Who owns the media? That’s simple. There are ten major conglomerates that own virtually all of the media that we see: AOL/Time Warner, At&T Corporation, General Electric, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, Viacom, Bertelsmann, Walt Disney, Vivendi Universal, Liberty Media Corporation, and Sony. Please check out this site for complete charts about each of these corporations.

I urge you to read about each of these companies. These 10 companies own virtually all of the airwaves, billboards, magazines, record labels, newspapers, publishing companies, cell phone services, radio stations, internet bandwidth, sports venues electronic equipment, and satellites…I’ll give you a minute to let that sink in…

What if these media giants have a political agenda? Who is going to stop them? For instance, check out this video of Rupert Murdoch admitting that Fox News has pushed their agenda of supporting the war in Iraq:

If the media wants to get an agenda out there, they will. They can say what they want about any issues that they choose. And nobody is going to stop them. For instance, if a particular presidential candidate happened to have a policy that these media conglomerates favored, we will be hearing a lot from that candidate. Also, when there is a candidate that speaks directly against this corporate media control, do you think media could be tempted to not cover that candidate as much.

Do you feel outraged? Do you feel helpless? Do you feel violated and insulted? Well I know that I do. But luckily there are movements against this media monopoly. That’s what Project: Think Different is ALL ABOUT. We urge you all to take back the media! We don’t have to put up with this abuse. We must balance out this one sided media structure. But if we don’t, these companies could just keep on merging and merging until what we are left with is one giant corporation that owns EVERYTHING. But we’re not going to let that happen right? So here’s what we can do:

• Get off the computer, off the couch, and get out into your community. Spread the word. Talk to your co-workers, peers, family, friends, and random people! Ask them if they know who owns the media. If they don’t, tell them. Knowledge IS power!
• Boycott what you don’t agree with. If you think a product or service is wrong and unjust, boycott it. This simply means don’t buy it and don’t support it. It’s really easy, really effective, and it makes you feel good.
• Create your own media to balance this whole thing out. Write a song, make a video, get on the blogs, start a zine, write an article or an editorial, start a show on your local community television station, have a voice!
• Lastly, don’t give up. I know that it can be a bit overwhelming and things can seem hopeless, but there is a whole movement of people who, like you, are sick and tired of this paradigm. And a lot more people are finally catching on and becoming educated. Their dominant media paradigm will not last forever. We and only we have the power to change this. So lets do it!

Feel inspired? Enter our “What is Change” contest. Project: Think Different’s “What is Change?” campaign wants to hear your opinion about what change really means to you. The “What is Change?” Contest is an online video contest providing a $500+ cash prize to the person with the best strategy for change in their community. To find out more, click here.

PEACE

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