Look at this image:

It’s already out of date–as there have been major acquistions-mergers– but it should give you an idea of the communications/mass media universe, at least in the US. A few giants now control what you watch, read, listen to, game on your devices, etc. By the way, Time-Warner Cable remains in play as a merger target of Comcast-Universal/NBC; the entire Time Warner empire has fought off a tender offer (takeover) by Rupert Murdoch.

Required responses –> Answer Each Question:

1. What gigantic entities are missing on this chart? Hint, think of recent mergers, and think of systems, networks…the devices you use. Indeed, in the corporate wing of mass media law much of the Godzilla vs Rodan battles are between the folks on this table, and the ones missing from this table–with us as consumers, end-users etc–as the minute citizens of Tokyo scrambling for cover.

2. Who was Josef Goebbels (see quote on chart)? Try to apply his ominous quote to the corporate consolidation (rather than government control) as represented in this table, which started in the 1980’s?

3. Who are Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes and why are they pivotal to mass media–and thus business, politics, and culture? What are HuffPost Live, TakePart Live, PivotTV and how are they different from legacy media like TV, magazines/newspapers and the Web? Are they the children of a “mating” of TV, the Web, social media and magazine/newspapers?

4. Look at this clip:

(Transcript)

In this video, how does it relate to the media universe and problems of media coverage. Note that before CNN would even cover the killing…indeed perhaps murder…or Mike Brown in Ferguson Missouri by a police officer, the story was the subject of 1 million tweets in one week. CNN followed up with information that Brown robbed a convenience store and published pictures purporting to show the police officer with a fractured skull. Again, both items turned out to be erroneous or hoaxes.