Impact of Conglomeration on Cultural Industries

Impact of Conglomeration on Cultural Industries Cultural industries are a major source of generating information and knowledge in societies. The concentration in ownership over them, in the recent years by private corporate houses has brought in changes, in the way they operate and function in society. In this article, we see why cultural industries are important, what the functions carried out by them are and how they are affected by the conglomerate style ownership which is prevalent in society today. WHAT ARE CULTURAL INDUSTRIES? Cultural industry as a concept had first been put forward by German critical theorists of the Frankfurt School, Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer. While in exile from Nazi Germany in the 1940s, they wrote the Dialectic of Enlightenment through which they popularized the concept. In it, they wrote about the life in capitalist United States and felt it was rather meaningless and shallow. According to them, culture had become commodified in the capitalist societies, which was why they coined the term Culture Industry. (pg24) The complexities which have arisen in society over time have metamorphosed the singular field spoken about by the two proponents and led to the creation of ‘cultural industries’. The different ways in which society is influenced has led to the creation of different types of cultural production. (pg24) The continuous changes in the culture, economy and society make it important to understand cultural industries in the present day context. Cultural industry, in simple terms, refers to the activities which are interrelated with symbolic goods, i.e. those goods whose economic value is determined by their cultural value. This definition of cultural industries is relatively fluid as they respond to the changing dynamics of societies. Cultural industries comprise of ‘classical’ cultural industries like broadcast media, architecture, music, films, etc. and traditional arts such as theatre, visual arts, literature, galleries, etc. (1) In the present day the term cultural industries is often used synonymously with media industries. ROLE OF CULTURAL INDUSTRIES IN SOCIETY Cultural industries have certain distinct functions to play in the present day modern societies. Firstly, cultural industries affect our views and knowledge about the world by creating and circulating different products. The media have a major contribution in this regard, not only through newspapers and broadcast news programmes but also through entertainment like films, television series and music. They help frame our views on what is right or wrong, determine how people live together in society, how far democratic functions are carried out and justice and rights upheld. These texts are disseminated by powerful corporations whose major motivation is to earn profits. Often theorists debate over whether cultural industries operate to carry out the interests of these elites in the society. Through cultural industries they try to accustom the common man towards a particular way of thinking which would eventually help serve their interests. (Pg 4) Secondly, the cultural industries tend to promote a particular type of work in society. Cultural production in societies takes place according to the type of audience. The texts produced in the system may sometimes be mediocre and not enriching for the people because the motivation is not to promote the creativity in society. Rather it is to preserve the power of the business elites and promote consumerism. The contemporary sufferings and inequality of the capitalist societies are said to be the fallout of these cultural industries. The heads of corporations generally decide the freedom given to the workers or artists and thus control the potential of the workers. (pg6) Thirdly, cultural industries are an important source for determining the source of wealth and employment in the societies. Scholars say that it is the brand name of the businesses which are of actual value and have motivated further spread of knowledge in societies. In recent years other sources developed, such as the internet. The massive boom in communication technologies provided an opportunity for the growth of credit based economic growth. Thus, cultural industries act as instruments of economic and social change. (Pg8) INTERESTS OF THE CORPORATIONS It is important to understand what the interests of the executive and owning class actually are to understand how and why corporations function as they do in contemporary capitalist societies. The prime interests of companies are to maximize their profits and revenues. Although some companies provide better conditions to their workers and offer many benefits but the target of the companies is to maximise their profits by minimising the costs. The owning class of companies try to collaborate with companies like their own. Despite the competition between the two, they try to unite in lobbying and campaigning against certain government legislations which are in support of the working class. For their business to prosper, the corporate owners require stable economic and political conditions. They might be against certain reforms which the government wants to introduce which might be beneficial to the consumers and workers. Thus they try to influence the government by donations in the ele ction campaigns and show their support to certain political candidates which will help create an atmosphere in the system