Interdisciplinary Studies Questions and Answers

1. Our media is in the hands of very few large and powerful corporations. What is the cost of this practice? Consider political and economic influences.

In the Beyond Borders textbook on pages 60-74 Michael Parenti’s article “Mass Media: For the Many, by the Few” goes into great detail of the few corporations that control the media and the costs of this practice. Let us first discuss what classifies as media. We have newspapers, magazines, radio, films, television, etc. Television and radio are the most dominated forms of media that are in the hands of four giant networks, which are, ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX. These media corporations not only own television networks but other forms of media, such as; cable companies, book publishing houses, movie studios, satellite television, etc. Since the broadcast industry has failed to provide adequate regulation policies the competition has decreased, and this has caused a large economic influence. The competition was supposed to lower prices, instead there has been an increase in cable rates and phone rates. In addition, media owners don’t hesitate to exercise control over news content. They frequently kill stories they dislike and in other ways inject their own preferences. In other words, they determine which person, which facts, which version of the facts, and which ideas shall reach the public. The media can also have a political influence. “Progressive candidates are not only competing against well-financed opponents but also against the media’s many frivolous distractions. It is nearly impossible for these candidates to try and run a meaningful campaign because the media will withhold their media coverage .” The few corporations can spin the media any which way. In sum, the media is ne...

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Works Cited

1. Parenti, Michael. "Mass Media: For the Many, by the Few." Beyond Borders: Thinking Critically About Global Issues. New York: Worth, 2006. 60-74. Print.

2. International Labour Organization. "Facts on Child Labour." Beyond Borders: Thinking Critically About Global Issues. New York: Worth, 2006. 396-97. Print.

3. UN Bulletin on the Eradication of Poverty. "World Poverty and Hunger Fact Sheet." Beyond Borders: Thinking Critically About Global Issues. New York: Worth, 2006. 398-99. Print.

4."Globalization in Everyday Life." Beyond Borders: Thinking Critically About Global Issues. New York: Worth, 2006. 471-571. Print.

5. Ferree, Myra Marx. "Globalization and Feminism: Opportunities and Obstacles for Activism in the Global Arena." Globalization: The Transformation of Social Worlds. 3rd ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2009. 291-302. Print.