Big Media is a term commonly used to describe the landscape of consolidated media companies. I object to the term because it is a case of framing gone amuck. The phrase is supposed to immediately generate an image of something big and bad– like the wolf who torments Little Red Riding Hood– but it creates a distorted and slanted concept of media. I don’t deny the facts. There are five major multinational corporations responsible for much of the media viewed, but not the majority of media produced. The difference is subtle, but important. We need to start recognizing that we as a distributed, emergent network of consciously evolving contributors to society. “Big Media” harkens to the old concept of media as a one-to-many broadcast tower that sends information down a one-way channel. This image does not take into account the many small ways that we as fully formed individuals actually respond and form our own opinions about what we consume. I don’t deny the highly distorted and manipulative concepts of the world that are delivered through corporate media, but I also find it necessary to rethink our activist strategy, which in the end can have a subtle message of disempowerment. We have to think like a swarm and not like individual victims.
With that said, however, there was a development yesterday that does not bode well for local and minority owned media. The FCC made it easier for large companies to consolidate even more. At this point it will take Congress to enact a law to regulate increased media ownership. You should most definitely take action by going here. They want 100,000 signatures and or only at 27,000 right now. Please spread the word!
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