media oligopoly

There are many implications of the Global Media Oligopoly such as subjectivity and a decrease in infant media companies. Global media oligopoly refers to the market for media services has become dominated by a few giants that have established powerful distribution and production networks (Schiller, 1999).
A major implication of Global Media Oligopoly is Subjectivity which can be defined as a biased or an opinionated view. Global Media Oligopolies controls majority of the audience within a market and if they decide that subjectivity is the order of the day then that action has to be carried out. Who will be able to stop them? No one as they dictate the actions of the media industry thus no one would try to upstage them because of their power within the industry. A clear example of subjectivity in Jamaica was the instance where Asafa Powell and Sherone Simpson agreed to conduct a press conference regarding issues on their banned substance acquisitions. The General Manager of RJR Communication group was the athletes’ lawyer. He therefore suggested that a public conference will be held to clarify these issues, however only journalists from Television Jamaica (TVJ) and a few others were invited. They were also instructed not to videotape or record the conference and were advised by the manager the questions they could ask the athletes. Nonetheless the journalist from TVJ asked an inappropriate question to the athletes, the journalist was therefore removed from the conference and the camera man’s video tape was taken and destroyed. This was an efficient indication that subjectivity exists among the ‘top dogs’ in the media industry. The journalists were instructed by their superior the questions they were permitted to ask, rather than having them asked questions of their choice which could answer the allegations regarding the doping issue. The manager was also the athletes’ lawyer putting him in a contradicting position as he was expected to protect the rights of his clients but treating the press conference with fairness. Unfortunately this was not done.
Another implication of Global Media Oligopoly is the decrease in infant media industries. Being in a dominated Media Oligopoly industry infant industries fight to survive as the ones who control the industry has already established themselves as many companies, firms and consumers trust them to conduct business with. It is difficult for new media companies to establish themselves as being more efficient and more productive than the older established companies which the people have already entrusted. For instance in Jamaica there are two dominant local television stations; Television Jamaica (TVJ) and Community Television Systems Videomax and Mediamax Limited (CVM TV). These companies also control or have shares in most of the radio stations giving them more advantage and control over the local market. If a new media house decides to enter the market they probably would not be able to attract consumers because of the loyalty given to the other media houses. This confirms that due to Global Media Oligopoly infant media industries will struggle to survive in this industry.
There may be local stations nevertheless many communities in Jamaica has cable television, even before this persons would set up satellites to gain access to American stations. This somewhat causes Jamaicans to become Americanised forgetting their own culture and trying to portray someone else’s cultural practices. For example the mode of dress has changed; many persons now prefer to eat ‘fastfood’ such as KFC more than their local meals and also listen to more hip hop music trying to emulate those American artistes. This also is a case where Global media oligopoly has revealed itself. The implications of Global media oligopoly changes ones outlook on life, makes an individual derive from their culture and deter the progress of new and upcoming media companies among other things.