Right-Wing Influences in American MediaNews OwnershipMedia Partisanship: Television ownershipClear ChannelRobert Greenwald: Criticism of Fox NewsPartisan Techniques: Employing the mediaViewershipVoting patterns and public opinionTable 1: Public Opinion Polling (www.pollingreport.com/Iraq)Do you approve of how Bush is handling Iraq?Is the war in Iraq worth fighting?Has the government told the truth about WMD?Has the U.S. government exaggerated issues in Iraq to gain support, or accurate?BIBLIOGRAPHYRight-Wing Influences in American MediaBy Jeane GoffEthics of Development in a Global EnvironmentProfessor Bruce LusignanDecember 3 2004Right-Wing Influences in American MediaSince the advent of television networks, Americans have relied on local and national newscasts to inform them of the world’s happenings. In the 1950’s there were no other mass informational outlets besides the network news and newspapers. Today we have the internet, which allows independent research, but the majority of Americans still depend on network and cable newscasts for their local, political, and foreign news. With the responsibility and power of informing an entire country, are television newscasts as reliable as most Americans assume them to be? Most Americans don’t consider where their news is coming from or who is producing it. Network and cable news are owned and operated by people and thus are not as objective and unbiased as we would like to think. In light of the war in Iraq and the most recent presidential election, critics of television network administration are voicing their concern for today’s presentation of thenews. Increasingly more Americans are demanding a rehabilitation of newscasts, starting with ownership. News OwnershipBefore examining media practices, let’s establish what the major news networks are and who owns them. As most Americans know, ownership of media outlets is largely centralized around 6 main networks or mergers. Since 2000 the “Big Six” conglomerates (as they are often referred to) account for ninety percent of all media ownership includingtelevision, radio, newspapers, internet, books, magazines, videos, wire services and photoagencies. (Adams) In 2001, America Online (AOL) and Time Warner merged to become the world’s largest media organization. AOL Time Warner accounts for twelve television companies including Warner Brothers, 29 cable operations companies across the globe 2including CNN and Time Warner Cable, 24 book brands, 35 magazines including Time and Fortune, 52 record labels, the Turner Entertainment Corporation which owns four professional sports teams, and provides AOL internet services to 27 million subscribers infourteen countries. In addition, the conglomerate owns multiple theme parks and Warner Brothers stores in thirty countries across the globe. AOL Time Warner is chaired by SteveCase, with Gerald Levin as CEO and boasts 79,000 employees worldwide. AOL Time Warner’s multi-faceted conglomerate brings in $31.8 billion in revenues annually. (New Internationalist)The second-largest media conglomerate is the Walt Disney Corporation, which has come a long way from its cartoon industry decades ago. The Disney Channel broadcasts in eight countries, with its sister sports channel ESPN broadcasting to 165 countries on three continents. Disney owns ten additional television channels. Disney also owns five magazine publishing groups and four newspapers including the St. Louis Daily Record, Disney theatrical productions like Broadway’s The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast, ABC television and radio networks including ten television channels and 29 radio stations, eight film companies including Touchstone, the Disney Books publishing company, eighteen online ventures including Infoseek, six music labels, several hockey and baseball teams, and 720 Disney stores worldwide. Disney also owns five major theme parks, the World Sports Complex, 27 hotels, and two cruise ships. Chairman and CEO Michael Eisner employs 120,000 people worldwide and assists Disney in bringing in $23.4 billion dollars annually. (New Internationalist)Next, Bertelsmann AG claims the third largest chunk of media ownership. Bertelsmann AG controls the RTL Group, which accounts for 22 television channels and 3eighteen radio stations in ten countries across Europe. Bertelsmann Broadband is launching its new interactive television venture, providing a convergence of computers and television. Bertelsmann own the largest publishing group: Random House moves over a million books per day in the United States and has operations in Europe and South America, and is a major publisher of science titles. Gruner & Jahr, a subsidiary of Bertelsmann AG, publishes eighty magazines worldwide and owns nine newspapers across Germany and Eastern Europe. Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) operates in 54 countries and owns over 200 labels across the globe. Bertelsmann’s multimedia ad agency Pixelpark provides “brand management” for clients such as Adidas. Online, Barteslmann provides online shopping services such as the Lycos web portal and Barnes&Noble.com. Bartelsmann is run by CEO Dr. Thomas Middelhof and in turn employs 64,800 people worldwide and brings in revenues of $16.3 billion annually. (NewInternationalist)Viacom places fourth on the list of the world’s largest media conglomerates, and actually broke U.S. law when it bought CBS. Senator John McCain assisted in amending those ownership rules, as Viacom is McCain’s “fourth biggest career patron”. (New Internationalist) Viacom’s major film ownings include Paramount and United Cinemas International, and has a joint venture with Vivendi Universal which controls 104 cinemas in Europe, Japan, and South America. Viacom’s subsidiary Blockbuster is the largest video renter worldwide with stores in 27 countries. Viacom also manages to produce 2,000 book titles annually, owns 180 U.S. radio stations, as well as Infinity Outdoor-the world’s largest advertising agency. CBS operates 200 affiliated television channels including MTV, which reaches 342 million households worldwide. Interestingly, Viacom 4also owns MTV’s “competition” VH1. In addition, Viacom also owns Nickelodeon and Comedy Central. Viacom is run by CEO Summer M. Redstone, boasts a modest 126,820 employees worldwide, and earns $12.86 annually. (New Internationalist)Ranking only fifth on the list of world-wide media conglomerates is Rupert Murdoch’s infamous News