Ownership and the Media

   Ownership can be described in many ways. One can own a large company, a house, or even a person. However, media ownership is a topic that I find very intriguing because it happens to many people. In news media I think a lot of it has to deal with discrimination and racism and the lack of equal treatment between races and genders. Unfortunately, in today’s society there is still an enormous amount of hate, and people just don’t seem to change because they have become accustomed to old negative habits. The fact of the matter is that the majority of people don’t care enough to change and sadly enough some victims of these offensive slurs have gotten use to it.  I think fear plays a huge role when it comes to ownership.

 People have become fearful of others who have “power” the power of intimidation. In the media the power of intimidation usually comes in the form of race and gender because these two factors bring upon a sense of control to who have more power. People that own huge elaborate corporations have the power of intimidation and use it to good use 99% of the time towards people who are not 7 generation Americans or women. The majority of the individuals who own these large corporations are elderly white men whose families have lived in the United States for a few generations. White men who are the owners of these company’s choose whom they want to hire and most of the time it’s not minorities or women. However, what I found to be quite funny is that I think if a white-Latino who spoke English went for an interview and their competition for the job was for example a person from Ireland the owner with out a doubt would choose the Irish person. Why? Because they’re white-Europeans so they’re not mixed like the white-Latino?  In addition, these people have lost ties with their roots and classify themselves as just white Americans, however, they’ve all derived from ancestral European countries.  In addition, since the majority of them are males there’s also a sense of male dominance that comes into play. Women are degraded for being of a different gender, a “weaker gender” one that cannot become as successful as men. Women as well as minorities sum up a small percent of the media world because it's dominated by white old men. Media Ownership is owned by white men only. 

  Meanwhile, because of the physical male appearance men are thought to be stronger, tougher, dominant, and at times even wiser.  On the other hand, a female is looked as; weak, delicate, vulnerable, and ignorant…but attractive. So, basically the only thing a woman has going for her is her looks however, if you’re not “attractive” you’re screwed.    The way women are represented around the world varies from country to country. They are perceived and treated differently, for instance in India per say, women are not the center of attention in the media world. There’s such a difference in culture and not much women own large companies or become CEO’S. So this can show you how even internationally, women are still not as powerful as men and are still trying to leave their footprint in the media world.

    On the other hand, minorities that live in America feel isolated and not wanted and many fight for their rights and justice. There are places where people who fall under this category can turn to for a voice or sometimes they themselves can have a voice and express how the feel. There are alternative organizations like New America Media that partner with journalism schools to develop local associations of different ethnic media organizations (newamericamedia.org). One of NAM’s priorities is also to help ethnic people interact with each other through ethnic media outlets. It allows ethnic people to have a voice through cell phone polls. I found this reliable and convenient for people of other ethnic groups and minorities in America.Pursuing this further, there are also online organizations such as Truth-out that seeks injustice. It’s a non-profit organization and does not except any corporate backing or even advertisements. It provides independent news to people who are seeking a different opinion or voice. Instead they accept donations from their readers to support their organization. I found this very interesting because basically readers have to pay in order for it to keep running. Writers like Noam Chomsky have contributed their thoughts and have written for the organizations as well.

   There are independent organizations for females such as; bitch magazine (bitchmagazine.org) a feminist magazine focused on the media world. Also, feminist magazine, (femenistmagazine.org)which focuses on a variety of different topics all media related, from a woman’s point of view. There are many alternative independent media outlets that pin point women and minorities and allow them to have a voice. Outlets like these are necessary for people to go to when they feel like they’re not being heard or supported.

   I think that alternative media is an open door for those who want different perspectives. A lot of people are actually tuning into alternative media sources to get their news and information regardless of whether you’re a woman who is fighting for equal rights or part of a minority fighting against injustice.  Nowadays people from all over the world are searching for alternative outlets that large corporations don’t back up or that have advertising because people are noticing the lack of real news in media outlets that are supported by large important corporations. Society is trying to find new fresher ways to get their news by listening and reading the opinions of others and not of popular media outlets. There is a hesitation that people are gaining, the hesitation to follow a popular outlet because of lies and not delivering the complete truth.  The government or other companies of power who can persuade people into thinking what they want are handling it. These companies know how to manipulate and steer their viewers or readers into the direction that they want. So, I think alternative media is very important, however, it’s also quite misleading and phony if ones not careful when choosing which alternative outlet they choose to get their information from.

This link explains how alternative media has played a huge role in politics. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyjnEm8DZkI