It's crazy to wonder and ponder what role the media actually plays in our lives. Sometimes I can think 'oh perhaps I just think about things a little too much and over analyze things'. However most of the time I'm actually very concerned with the impact of media in our lives. Our advertising I feel has such an influence on so many areas of our life. I don't think however that we can just point our fingers at the media and say it's bad- I don't think it's a solo evil entity all on it's own. I do believe though that it is part of a system that doesn't encourage us to be critical and informed individuals who are engaged and empowered in our lives and societies. That is when I begin to get more concerned as fewer and fewer people/corporations own our media and decide what we hear about and what we don't. And they certainly take into account their own interests - our world moves so quickly and has become so globalized and revolves on a comsumeristic axel that never ceases.
The thing that really bothers me is how much each of these corporations own and how much influence and power they can draw from that alone and how much they disguise and hide their true intentions. Or how much they don't hide their intentions as Disney's CEO from 1984-2005 Michael Eisner stated:
"We have no obligation to make history, we have no obligation to make art, we have no obligation to make a statement, to make money is our only objective"
This is truly the case- Disney owns many film networks, broadcast news stations, radio stations, cable stations, recording labels, magazines, parks, resorts, businesses etc. The list goes on check out http://www.cjr.org/resources/index.php?c=disney, and it is the same for all the large corporations. I don't think it's going to change anytime soon, but I do think we need to be aware of them and their influence on our lives and encourage other alternatives to such intense consumerism that is destroying our environment in so many ways.
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I agree completely with this comment. The media is not just an evil entity deciding what we will and will not do, but i think when joined with powerful corporations, media moguls, bureaucrats and politicians a certain type of agenda seems to come through. I am also concerned with the small number of companies which own the media and how more often than not their personal interests rise to the top.
ReplyDeleteThe quotation used sums up the interests of the corporation very well. Even worse, this is the type of ideology we find in economic and business textbooks across North America. Its funny how capitalism is supposed to be the most free economic system in which leads to best democracy.... it almost seems like this is the opposite (at least for the majority of people)
I strongly agree with your comments regarding increasing our awareness of the impacts of large corporations in our lives and the need to seek alternatives for the sake of the environment and humans.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, the quote from previous Disney CEO caught my attention because, to me, it seems that the corporate agenda is often meant to be hidden but inevitably true intentions become exposed. When true intentions remain hidden, there is at least hope that they are because they recognize the negative impacts of their corporate actions and know that they're wrong. The fact that the CEO was so blantantly obvious implies that they see no moral, ethical issues in their sole objective of making money despite any negatives that may come of that.
I further agree that the environmental damages of multinational corporations needs to be further explored worldwide. It has become apparent that multinationals are only interested in their own interests rather than the countries they reside in. Corporate Agenda is not hidden due to the actions of most, which includes enviornmental degradation. Ethics is not a concern in many cases, with stronger policies we may hopefully see a greater respect for individuals from corporations.
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