Media Hegemonies: Mapping Who Owns What?

Mood: Calm
Currently Listening To: Grey – Ani DiFranco

Walt Disney. A name we all grew up with, and fell in love with instantly. It is also the name of perhaps the biggest media and entertainment corporations in the world. To go into complete detail of what the Disney corporation owns would be insane, but just to give a taste – five Disney theme parks around the world, a cruise line, a chain of stores, millions of consumer products, ESPN news, ABC television, and film studios such as Miramax, Dimension Films, Pixar Animation, Touchstone & Hollywood Pictures. That’s a huge business. And it’s ridiculously successful.

Clearly, Walt Disney Studios is not just “Walt Disney Studios”; there is a ridiculous amount of cross-ownership involved here. Three people are in charge of the corporation; John Pepper Jr. (Chairman), Robert Iger (President) and Anne Sweeney (President – Disney ABC Television Group and Co-Chair, Disney Media Networks. ) Under these people, 137 000 employees work at various locations around the world for the Disney Corporation, and various people own each branch or company. There are so many different branches and cross ownership, and Disney just sits on the top. It’s a wild corporation.

In 2007, The Walt Disney Company’s revenue was $35.51 billion. This makes up film revenues, admission sales, consumer products, etc. No single media company in the world can generate that much income alone. This number clearly demonstrates Walt Disney as a mass media company, and it shows that many different corporations sit under Disney. Ultimately though, Disney owns pretty much everything. Yes, that's a general statement. But really, it does.

Palin; a Victim of Culture Jamming

Mood: Dandy
Currently Listening To: Red Turned White – Architecture in Helsinki

Sarah Palin is a victim of culture jamming, courtesy of Saturday Night Live. This example fits the culture jamming definition perfectly; “to have a good laugh (and to encourage others to do likewise) at the expense of prevailing social currents”. I credit that definition to Wikipedia.

At the time SNL’s parody of Vice President candidate Sarah Palin was aired, the election was only a few months away. People knew who Sarah Palin was, and the actors on the television show highlighted her rather embarrassing interview with Katie Couric. The original interview was current, fresh and people were talking about it. Tina Fey satirized Palin’s image, took things that Palin actually said and incorporated them into her sketch. Both Fey and Amy Poehler were frighteningly accurate in the interpretation of the interview that the skit was broadcast multiple times and on news stations, and the assumedly one-time sketch led to three or four other satirized sketches, as well as Sarah Palin’s actual appearance on the show.

There was much controversy over the various sketches, but ultimately what the bail-out does, is...oops, sorry. I’ve got Sarah Palin on the brain. Ultimately, those skits boosted her campaign and made young adults such as myself in both America and Canada interested in the Presidential Election. After I saw Fey’s interpretation of Palin, I became so interested in the election and I tried to follow the daily updates and polls and what not.

Culture jamming was extremely affective in this case, and goes to show that the media can affect society’s interest in politics among other things. North America had a good laugh over the Saturday Night Live sketch, even though the current Vice Presidential candidate was at its expense. But hey, that’s culture jamming. And it was damn good entertainment, too.

*See "The American Presidential Election" for links to original Sarah Palin/Katie Couric interview and SNL sketch

Why Are We At War?

Mood: Passionate?
Currently Listening To: Little Red – Kate Nash

Yes, we are at war, but I still couldn’t exactly tell you why. The reasoning and utter existence of the Iraq war just puzzles me beyond belief.

Looking back 7 years ago, I remember my friend Michael telling me that President George Bush had launched a war in Afghanistan and that soldiers from America and Canada were going to be over there for a long time. Yes, the perspective of an 11 year old.

Upon reading that story a second time, there are two major things wrong with it. Not grammatically or structurally – I think. But our world has been immersed in violence for 7 years, and there is no real end in sight. Yes, 9/11 was the event that lead to this war being launched, but I think that over the extended time period that this war has been stretched over, the image of justice over that act of terrorism has vanished. The news no longer makes reference to the World Trade Center attacks or any justice being served, only about Canadian and American soldiers that are dying in the war. Are seven years of violence and horror in Iraq really justified? Thus far, has war really made a positive change?

