Who Controls the Media?

Who controls/monitors the media?

At first glance of the weekly question, I immediately began brainstorming ways that I could make media policy and laws interesting to the class. Then I broke down the questions, and it was simple how I would construct my presentation. Yes of course, there are the 6 leading companies that own 90% of all media that we read, watch, and hear. And without these 6 companies and the laws and policies determined by the FCC that standardize the quality of media we receive we would not have guidelines to what is appropriate to be publicized to the masses. However, the media that circulates widely from one user to another is not controlled by those 6 companies. It is controlled by the consumers. In such a competitive world where there is constantly new media fighting through the airwaves for attention, the consumer has the ultimate ability to choose what is important and viewed. This is emphasized especially in the most recent presidential campaign. According to Nicholas Confessore, a writer for New York Times, Trump was able to generate more funds through earned media in his campaign than any other candidate. He successfully created a campaign that over and over again took consumers by surprise, leading to his viral success.

After presenting my case study, I was pleasantly surprised at how the class was making the connection between Trump's original success as a Business owner and how his exposure was built upon that in a way that enhanced his virality.