which is needed for their business to boom and enlarge. (pg76-77) OWNERSHIP OF CORPORATIONS Around the 1960s, in the United States, conglomeration became one of the basic features of ownership of corporation. Diverse business and industrial houses that originally had interests limited in oil and financial services only, had now started investing more into the media industries. These industries primarily had private ownership. In the late 1980s a new form of cooperation emerged whereby there was cross –promotion and cross-selling between the different corporations so that there would an increase in the overall sales. With the developments in technologies new sources of cultural production emerged making the ownership more complex. In many of these industries such as radio, television and films, there was the emergence of oligopolistic ownership emerging which was leading to the creation of huge conglomerates. (pg195) In the USA, for instance, large corporations such as the RCA (Radio Corporation of America) became one of the leading companies overtaking the various me dia forms like publishing and newspaper companies and Hollywood studies emerged as an oligopoly which was integrated vertically. This vertical integration led to the development of certain new technologies such as recording and playback. There was also cross media ownership which made the system very complex. Film studios like MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) also held considerable interest in music industry. In the 1980s media houses began to invest more into consumer electronics companies. (pg72) For instance, Sony bought over CBS Records and Columbia Pictures Entertainment whereby it could use rock music and cinema which were popular in the US to promote the sale of CD and thereby increase their cultural productivity. (pg198) With the emergence of IT giants in the new millennium, telecommunications industries ventured into the broadcasting market. But it must be noted that these companies did not have significant cultural production. Their focus was more on gathering data on consumers which would help them to increase their sales. One of the most important ventures into cultural industries by the IT companies was that of Google who purchased YouTube in 2006. Google had recognized the relationship of circulation and distribution with that of culture and communication. The basic idea was that the greater the number of consumers who visit YouTube and the more number of pages they view, the greater will be the promotion of certain ads by YouTube. This led to the major clash over copyright between Goggle and other cultural industries. (pg 198) IMPACT OF CONGLOMERATE STYLE OWNERSHIP There was an increasing emergence of small companies which took part in the cultural production though it was at a much smaller scale. These small industries brought to the fore concerns regarding the domination of big business houses over cultural production. It was argued that ownership in the big business and corporate houses belong in the hands of a few. As it was explained earlier, the different shareholders especially in the media industry have started acting as moguls. They have control and ties with other powerful institutions and people who help spread and propagate their particular interests in society.(pg 73) Some scholars dispute that there has emerged a ‘managerial revolution’ in the nineteenth century which has led to delegation into the hands of the managers who have different interests from that of the owners. Thus, interests of the corporations become varied as different classes involved become more diverse. Critics say that the managerial class also bel ongs to the wealthy higher stratum of society and so they may share interests with the owning class. (pg 75) There can be many harmful effects on the democratic practices in the nation if there is concentration of corporate ownership over the media and cultural industries. The media is one of the main sources of information for the people today. It is responsible for enlightening the people and providing them with vital information. But if there is increased corporate interest in media coverage, then there can be a major impact on what the media covers and does not cover. The media can no longer provide unbiased information and always has to bear in mind that the information that they generate does not in any way offend the owners. Thus, the media and other cultural industries become bound and shackled by the chains of the interests of the executive and corporate heads. The common man in turn is denied access to accurate and unbiased information. If he could us it he could make informed decisions. This has a direct fallout on the democratic political system in the society. (3) Another significant issue is that the knowledge that is generated and the culture that is produced become uniform and standardized. The information that is generated is that which can help retain the power and position of the corporate giants and tycoons. This compromises the ability of the common man to develop his or her ability to the fullest potential because what is popular in society is controlled and decided by a few who belong to the elite class. The inequalities in society are legitimised by the cultural industries like media which help retain the power and wealth domination of the corporate heads. Thus we see that the control exercised by the giant corporate houses is not direct, but through their ownership and