Negatives of Conglomeration

Even though it has already been touched on somewhat in The Positives of Conglomeration blog, I will touch on the problems of media conglomeration in more depth.

Conglomerates have the option of controlling wayyyy to much. A very simple sentence, but there is no better way to say it. It is very easy for them to shape people's opinions, and way of life. MTV started out basically just showing music videos, and letting the music that they play dictate how Teens should live. But more and more, the music began to fade into the background, and talk shows and reality shows took over, which really let MTV's idea of the ideal guy or girl in their teens show through. With Tom Green, Jackass, along with the ever popular spring break shows, they showed some very impressionable teens what they should be doing in Highschool, and college.

What is scarier, as you have mentioned, is that Viacom, who owns MTV, also owns Nickelodian, which is for the younger kids, between about 4 and 11. When I was a kid, like most kids with Nickelodian, that was pretty much all I did if I wasn't doing anything with friends. I didn't really notice much wrong with it. I haven't really sat down and watched a show on Nickelodeon in the past 8 years, but even if they still are pretty wholesome, I don't think that really matters. The idea that they can bring a kid up, from childhood through their 20's or so, with shows for each different age group, in between is a bit scary. Even if the values that viacom is advocating are good ones, if a child nev thinking forer steps back, and takes a deep breath, and looks around, they might never fully grasp the concept of thinking for themselves.