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Opinion: Corporations control media

By Gaveliers, The Gavel Media Team, on April 3, 2010 10:11 PM

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Consistent with the trend of rising corporate influence in general is the trend of corporate control over the media, which often runs contrary to our shared interest in protecting the environment.  Large corporations are by far the most responsible for environmental destruction, and given the tight network formed by many corporate executives, the net effect on our nation’s media is that many important environmental issues are either underemphasized or ignored entirely. Thus, moving counter to this current, and consistent with the emphasis on local business by environmentalists, it is extremely important that our media sources also reflect local concerns in their reporting, and where possible are scaled and structured specifically for this purpose.

On Jan. 27, the Supreme Court heard a case that bestowed the right to make advertisements directly advocating for one political candidate or another. Since the 1886 Santa Clara Act that gave corporations the same rights as individuals, there has been no piece of legislation more significant (before 1886, there were a variety of tactics to control corporate influence, including one strategy of putting a strict 10 year life span on banks, and conducting evaluations of whether the corporation were serving the public interest in order for it to remain in existence).

Now, not only are corporations treated like individuals, which removes a strong sense of public accountability, but they are given incredible leeway in their ability to influence electoral and legislative proceedings, the effects of which we can currently only imagine (eg. imagine an oil company smearing carbon cut or green energy legislation).

Part of the reason this was able to occur may be related to the fact that support for the environment has dropped significant percentages recently, and has generally struggled to regain the momentum lost after the 1960′s and 70′s movement, a trend that runs directly parallel to a growth in corporate influence over the media. This is apparent with a deeper look at almost any major issue presented by the mainstream media. Take, for example, a recent article in the New York Times headlined “New Way to Tap Gas May Expand Global Supplies.”

The first line of the article says, “A new technique that tapped previously inaccessible supplies of natural gas in the United States is spreading to the rest of the world, raising hopes of a huge expansion in global reserves of the cleanest fossil fuel.” But according to the analysis of a more environmentally conscious news source, CommonDreams.org, this topic coverage is wholly inadequate: “There was not one single word in the entire article about this technology’s serious environmental repercussions – from its use of large quantities of highly toxic chemicals, to the truly incredible quantities of water it requires.”

And in fact, this criticism doesn’t even begin to address the structural issue behind this new approach of expanding natural gas acquisition as a general model of energy production. The most important flaw is that it is still a fossil fuel source, a protest that cannot be reiterated enough times given the failure of our energy industries and government to make a significant shift to sustainable sources of energy.

It would be better for everyone – even the standards of efficiency a conservative economist would worry about given the current quality of green technology. To be fair, this resource could help ease a transition period to sources like wind and solar, but a natural gas solution derived from shale will ultimately do little more than postpone a mounting need for structural change, which should not be nearly as difficult as the fossil fuel industry is making it. Why don’t oil companies invest in green technology and make the necessary sea change easy and profitable for everyone?

To ensure that a higher level of environmental literacy is instilled in the citizens of this country, a shift away from the mainstream media would not only be helpful, but vital to reshaping the way our socio-political structure adheres to principles of sustainability.

On the opposite end of the spectrum from gigantic conglomerates like News Corporation (which most notably includes Fox News), is the Green Guide here at Boston College (http://www.bc.edu/clubs/realfood/greenguide). While just getting started, the project has been developed according to the correct mentality of a grassroots, local focus in light of the problems with major news corporations. It begins with a student led investigation of an environmental issue on or near the BC campus, such as landscaping practices, food waste, bottled water or the organic garden, and explains each topic in an engaging way immediately relevant to the Boston College community.

Given this spectrum of opposites within the world of media information sources, and to support the growing need for a shift toward a more sustainable socio-political structure, the trend toward larger and larger media conglomerations should be countered not only by regulatory legislation, but also by as much bottom up reporting as possible. If our media sources move more in this direction, it will be much easier for each citizen to extend a model for effective action, based on genuine ecological literacy, from his or her immediate surroundings into larger and larger communities.