control over the media and other cultural industries. (4) There have often been debates whether cultural industries under the influence of private ownership have concentrated more on commerce rather than creativity. With increase in corporate interests in cultural industries and media whose primary motive is earning large profit and returns, many scholars feel that there has been a compromise in the quality of news generated. Journalism must maintain high quality but with new budget cut downs to reduce costs there has been a decline in the resources available to the journalists. Also, there has been a shift of concentration from important political and economic events to gossip on the lives of celebrities and the entertainment world as this proves to be more lucrative for them. Thus, there is concentration on public taste and what the public want to see, which some scholars point out is rather good than concentration on what the elites want people to see. Ben Bagdikian in his work The Media Monopoly listed the number of media companies in different industries like newspapers, magazines, motion pictures and television in the US market. In 1983, he found that there were 50 major corporations but their number continuously dwindled over the years and ultimately became only 5 in 2004. This clearly manifested the scope of influence that these corporation have in influencing the cultural industries. (pg205) Many critics point out corporations may become victims of the environment they exist in. For this reason many of them have adopted the policy of ‘de-convergence’ in recent years, whereby they concentrate on their primary business areas and have sold off their other business operations. But conglomeration continues to exist as one of the main features of cultural industry. CONCLUSION After careful scrutiny of the important role of cultural industries and the impact of conglomerate type of ownership on them, one observes that the latter limits the autonomy of the cultural industries in various manners. It is imperative that initiatives be taken to liberalize them from the corporate interests which bind them. It must be noted, that this form of ownership can have positive impacts as well. For instance, the corporate houses can control and keep a check on the government and limit them from acting arbitrarily or biased decisions. They also help promote healthy competition in the society. But after weighing the positive and negative impacts of conglomerate ownership over cultural industries one can conclude that there is need to take positive action in form of diversification of ownership. REFERENCES The Definition of ‘Cultural Industries’  http://www.pedrobendassolli.com/pesquisa/icc1.pdf Reference provided The Cultural Industries By David Hesmondhalgh Media Conglomerates, Mergers, Concentration of Ownership,  http://www.globalissues.org/article/159/media-conglomerates-mergers-concentration-of-ownership Media Ownership – Does It Matter?  http://lirne.net/resources/netknowledge/meier.pdf The Media Industry: Structure, Strategy and Debates  http://www.sagepub.com/mcquail6/Online%20readings/9b%20Croteau%20%20Hoynes%20-Devereux-Ch-02.pdf

Men and Women Stereotypes

Emotional Manipulation at its Finest Have you ever felt like everything is always your fault? Like you’re always the person that’s stirring up trouble in your relationship? Women feel this way in particular and it’s because of the men that make us feel this way as well as the pressuring media. I’m sure that most women have heard derogatory comments such as â€Å"you’re crazy† or â€Å"you’re so dramatic† from husbands, boyfriends, male co-workers, fathers, kids, or even male friends at least once in their lifetime.As the epidemic of women being â€Å"crazy†, â€Å"sensitive† and â€Å"irrational† increases over time, we are seeing that women are being emotionally manipulated by men at an escalating rate. This sort of behaviour is appalling to women everywhere because it is a stereotypical way of treating us. Men and the media should not have the right to make women feel terrible for â€Å"overreacting† when they were the ones that caused us to react in the first place. Emotional manipulation is the driving force behind the male population’s egotistical way of viewing life.Having the power to make your wife or girlfriend feel bad for something you did boosts a man’s ego and confirms that they are the powerful spouse within the relationship. Although this stereotype has been around since before anyone can remember, it is important for women to fight back against the idiotic behaviour of men. In order for men and the media to stop emotionally manipulating women, society must stop authorizing this abusive and inconsiderate behaviour in their behalf. The term â€Å"gaslighting† comes into effect when situations such as these are observed.Gaslighting, as Yashar Hedayat wrote in his work entitled â€Å"A Message to Women from a Man: You are Not â€Å"Crazy†Ã¢â‚¬ , is â€Å"a term often used by mental health professionals to describe manipulative behaviour used to confuse people into thinking their reactions are so far off base that they’re crazy†. This is what men do to get themselves out of trouble with their women and it is toying with the women’s emotions. In my personal opinion, it is not fair for women to feel this way because it’s the alternate spouse, friend, co-worker, etc that caused the trouble within the relationship.Why should the woman feel bad for the male’s irresponsibility? In this day and