Media Hegemonies

The ‘market place of ideas’ allows for people to express and publish their ideas. With publishing costs so high however, the average Joe does not have the funds necessary to express and publish his thoughts. To create a balance, journalists from various news agencies are expected to be objective and publish every angle of every story. What it often comes down to however, is corporate interest. With very few corporations controlling the majority of media, the needs of the corporation need to be met first, before news, and before objectivity. Most people probably haven’t heard of News Corp, but are probably effected by them daily. News Corp. owns 47 television stations, 11 film production companies, 28 newspapers, 6 magazines, 45 book publishers including 13 children’s books publishers, as well as a variety of sports teams, radio stations, websites, and other various media companies (Resources). Having this many media companies On January 15th 2008 Canada’s Regulators for Telecommunications (CRTC) announced a policy that ensures that “a person or entity will be permitted to control only two of the three types of media outlets — radio, TV, or newspapers — in a single market” (CRTC). These restrictions prevent a person or corporation from holding a monopoly of media. Though this does not ensure better journalism, it puts forth an effort that will hopefully stop corporate interest from influencing the news that is publish, and that which is cut.

Works Cited
“Resources.” Columbia Journalism Review. 7 August 2008. 8 November 2008. .
“CRTC Imposes Cross-Media Ownership Restrictions.” CBC News. 15 January 2008. 8 November 2008. < http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2008/01/15/crtc.html>.