The power media conglomerates possess is astronomical, and while this is not inherently bad, there are those who would use this power for their own interests, which may not be good for the masses. For now though, let's look at how media conglomerates shape the media landscape, In the forms of representations, and our pop culture.
Media conglomerates control a large amount of entertainment and news, and there is evidence that such large control over entertainment and news can be used to show things in an altered light. For starters let's take a look at the representation of minorities in the media. While we have come along way in terms of tolerance, the media still has a tendency to show stereotypes on television for the most part. Often times this is for comedic value, and is dialed back so as not to be offensive, but there are still shows that portray minorities badly. The worst portrayal currently is that of those of the Islamic faith or anyone from the Middle East. Certain networks have shows that don’t really do this - HBO for one - yet channels like Fox often let things like this go on prime time when it suits them. One example is the episode of Family Guy “Turban Cowboy” in which Peter befriends a Muslim man named Mahmoud, who convinces him to convert to Islam. Everything seems innocent - if not a bit insensitive such as Peter saying Admiral Ackbar (the fish commander from Return of the Jedi) in place of Allahu Akbar (meaning God is the greatest, or God is great) but family guy has a tendency to do this every episode with other ethnicities and cultures (such as an in episode where Peters black friend Cleveland is fire hosed out of a 50’s diner by cops with leashed attack dogs at their disposal, or an entire song about all the “great things” white people have given society such as overpriced fancy coffee and Justin Bieber)- up until it's revealed that Mahmoud is part of a terrorist cell, and plans to blow up a bridge with Peter's help. While he is stopped in the end, this episode continued to perpetuate the underlined fear in Americans today that Muslims could be terrorists. This isn’t the first time Family Guy has used the “Muslims are terrorists” card on their show, however they usually constrained it to cutaway gags, not a whole episode. Plus nothing is off limits to Seth Macfarlane, so most people brush it off as “ehh, it's family guy”. While this isn’t the first time FOX let negative portrayals of Muslims on TV(the political thriller 24 had some negative portrayals of Muslims on their network), these are shown during critical times when tension with the Islamic community is at its highest (24 after the fallout of 9/11 and during the war of Iraq, and the Family Guy episode during the rising threat of ISIS). This in turn has lead to a greater rift between the two communities. Other forms of pop culture are also constantly influenced by media conglomerates. Many people who oppose the idea name pop culture as one of the media conglomerate’s best tactics to keep people “in control”. While it may be “massive conspiracy theories” as some people may think, there is a grain of truth to that. Take a look at the current state of pop culture, and the trends most prominent in it today. More often than not, the news will cover things like “Kim Kardashian's new Haircut” or “you can lose weight by eating these poisonous berries?!” More often than not you turn on the news, open up the Internet, and there is some ridiculous personal interest story that really has nothing to do with you. We are constantly bombarded by news about Miley Cyrus dancing naked, when there are important things actually going on, such as the presidential election, the state of our economy, and the destruction of the environment. So why cover these ridiculous stories with about as much substance as an issue of The National Inquirer? Because that's pop culture in the hands of conglomerates. You see these stories no one should care about, and then you see an ad for shoes or soda and it has that celebrity in it. It's how conglomerates make business: associating something you may or may not like or need with what's popular. It's why we had Geico commercials for the Star Trek films. It keeps us buying and watching, and ignoring anything we may think is negative.
While there are many more examples of how media conglomerates control the media, it's clear that media conglomerates have far more control than many think they need. Whether it's how we view others, or what historians will think we most enjoyed, they have their hands in too much. While right now what they are doing might not be completely evil, should a totalitarian government be instituted, they essentially have the power to directly control what we think, how we live our lives, how we dress and what we eat.
Media conglomerates control a large amount of entertainment and news, and there is evidence that such large control over entertainment and news can be used to show things in an altered light. For starters let's take a look at the representation of minorities in the media. While we have come along way in terms of tolerance, the media still has a tendency to show stereotypes on television for the most part. Often times this is for comedic value, and is dialed back so as not to be offensive, but there are still shows that portray minorities badly. The worst portrayal currently is that of those of the Islamic faith or anyone from the Middle East. Certain networks have shows that don’t really do this - HBO for one - yet channels like Fox often let things like this go on prime time when it suits them. One example is the episode of Family Guy “Turban Cowboy” in which Peter befriends a Muslim man named Mahmoud, who convinces him to convert to Islam. Everything seems innocent - if not a bit insensitive such as Peter saying Admiral Ackbar (the fish commander from Return of the Jedi) in place of Allahu Akbar (meaning God is the greatest, or God is great) but family guy has a tendency to do this every episode with other ethnicities and cultures (such as an in episode where Peters black friend Cleveland is fire hosed out of a 50’s diner by cops with leashed attack dogs at their disposal, or an entire song about all the “great things” white people have given society such as overpriced fancy coffee and Justin Bieber)- up until it's revealed that Mahmoud is part of a terrorist cell, and plans to blow up a bridge with Peter's help. While he is stopped in the end, this episode continued to perpetuate the underlined fear in Americans today that Muslims could be terrorists. This isn’t the first time Family Guy has used the “Muslims are terrorists” card on their show, however they usually constrained it to cutaway gags, not a whole episode. Plus nothing is off limits to Seth Macfarlane, so most people brush it off as “ehh, it's family guy”. While this isn’t the first time FOX let negative portrayals of Muslims on TV(the political thriller 24 had some negative portrayals of Muslims on their network), these are shown during critical times when tension with the Islamic community is at its highest (24 after the fallout of 9/11 and during the war of Iraq, and the Family Guy episode during the rising threat of ISIS). This in turn has lead to a greater rift between the two communities. Other forms of pop culture are also constantly influenced by media conglomerates. Many people who oppose the idea name pop culture as one of the media conglomerate’s best tactics to keep people “in control”. While it may be “massive conspiracy theories” as some people may think, there is a grain of truth to that. Take a look at the current state of pop culture, and the trends most prominent in it today. More often than not, the news will cover things like “Kim Kardashian's new Haircut” or “you can lose weight by eating these poisonous berries?!” More often than not you turn on the news, open up the Internet, and there is some ridiculous personal interest story that really has nothing to do with you. We are constantly bombarded by news about Miley Cyrus dancing naked, when there are important things actually going on, such as the presidential election, the state of our economy, and the destruction of the environment. So why cover these ridiculous stories with about as much substance as an issue of The National Inquirer? Because that's pop culture in the hands of conglomerates. You see these stories no one should care about, and then you see an ad for shoes or soda and it has that celebrity in it. It's how conglomerates make business: associating something you may or may not like or need with what's popular. It's why we had Geico commercials for the Star Trek films. It keeps us buying and watching, and ignoring anything we may think is negative.
While there are many more examples of how media conglomerates control the media, it's clear that media conglomerates have far more control than many think they need. Whether it's how we view others, or what historians will think we most enjoyed, they have their hands in too much. While right now what they are doing might not be completely evil, should a totalitarian government be instituted, they essentially have the power to directly control what we think, how we live our lives, how we dress and what we eat.