age, women are afraid to let out their true inner feelings because men make it hard for them to do that. For example, Yashar Hedayat explores the idea of a man being late to dinner. The woman decides to text him to see where he is but instead of saying â€Å"you’re late where are you? You were supposed to be here 20 minutes ago. † she writes â€Å"you’re late lol where are you babe? † See the difference? She doesn’t want to upset him in any way so she adds a smile to lighten the mood.If men were not emotionally abusing women, this sort of behaviour on the woman’s part would not have to occur. It saddens me that women have to pretend to be happy in front of someone they’re supposed to be able to tell everything to. If such trust existed, would relationships have a different atmosphere? This manipulation is like jail for women; they are trapped in the fact that they cannot express how they feel when a man plays with their emotions. As I stated before, men have a sense of power within their relationships especially when gaslighting plays a huge factor in the relationship.Yashar Hedayat states that â€Å"acts of gaslighting steal [women’s] most powerful tool: their voice† Since the beginning, men have always been the dominant partner within relationships and this has caused women to remain quiet and not fight back. We can see this in the 1950’s when women were destined to be housewives from the age of eighteen. Men were the spouse that went to work every day and made money for the couple and the family if they had one. The stereotype of women being the recessive spouse continued into today’s society.Although women are not destined to be housewives anymore, men are still considered to be the dominant spouse in most relationships. When men partake in gaslighting, they are confirming their power over the woman. Often, the woman feels defeated and overpowered by the male which in turn causes emotional manipulation within the relationship. So why do men feel the need to manipulate women into thinking that they're crazy? Dr. Joseph Nowinski wrote an article on psychologytoday. com explaining how men are just as insecure as women.He states that men's insecurities have in fact altered relationships between men and women. Some men are so insecure that they force their insecurities onto their spouse and this is where gaslighting plays its role. Because of these insecurities, men feel the nee d to drive women crazy. The media is also a pressure on women. As state earlier, there is a stereotype surrounding women that they are clingy and too emotional when it comes to men. You see â€Å"overly-attached girlfriend† trending on twitter all the time and this authenticates the tereotype. Although some women may be overly sensitive and attached, it is not the case for all women. The media has also produced many films about crazy people and the main character is almost always a woman. The new exorcist movie coming out (the name escapes me) has a girl as the main character. The 1994 movie â€Å"Gaslight† (origin of the word) is about a woman that is sent to a mental institution when her husband makes her seem crazy. The media is always going to have stereotypical views on women whether we like it or not.This has been going on for a long time and I'm not surprised that the issue is getting larger and larger as the years go on. Gaslighting is an issue in today’ s society and we must try to break down the barriers that surround it. Gaslighting is not something that can be touched upon lightly and women should start to stand up for themselves when it comes to this situation. Although men and the media are large contributing factors to this issue, we must still band together and fight against it.This enhanced interrogation of women’s emotions is starting to deteriorate how strong and independent women once were. To be gain these qualities back, women must begin to take control of their emotions and stop letting men play with them. Works Cited Ali Yashar. â€Å"A Message to Women From a Man: You Are Not â€Å"Crazy†Ã¢â‚¬  The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost. com, 12 Sept 2011. Web. Nowinski, Joseph. â€Å"Is It Love, Or Is It Insecurity? † Psychologytoday. com. The New Grief, 8 Nov. 2011. Web. 04 Mar. 2013 LEGEND: Thesis PINK Methods of Proof YELLOW Rhetorical Devices GREEN Literary Devices BLUE

Secret Facts About Argumentative Essay Topics about Guns Only the Experts Know Exist

Secret Facts About Argumentative Essay Topics about Guns Only the Experts Know Exist For instance, in college, you might be requested to compose a paper from the opposing standpoint. Instead of just immediately writing about your argumentative essay topic, you first have to think about what it is you are likely to put back on your paper through a procedure of brainstorming and pre-writing. In this kind of situation, it's more convenient to discover ready-made essays and use them as an example. There are many steps that you should take so as to compose an outstanding essay. An argumentative paper is part of the persuasion. An admissions officer is far more likely to try to remember an applicant who has quite a specific essay written in a special and quirky way. Well, grading papers can be rather dull. As a writer, you have the choice of narrowing the reach of your paper. All your statements must be supported with facts. You would then have to give an argument which indicates that a specific mind-independent moral obligation exists. Put simply, an ethical argument tries to