Second, the fact that seven years of my life have been effected by a war is disturbing. Seven years is a substantial chunk of my lifetime. I am not directly involved, but I am affected by the war. I live with the knowledge that across the world, people are dying every day, and I can’t think of a good reason why. I live with the knowledge that families are being broken every day, lives are ripped apart. It’s not fair.

Everybody knows this, but what do we do? We sit in front of our televisions. We listen to Kevin Newman chronicle the war every now and then. We listen to what the media tells us, because it’s all we can do. Our perception of the war is so distorted by the mass media; we will never know what it’s really like to fight in a war, not be able to sleep at night for fear of dying, watching a loved one be shot for no reason. But as we watch the mistakes that Bush has projected over our earth, all we can do is watch it and hope it ends soon, for our sake and the sake of humanity.

National Media Education Week = Important for Youngsters!

Mood: Sick
Currently Listening To: Casmir Pulaski Day – Sufjan Stevens

Oops. From November 3rd to 6th, I was locked in my room studying for my Psychology midterm. That said, I cannot write about my own experiences – why lie? But I do have opinions on why Media Education Week is a valuable tool for not only today’s children and youth, but everyone who is affected by the media. So that would be everyone. Yup.

National Media Education Week sets out to bring increased media literacy to primarily children and young people. In class, one of the examples we chatted about was freedom of expression via the Internet. I think it’s important for people of all ages that to be aware that we have our freedom online, but just because we have it doesn’t mean we should take advantage of it. For example, one is free to create a Facebook account if they wish. Why not? Everyone else has one, plus I can keep in touch with friends and keep people up to date on my daily happenings. Okay, fantastic. But Facebook is a drug; once you start, you just can’t help but go back to it. The pictures you post and the information you provide about yourself is no longer yours; these things belong to not only your friends, but a ridiculously large chain of corporate business people. If you post private things, like you and your respective girlfriend/boyfriend “making out”, or lyrics to a song, or artwork, they ultimately become the property of others. It really is an invasion of privacy, but by signing up for an account, you consent to it.

That is something I learned in class, and I’m 18. I work at day camp, and my 11 year old campers have Facebook. They don’t know what is appropriate to post and what is not. Of course, I’m speaking generally here, but I’m sure the average 11 year old doesn’t think about the consequences of posting pictures of their friends throwing rocks through a window or looking at a Playboy magazine. It’s funny.

Children in elementary schools (et al) NEED to be aware that the internet, and specifically Facebook, is not as safe as our mind perceives it to be; just because your account has a password means absolutely nothing. Events such as National Media Education Week help to voice these problems and bring awareness to children and adults alike – problems that need to be acknowledged to ensure safety online.

A Day in the Life: A Media Log

Mood: Tired
Currently Listening To: Little Red – Kate Nash

My entire life is one big exposition to media. From the moment I wake up in the morning, I’m immersed in a world of advertisements, media mediums and the internet.
I wake up to The Killers on the radio, slip on my Hollister flip flops and make a trip to the washroom. I squeeze some Colgate Total onto my Braun, and brush away. I flip open my Compaq and check my Hotmail. While I’m at it, I click on the link which will tell me if Amy Winehouse has overdosed yet.

As I walk down the street to class, the bus whizzes by with a Twilight advert on the side. Tim Horton’s asks me to buy their coffee, but I settle with William’s. My psychology lecture isn’t all that interesting, so I settle for a nice game of Tetris.

After class, I stop by the grocery store to pick up a few things, but leave with more than I had originally intended to (I really should not have seen that sign telling me that Sun Chips were on sale for $2!). The National Enquirer I was reading in the line didn’t subtract from my purchases either. I just had to know if Jamie Lynn was pregnant again.

