Courtney's presentation last Tuesday was really interesting. I had to look at the Time Warner Corporation and I was blown away with everything they actually own. Granted, I realized they were a pretty big deal to begin with, but still the list of ownership they had went on for miles. They own AIM, Map Quest, and all of the CNN stations....who knew?! (Not me!) I also mealed around the rest of the website a little bit more to see what other big name companies own. It was interesting to see that the New York Times own part of the Boston Red Sox, and apparently CBS own MTV books. All together, Courtney's presentation really brought to my attention how big corporations pretty much monopolize different aspects of our media, and daily life. I googled Henry Jenkin's and he described his book as being, "An exploration of how the knowledge culture of fandom is transformed through the use of networked communications and how the new media alter reader's relations to texts, to media producers, and to each other. I trace various ways that the media industries are responding to the challenges of a more participatory culture". (http://web.mit.edu/cms/People/henry3/converge.html).
I think that quote perfectly sums up the significance these corporations play with how we receive information, along with how important it is for them to keep up with new technologies. It makes me wonder about how easily they can manipulate the information they regurgitate to the public, and if they manipulate at all. It's almost scary to think about. Hopefully they are using their power in the media world for good. But who really knows???
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When you said "It makes me wonder about how easily they can manipulate the information they regurgitate to the public, and if they manipulate at all" it reminded me of the candy jar experiment I did with the class, where you made the first guess, then I said, "Oh! Did you notice the jar was made of glass and had an odd shape?" and most of the class lowered their original guesses. I manipulated just a small bit of info, in a very small way, and it skewed each individual's personal information. These corporations are skewing info on a larger scale and we need to be aware of that.
Yes! The major conglomerates are controling and regulating what we do with our brains. I would like to know how much the government is connected to these companies, or are they strickly money driven? Are they attempting to make us all think a certain way, or are they just trying to make us spend all of our money? We need to know.
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