Media conglomerate
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A media conglomerate describes companies that own large numbers of companies in various mass media such as television, radio, publishing, movies, and the Internet.
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[edit] Terminology
A conglomerate is, by definition, a large company that consists of divisions of seemingly unrelated businesses.
It is questionable whether media companies are unrelated, as of 2006. The trend has been strongly for the sharing of various kinds of content (news, film and video, music for example). The media sector is tending to consolidate, and formerly diversified companies may appear less so as a result. Therefore the term media group may also be applied. It has not so far replaced the more traditional usage.
[edit] Examples
Some of the largest media conglomerates include:
- AT&T
- Berlusconi Group
- Bertelsmann
- Canwest Global
- CBS Corporation
- General Electric
- Hearst Corporation
- Lagardère Media
- Liberty Media
- News Corporation
- NHST MediaGroup Norges Handels og Sjøfartstidende
- Organizações Globo
- Grupo PRISA
- Sony
- Time Warner
- The Times Group (distinct from Times Newspapers of News Corportation)
- Viacom (owned by National Amusements)
- Vivendi
- The Walt Disney Company
[edit] Criticism of consolidating media groups
Critics have accused the larger conglomerates of dominating media, especially news, and refusing to publicize or deem "newsworthy" information that would be harmful to their other interests, and of contributing to the merging of entertainment and news at the expense of tough coverage of serious issues. They are also accused of being a leading force for the standardization of culture (see globalization, Americanization), and they are a frequent target of criticism by partisan political groups which often perceive the news productions biased toward their foes
In response, the companies and their supporters state that they maintain a strict separation between the business end and the production end of news departments.
