corporate owners. As a result, the individual's view of the social, political world is defficient.

Bagdikian, Ben H. (1989) "What's Missing From the News." The Progressive.

This article describes how newspapers impose self-censorship because of its corporate owners. He relates several incidents in which reporters were fired for writing somethinf unfavorable, although true, about corporations. He also mentions that the media will often look the other way to avoid causing scandals in the status quo. He also mentions the effects of deregularization.

Barsamian, David. (1997) "Ben Bagdikian." The Progressive.

Ben Bagdikian, author of The Media Monopoly, is interviewed in this article. He replies that there are a few companies that dominate such as ABC/Disney. He describes the process of a work's maturation as a "closed circuit" because corporations control everything in the process. The article also mentions the incident between "60 Minutes" and Brown and Williamson. He also discusses the problems with journalism today. He wants the Telecommunications Act repealed.

Bogart, Leo. (1998) "What Does It All Mean." Media Mergers. Transaction Publishers.

Bogart believes that the Telecommunications Act of 1996 may actually accelerate the concentration of media power. What is unique about mergers in the communications industry is that they affect the country's values, ideas, politics, and maybe even the national identity. He comments on the "tangled web of alliances" among the media powers. According to Bogart, "the larger and more diversified the company, the greater and the more varied the corporate interest that may be threatened by crusading journalism. Also, the media powers have lobbyists that contribute to politicians' campaigns, who in turn promote or block bills that help or hurt the powers.

Cohen, Richard. (1997) "The Corporate Takeover of News: Blunting the Sword." Conglomerates and the Media. The New Press.

Cohen argues that the goal of corporate news is no longer news but entertainment. The corporations dumb down the news and try to avoid rocking the boat. Television does not serve the public interest; it is only concerned with profit. This news under informs the public, which is dangerous in the democracy. Often times commercial considerations cloud coverage on big stories which changes the outcome of the story. The lack of pluralism in the companies that own the news is essentially undemocratic.

(1998) "Don't Read All About It" The Economist.

This article criticizes ABC and Disney and especially Rupert Murdoch for restricting what these companies produce to avoid angering someone with whom they have financial ties.

Gitlin, Todd. (1997) "Introduction." Conglomerates and the Media. The New Press.

Gitlin criticize conglomerates in the media. He stresses the danger that conglomerates will censor their "wholly-owned news vehicles." The conglomerates, or trusts, have bent over backwards to avoid self-censorship in their stories, after several cases were revealed. However, self-cenorship still exists. He believes that newspapers care more about profit than news. Furthermore, the newspaper chains shorten the articles and write more about softer stuff. Corporate media also buy politicians, which leads to deregulation.

Kaptur, Marcy. (1995) "Offscreen News ." The Nation.

Kaptur believes that the media has not covered the United State's net loss of $2 trillion in traded goods because it has become beholden to its advertisers. She declares that there is a tangled web of interownership among the media conglomerates. She criticizes NBC for not covering the thousands of lay-offs of its workers. The article advocates a veto of the Telecommunications Act. Unfortunately, it went through.

Lacy, Stephen, Maxwell McCombs, Robert G. Picard, and James P. Winter, Ed. (1988) Press Concentration and Monopoly:New Perspectives on Newspaper Ownership and Operation. Ablex Publishing Corp.

Concentrated newspapers contradict democracy because democracy depends on a competitive marketplace, which does not exist with monopolies. There are two types of conglomerate; the vertical type, which bears logical resemblance to the media industry and the horizontal type, which bears no logical link to the media. Systematic studies have shown that community interests are poorly served by concentrated media ownership. Many scholars feel that anti-trust laws apply to the media conglomerates.

Mazzocco, Dennis W. (1994) Networks of Power:Corporate TV's Threat to Democracy. South End Press

The book describes how media evolved into a corporate mess. Mazzocco believes that when economic and political clout determines who gets access to the media, then the power no longer rests with the people. Corporate media conglomerates can easily influence politics by minimizing dissident voices and discrediting politicians whose policies threaten them. The book addresses how to deal with corporate media conglomerates so that the media industry is in the hands of the people.

McChesney, Robert W.. (1997) The Global Media Giants. Extra. Online: http://www.fair.org/extra97111gmg.html

This article goes into great detail describing the nine corporations that "dominate the world." Among them are Disney, Time Warner, Bertellsmann, Viacom, and Rupurt Murdoch's News Corp. It talks about the birth of media monopolies, which is a recent phenomenon. McChesney asserts that the corporations hold on the media is anti-democratic.

(1997) "Media Failure in 1996." St. Louis Journalism Review.

A media watch group called Project Censored made a list of the top ten under reported stories of 1996. The first place vote went to the U.S. probe sent into space that contained plutonium. If there had been any mishaps during takeoff the results would have been devastating. The second under reported story was how activists in Nigeria, who were protesting Shell's environmental devastation, were killed. Amnesty International had tried to draw attention to the murders in the newspapers, but they all refused. Almost every article that never made the news involved either the government or a corporation.

Roberts, Gene. (1998) "Corporate Journalism and Community Service" Media Mergers. Transaction Publishers.

Roberts argues that more and more regulatory and monetary control is in the hands of state and local government, instead of the federal government. However, the state and local newspapers are not doing a good job of covering these governments. One reason for this decline is the ownership of newspapers by corporate chains. 75% of dailies are run by corporate chains. Papers do not cover the government because the owners think it is boring and only write papers for a profit. Part of the first amendment is supplying the voters with the information they need to make an informed decision in a democracy. But, the public is not informed.

Thom, Cathleen. (1999) "Invisible Censorship." The Humanist.

Thom declares that restrictions are based on what publishers are willing to print and what advertisers are willing to support. She sais that "publishers are the invisible censors of the Western world." She feels that journalism has become a business and caters to its advertisers. People often seek sentional news, which does not endanger corporations. It is not that there is little being reported, it is just that there is little balance in what is being reported.

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