Who is behind our media?
BCM 110 [Blog 3]
It feels as if it has never been easier to stay informed through media consumption. There really is no excuse in today’s world to not know what’s been going on in the news. We have evolved into extremely accessible news delivery through online digital news, televised news and news which is delivered via the radio. But it’s also no secret that there is money to be made through the news, therefore begging the question: who is really behind the news we read and hear?
“The NewsRoom, on HBO”, Sourced: https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/the-newsroom/
You might be surprised to know that on a usual weeknight in Australia, it’s actually the News which garners the highest television ratings, ‘Seven News’ boasted 1.4 billion viewers in its 2021 cycle. So when you consider these ratings you immediately understand that businesses would be paying big money to have their advertisements play during the news hour. I suppose I’ve always been pretty in the loop in terms of knowing the latest and biggest news headlines and this is due to the news just generally being what’s on our living room television early in the morning and evening. As I made my way through high school I began to get my news through social media. I’d spend ten minutes or so on my morning bus trip reading news on Instagram or Twitter. There are a few really great social media pages which aim to break down the news for young people and these helped to make information more accessible for me.
Rupert Murdoch, Sourced: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rupert-Murdoch
So, who controls the media I access the news through? As I mentioned, Twitter and Instagram (Facebook) are the platforms I use to access news these days. Facebook is owned by Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter is mainly owned by Jack Dorsey. Another prominent figure whose name is often thrown around is Rupert Murdoch. Murdoch has an enormous impact and ownership of News both in Australia and internationally. He is entitled to Fox News in the United States as well as The Wall Street journal. Murdoch buys more print media companies in order to increase his power in politics, biased news is able to influence the way people vote in elections, and Murdoch is quite right wing and he essentially is the country’s biggest newspaper owner.
It matters who owns the media as we rely so heavily on it nowadays to form our own opinions, thus we do not want the media to be biased and in favor of billionaires who are only interested in making more financial and/or political gains. When we have the freedom to form our own beliefs we are a more informed society. We don’t want to be brainwashed into who we let represent and govern our nation.
I trust the media I consume to a certain extent. It’s important that I’m fact checking anything that is worth repeating or is groundbreaking so that I don’t make a fool of myself in a social or academic situation and also so that I can just be a more informed member of society. However as I continue my studies in Communication and Media I’m sure I will begin to consider different forms of media reliable and valuable, changing my current opinions.
References:
Rodriguez S, 2019,How Facebook stumbled to the edge of a government breakup
Campbell C, 2021, How large is Rupert Murdoch's reach through News Corp in Australian media, old and new?, ABC Newshttps://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-14/fact-file-rupert-murdoch-media-reach-in-australia/100056660
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