prove that a particular issue is either morally right or wrong. You would have to first provide an argument for the presence of mind-independent moral obligations. In choosing your topic, it's frequently a good concept to start out with a subject which you already have some familiarity with. You will discover a variety of argumentative essay topics but picking the perfect one might be the basic and the very first step to compose an influential essay. The topic has to be int eresting, the topic has to be essential and finally the topic has to be informative. Quite frequently, the ideal topic is one which you truly care about, but you also will need to get well prepared to research it. Argumentative essay topics are so important since they are debatableand it's vital to at all times be critically considering the world around us. To come across argumentative essay topics easy on various platforms, you will need to comprehend about the argumentative essay. Argumentative essay is about arguing and debating on a subject, which is debatable. An argumentative essay requires you to choose a topic and have a position on it. Understanding how to compose a strong argumentative paper can help you advance your very own argumentative thinking. Since you may see, there's a plethora of different argumentative paper titles you're able to utilize. If you must compose your whole essay in 1 day, do your very best to give yourself breaks so you don't burn out. Remember that you could make funny argumentative essays if you do a few things. So be sure that you select a subject, which has values in it. There's always time to return and fix sentences as a way to bring a mature, astute voice to your essay. 1 important and appropriate subject is technology. You may ask your teacher for approval if you're not certain which topic is more interesting. The Demise of Argumentative Essay Topics about Guns Essay writing is a well-known practice in many schools and colleges across the united states. Argumentative essays are a few of the best that you can write as a student. The thesis gives you a guideline on how best to go about with writing the essay. Figure out how funny argumentative essay topics can receive the interest of your tutor. There are lots of aspects about a sport that may be argued in an essay. When you're writing such essay, the objective is to come out with the very best college essays. You will be assigned a topic, or your professor will enable you to select your own. When picking a definition, bear in mind that there are plenty of kinds of ethical arguments and that the manner in which you argue for your specific claim depends in large part on how you define your terms. In the end, towards the conclusion of your conclusion, you might reflect on the way in which the essay compares to something else such as modern occasions or the future. From that point, your task for a writer would be to demonstrate that the action which you're claiming is ethical improves human well-being. For this reason, you need to do some preliminary research prior to making the last decision on a topic. The 5-Minute Rule for Argumentative Essay Topics about Guns What's the Iron Lady's role on earth history. Facts, fi nally, will always win out against how folks are feeling at a specific moment. For instance, if you're writing about the subject about elite athletes, you could argue that Michael Jordan is an elite athlete on account of the skills he has. Man isn't a thing but a creature that could only be understood in the lengthy procedure of development.

Health Care Controversy - 958 Words

Health Care Controversy Essay ObamaCare, also known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, is a Health care reform law that was signed on March 23, 2010. ObamaCare’s goal is to provide more Americans with affordable health care insurance. ObamaCare also hopes to improve the quality of healthcare and health insurance in America, regulate the healthcare industry, and reduce the cost of healthcare in the United States. ObamaCare is made up of ten titles; I: Quality, Affordable Healthcare for all United State Citizens, II: The Role of Public Programs, III: Improving the Quality and Efficiency of Healthcare, IV: Prevention of Chronic Disease and Improving Public Health, V: Healthcare Workforce, VI: Transparency†¦show more content†¦Also the Spanish-language site was delayed for months as well as the sign up for small businesses for one year. Another incident due to ObamaCare was the government shutdown on October 1st, 2013, over the stalemate due to the Rep ublican’s opposition towards ObamaCare. The shutdown ended up having little to no effect on the health care reform. ObamaCare will not directly affect me because I do not qualify for coverage because my income is too low.I am covered by Medical. ObamaCare does help my family members. My family can get quality health insurance through ObamaCare. ObamaCare helps my family afford quality health care that they normally could not afford. ObamaCare makes it possible for any person to afford Health care. I believe ObamaCare is a great law. It helps Americans in the middle class to obtain affordable health insurance. ObamaCare also is reforming the government health care plan which will benefit the country for at least ten years. Plus, there is not any downside to the plan. ObamaCare is paid off so it will not interfere with other government issues or interfere with medicare. 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