Media Ownership

Do you ever watch several newscasts and find that they’re quite similar? Maybe read several magazines and find out they’re all talking about the same content? How could this possibly be? There are several reasons for this. One is because these are the prominent events happening in our world on those particular days. That’s an obvious point that you could argue. But it’s not just the stories that are the same but also the perspectives on them and the spin that is put on them. This is because most of those tv channels, newspapers, magazines etc are owned by the same people! The major player being Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp and in Australia News Limited. This includes the Herald Sun, The Australian, the entire fox network including fox movies, sports, and a 25% share in foxtel, magazines such as the Australian editions of vogue and GQ, Network Ten and much much more. 

This type of ownership is what is known as a monopoly, meaning one(or few) owner(s). “In the worst cases of monopoly a firm spends a great deal of time and money blocking other from entering the market” (Steven 2003, p41). Why would someone want to do this you might ask? Well the more media real estate you have, the greater chance you have of influencing the dominant views of the public as your material is primarily what they’re consuming whether they know it or not. Everybody wants to have his or her say. But those with billion dollar corporations will always get theirs first. Better start saving!

Reference:

Steve, P 2003, the no-nonsense guide to the global media, New Internationalist, Oxford, pp. 37-59