Where the power lies

Is it just me, or is it unsettling to know that there are only 5 major corporations that own the vast majority of the media in the USA (with Vivendi Universal and General Electric closing in on this group)?

Since 1983, 50 corporations controlling news media has been reduced to 5. Five. So, in a little more than 20 years, 45 different media corporations have been merged, taken over, or eliminated. Man! What do you think this says about antitrust laws that were suppose to circumvent the formulation of these types of conglomerates?

It's scary to think that the power of the media has been reduced to a few groups because -- essentially -- whoever wields this power controls the minds of the people. This is particularly unnerving for me since, as heavy consumers, African-Americans have succumb to this more than any other group. For instance, the media has an unmatched ability to dictate pop culture; largely since they produced the movies, television shows, images, and music that we see and hear. Though most people think that recording labels like Motown, Murder, Inc., Bad Boys, and Def Jam are independent of media control, they are actually mere subsidiaries of Vivendi Universal, one of the major corporations in the U.S. Likewise, Black Entertainment Television is owned by Viacom.

Sadly, African Americans have no control over any of the messages or images that are plastered on the screen; even in -- what the artist would claim -- is his outlet. Sure, you see the artist's name on the CD cover, his/her face in the videos, him/her accepting the awards and accolades. But, the truth is, the real power is behind the scenes. The major U.S. media conglomerates determine every facet of pop culture. Troubling indeed.

Yesterday, I went to an interesting talk at Michigan State University, where the panel broke down how powerful the media really is. Said one of the panelists, "These media conglomerates are in an exclusive club, which survives largely by exploiting large groups of uninformed people. Essentially, they have the power to control what people think, how they act, and what they know."

It is interesting to note that, to the casual observer, negative images that are bombarded through the media are all the fault of African-Americans. Yet, the proverbial "buck" stops with these power whores in the media. The images that are being portrayed in the media exist mainly because corporations seek to perpetuate certain behavior to elicit a particular outcome, namely profit. Too many African-American are too distracted to pick up on that. We're more concerned with how many times 50 cent will get shot today, how many more CDs Beyonce will come out with, or how many points Kobe will hit in the next game. Now, I'm not implying that being entertained is a bad thing. In fact, I'm a frequent visitor to Detroit Pistons games (though, I'm not liking their chances in the playoffs right now). I buy CDs, DVDs, clothes, etc. like the rest of 'em. But I think it's important to understand what's also going on behind the scenes, and why it's happening.

When the media creates a subterfuge by selling images of broken families; deteriorating communities; an over-emphasis on violence, crime, and life "in the streets"; mindless consumerism; and ignorance, it's up to us to determine what entertains us and what controls us. There is too much at stake for us to allow ourselves to become so easily manipuated by the mainstream media.

- ACL