Is America's cultural future in the hands of the likes of Genral Electric, Time Warner, Disney/Cap Cities, and Westinghouse? Absolutely, these are the determaning voices of the current media scene. Everything from video game systems and software companies, to book publishers and national network television stations have been merged and consolidated into a handful of media giants. The television remains the most recognized commonality between households in the United States. It would appear that we have unknowingly given total cultural control the the minds of a select few. This consolidation of corporate control has effected the values of the american culture to the point that we've already accepted the television as the main form of commercial marketting. Now people like Bill Gates can get a handle of our attention without even spending money for commercial time, and our public television stations are turning toward privat sponsorship, because of federal cuts.

It's no longer a secret that the world's most powerful and sofisticated messege, the televison, is almost entirely devoted to selling the goods, serveces and general perspectives of the dominant Fortune 500 companies. Anyone who watches television, reads a newspaper, or pays attention to the media, has witnessed coporate media production make news and entertainment virtually indestingushable. The nightly news formats are filled with endless pictures and stories of celebrities, shopping attractions, and new computer technolgies. Technolgy shows about the latest in computers, and internet related interests consistantly follow the network news programs on a daily basis. The news shows themselves are consistanly being interupted by commercial breaks, and cable programming advertizements. It all ends up working out great for people like Michael Eisner. Little ends up comming out of his pocket when ABC runs an advertizement for Disney's101 Dalmations, it's almost like free advertizement. By letting these media giants dominate the airwaves like this, our culture assigns virtually no meaning to communications for anything other than it's market value. A great majority of our creative minds are caught in an industry where there is no artistic disgression. What they film, televise, write or compose must be shaped, primarily, to the specifications of advertisers and corporate sponsors.

Some people would argue that the television journalists themselves are so commited to free speach and the production of truth, that they wouldn't let the corporations dictate the stories they can run. While that is probably true, even the journalists can't avoid the pressures of sponsorship. The subtle suggestions of news stories geared toward makeing certain companies, and products look good or bad, effect the way Americans see the commercial market. Just because the networks aren't preventing big stories from comming out, doesn't mean they aren't promoteing goods and services that may, in the long run end up increasing their paychecks. Just last week the NBC news ran a story on Bill Gates. They mentioned several other very prestegious people from the Forbes list, but centered the story mainly around Gates's accomplishments, and Microsoft product line. I didn't find any of the story particularly news worthy, so natrally I couldn't help but think the story wouldn't have run on any other network. Microsoft's ties to NBC provided a perfect oppertunity to spin a story around the promotion of their products. In this case, the truth wasn't necesarily censored by the confines of coporate ownership, but rather commercialsim is now being premoted as truth among our network news stations.

This subtle form of commercialism is beginning to make it's way into even the public telvision arena. PBS, the national public broadcasting station, was caught in the act promoteing a popular wine maker in Napa valley. Robert Mendavi, one of Napa Valley's most succesful wine makers donated 50,00 dollers to PBS to begin makeing a documentary on Napa County and it's wine. After going through the preliminary stages of the documentary, Mendavi's marketting agents donated another 150,000 dollers to the furthering of the project. KQED officials defended their d irect involvement with the documentary, saying they took steps to ensure their creative independence. They planned on running the story, but Managers at chanel 9 decided to cancel the project for ethical reasons. The American public was this close to seeing the perversion of their own federally funded television station. Fortunately, our tax dollers only go toward a station with some ethical standards. KQED is biteing the bullet in spite of the economic troubles it may face. The federal government is cutting funding for our public broadcasting though, and eventually we may see stories like this air on KQED in the future.

The American people need to maintain awareness of issues reguarding the commercialism of the public airwaves. If the population isn't aware of this surge in commercial marketting, coporate consolidation could eventuallymake it's way into our precious public network. PBS the national public broadcasting station is currently nagotiating a news show with a couple very large companies. The McNeil/Leherr news hour has maintained a stable prime time position on PBS for many years, but federal cuts have begun to make it hard for PBS to resist offers like this one. TCI and The Wall Street Journal plan on working with Jim Leherr to make America's first corporate sponsered news show.(the huge cable company) McNeil/Leher nightly with weather, sports and business news. PBS is supposed to bring us alternative voices from outside the elite opinion circles. PBS is know for running stories from independent voices from the arts and relegion, from history and philosophy, from public interest, consumer, labor, and minority groups. If this goes through, who is going to express the issues and concerns of the public, Private groups... I doubt it. The public airwaves are being given to private interest with no consideration for public values or the public's longstanding investment into PBS. If we let TCI and The Wall Street Journal privatize our only national public news broadcast, who is going to tell us why? TCI's ties to Time Warner could erode the public news as well, and advertizements for Time/Life books will pop up during the McNeil/Lehrer news hour.

Television is free, or at least it seams, but the American public pays for it in the sublte endorsements every 10 minutes between news stories. Our culture is at the mercy of the product lines that are supporting the paychecks of people like Peter Jennings, Dan Rather, and possibly soon Jim Lehrer, because of coporate consolidation, and the commercial nature of the television medium. While the American public assumes that they are empowering themselves by keeping up with current events, they also lend themselves to the subtle but powerful influences of the commercial market.