This weeks blog task revolved around the question: “Does it matter who ‘owns’ the media?” but before I get into this, one must know WHO owns the media.
Lets see what we have here…
Okay, now that we’ve established who’s in control, how bout we get to a more serious discussion. We all know and can agree that the media has a definite influence on the way we see and understand things. So, how can we trust the people who are in control of such power? Take Rupert Murdoch for example, personally, I never really knew the about the multimillion-dollar man till the phone hacking scandals case that appeared in England
Okay, now that we’ve established who’s in control, how bout we get to a more serious discussion. We all know and can agree that the media has a definite influence on the way we see and understand things. So, how can we trust the people who are in control of such power? Take Rupert Murdoch for example; he’s a Media magnate, is the founder and head of News Corporation, a global media establishment. Also being the creator of FOX Broadcasting Company in 1986. (http://www.biography.com/people/rupert-murdoch-9418489)
Personally, I never really knew the about the multimillion-dollar man till the phone hacking scandal of murdered schoolgirl; Milly Dowler in England, July 2011. I mean, it’s one thing to hack a phone in order to illegally obtain private information, but this case created false hope of millions that the murder victim Milly Dowler was in fact alive. Murdoch was responsible for the tragedy and heartbreak of beloved friends and family of the poor victim. This then exposed the unprofessionalism and corruption in front of an entire globalised public sphere exactly the type of media Murdoch was in charge of.
With saying that, we can now understand as a generation growing up under the influence of major media giants such as Murdoch that the information we obtain could and can be manipulated, false, and biased favouring the media king; Murdoch.
It’s important to remember that the concept in media and communications is thinking about the society we in live in and how we want it to be. With our current morals and values as a globalised civilisation, is it okay to let such powerful Media Moguls manipulate our expectations of the truth within media outlets such as the News and the many other sources we depend on as a modern day society? News is the very source we expect to be objective and informative on a daily basis. If giants such as Rupert have been hacking phones as early on as 2005 to such people as celebrities, politicians and even members of the British Royal Family; what is to say that other media influences aren’t doing the same? In fact, why stop at phone hacking? Murdoch has been known to also promote and sway national elections by having biased propaganda advertisements to his favoured party. In America and Australia.
Have a look of the favoured parties table below of the Australian national elections by Murdoch owned corporations and others. Accroding to Crickey.com ( http://www.crikey.com.au/2013/08/28/murdochs-might-how-much-do-news-corp-papers-influence-elections/)
We need to rethink our viewed sources legitimacy, and information, and therefore understand the fact that it’s indeed, important to understand who “controls” the media globally and nationally.
Caution: Mediaholic 
You bring up some really great points! I like how you have mentioned that we’ve ‘grown up under these influences” It shows how desensitized we as a society have become. You also bring up the notion of trust, which I believe is fundamental to human growth and building important relationships, without trust society begins to breakdown. Now I am by no means undermining the idea that the media has become a game of monopoly with only a handful of players, Murdoch being one of them, but we need to put ourselves in their shoes; if anyone else had that much money and power wouldn’t you think they would do the same and project their opinions and morals?! It’s a shame that people don’t recognise the importance of who owns and runs these media outlets. If society was more educated about this subject than maybe they could see through all the propaganda and bias opinions. Overall great post, keep it up!
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