Media Concentration

When researching top media companies, one would expect to see Walt Disney and Viacom. One company you might not expect to see; however, is AOL Time Warner. AOL Time Warner is run by CEO Gerald Levin and Chair Steve Case. Founded in 1990, Time Warner is one of the top media companies in the world. Besides owning Warner Bros, Time Warner also owns twenty-four different book labels, Time Magazine, and even CNN. Time Warner’s subsidiary companies are countless, and the company as a whole brings in a revenue of approximately $31.8 billion. 

There are downsides to such media concentration, though. When a company become so large and powerful, there is a high risk of unethical political and economic influence. Capitalism is what our nation was founded on, but if a company creates an economic monopoly, it will wreak havoc. If a country becomes entirely dependent upon one company in particular, that company is able to virtually single-handedly control the entire economy just by raising or lowering its prices. Think about the simple concept of supply and demand- if this company is essential to everyday life, the demand will be unstoppable, and so will the company.

Secondly, if a company is extremely influential in society, then political candidates become subject to their wishes and possibly even their demands. No governor, or even president, would risk having a company shut down that has the ability to shatter the economy as a whole. The entire political race(s) can become completely dependent upon the needs of this company, rather than the needs of the nation. So on top of an economic monopoly, this company has also placed itself at the head of a political monopoly.

Yet there are also advantages to media concentration. Capitalism is something our nation was founded on. It encourages healthy economic competition, and it keeps competing companies honest with their prices and policies. Without this opposition, a single company could potentially come to control the nation as a whole. Competitors in the business industry are always looking for ways to get a leg up on the competition, and media concentration is often what comes from this contention. Controlling other subsidiary companies is frequently how a major company eventually rises up over other rival companies. This keeps the entire economy balanced and in check because companies are always battling to be the best.

Overall, media concentration is nothing more than a fancy term for overactive competition. When a company competes especially well, they become more likely to achieve a higher level of concentration of media, which enables them to be more dominant in their particular field of business. Though there are many concerns about the ethics of media concentration, it continues. The world we live in is absolutely, totally, without question, completely media saturated.