Back at home, Facebook and MSN flash advertisements my way – I didn’t know The Killers new CD was coming out next week! I guess I’ll have to pick that up. What, Britney Spears has a new music video? Better check that out, she’s hot.

As I lay down to sleep at night, Sufjan Stevens sings me to sleep. Hey, speaking of which, I don’t have his first album. I should probably get on that, I love his stuff.

No matter where I turn to in my day, I am exposed to dozens of media forms. The media influences me to consume, no matter what the item might be. Music, or food, or the best toothbrush out there, or the highest brand name of footwear. I fall into the traps the advertisements set; I am influenced by a sign. But I guess that’s the way our society works. And I still really like my Hollister flip flops.

Net Neutrality

Mood: Cheerful
Currently Listening To: Have You Ever - Brandi Carlile

“Network neutrality is a principle that is applied to residential broadband networks, and potentially to all networks. A neutral broadband network is one that is free of restrictions on the kinds of equipment that may be attached, on the modes of communication allowed, which does not restrict content, sites or platforms, and where communication is not unreasonably degraded by other communication streams.” (www.wikipedia.org)

In a society where we are all considered to be equals, why can’t we have free and equal access to the internet? If I pay a fee, am I considered privileged and able to have free access to the same information as our neighbours in the USA do. Paying for a monthly, unlimited usage is completely justified – don’t get me wrong. But is it fair that I pay to use Google? Do I really have to pay to see a movie trailer on Apple.com? Am I actually going to pay to watch a video on You Tube? No. Will anybody? If anybody actually did, I’d be surprised. And if I had to, I’d just be watching a hell of a lot more television and reading a lot more books. I guess it would make me smarter. But at the end of the day, Facebook is my drug. If I had to pay $1 every time I used it, I guess I’d be willing to check it once a day. I need to go to net rehab.

Dear Dolce & Gabbana - Get a new marketing coordinator!

Mood: Hungry
Currently Listening to: Sleep - The Dandy Warhols



What the hell does Dolce & Gabbana even sell? Sunglassses? Purses? Alright, fine. But who in God's name is the company's marketing and development coordinator? If publishing ads like the one above have really helped boost corporate sales, then kudos to them. My instincts tell me, however, that this advertisement in particular did not.

Let us decipher this ad, shall we? We've got your stereotypical group of 'attractive' men - all of whom have toned bodies, perfectly tanned and oiled, half naked. Hm, interesting. I'm sure all men who purchase Dolce & Gabbana products resemble these men. Honestly now, who looks like that naturally? Look at the fellow on the left, in the purple shirt. Does he not resemble that mannequin from your local Sears? Good grief, all of these men have clearly been Photoshopped to the extreme. They don't even look like real people.

And what are the men doing? Next to standing around looking pretty, they're all watching their other buddy go down on a chick in an interesting corset. Oh, he's gonna get lucky.

What messages do this advertisement send to men and women? For men, it's the not-so-subtle insinuation that the identical "hot" bodies here can get you the girl. Specifically to me, it says "Look like this, wear D&G jeans, and you'll have great sex." Thanks. I'm gonna run out and buy myself a nice, expensive pair of Dolce & Gabbana jeans so I can get laid tonight. Not.

What message does it send to women? Really, there's only one message I see here: Women are sex objects. This ad glorifies gang rape! The one guy literally is holding down the woman in her underwear, and she's looking away. The other four men stand around watching - and you know that the fellow standing directly behind the rape scene is going to have a turn.

The advertisement demeans both men and women - it looks to men as raging nymphomaniacs, and women as mere sex objects. I can't even tell you what this is advertising. I mean, other than sex.

But hey, as my friend's mom told me when I was in grade 8 - sex sells. I guess slapping a few 'desirable' men and a sexy, curvy women on a piece of glossy paper helps sell more Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses and handbags. We're living in a society where sex can sell anything - even if it demeans consumers along the way.