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| Technology - Reuters - updated 12:56 PM ET Jun 26 |
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Global Media Behemoths Raise Red Flags for SomeBy Reshma Kapadia NEW YORK (Reuters) - The clock radio wakes you with the latest tunes from Madonna (news - web sites). You soon sit down to breakfast and, while thumbing through the pages of Time magazine, are drawn in by ads for HBO's ``Sex in the City'' and ``Sopranos.'' On your way out the door, you grab your mobile telephone and log onto AOL to scan the latest financial headlines as you head for work. Only one hour into your day, and all the news and entertainment you've encountered has been brought to you by just one company -- in this case, AOL Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:AOL - news) Wall Street has heralded the ``synergies'' and ``ubiquity'' of brands created by megamergers such as AOL Time Warner because the opportunities to promote music artists and movies, or increase subscriptions via other assets such as magazines, boosts the company's bottom line. AOL Time Warner was formed in a $106.2 billion merger in January to create the world's largest Internet and media company. But while Wall Street cheers, industry critics and consumer groups -- building on concerns voiced at the time the AOL-Time Warner megadeal was taking shape -- are seeing red flags. ``The concentration of media ownership into fewer large companies, combined with the technology that enables much more sophisticated demographic targeting, offers opportunities for anti-competitive behavior that will also diminish the public's rights to have information and entertainment,'' said Andrew Schwartzman, president of the Media Access Project, a public interest group. AOL held a ``significant'' number of tickets for Warner pop diva Madonna's first tour in eight years and offered its 29 million subscribers and those who signed up for AOL first crack at this summer's hottest concert. Walt Disney Co.'s (NYSE:DIS - news) extensive promotion of the movie ''Pearl Harbor'' through the ABC network and ABCnews.com was another marketing effort deemed by many industry executives as ''genius'' but labeled as ``frightening'' by critics. ``They've got all the companies they own actively involved and then it spills over to all the other media because of the enormity of the publicity,'' said Joe Saltzman, associate dean and professor at the Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Southern California. ``It shows what can happen when a mighty media conglomerate pulls out all stops to promote this and we don't really care who is critical of this,'' he said. ``'Pearl Harbor' was such an indication of how low it's sunk that it becomes a pseudo news event.'' Media critics wonder what these promotions mean for the voices not aligned with a major global media giant and for journalistic integrity. JUST ONE VOICE, A SINGLE POINT OF VIEW ``I think the industry is in very serious trouble,'' Saltzman said. ``The individual voice, minority point of view is going to have less and less of a vehicle to be expressed, but if no one knows you are shouting and there is no place for you to put your message where a lot can hear you, then the voice of dissent versus the status quo is never going to be heard. There's a great danger in that.'' Some critics caution that while the nonaffiliated companies will get distribution, it may be difficult to find them. In contrast, the artists and programs affiliated with media conglomerates will be available to the company's subscribers much more easily and frequently, they added. ``That is where this relationship with one of these 'gatekeepers' and having direct relationships is going to be critical because they can aggregate and promote and create branded relationships,'' said Geoff Sands, partner in consulting firm Booz Allen's media and entertainment practice. As a backlash by independent artists, Mark Crispin Miller, professor of media ecology at New York University, said the future may hold a coalition of artists in various fields working together. Media watchers caution that the process is a subtle and silent one, possibly laying the foundation for an even more dangerous situation. ``''The potential is definitely there. It's not going to happen in a blatant way -- It's all going to be subtle in backrooms where public is never allowed,'' Saltzman said. While journalism outlets that are part of the big media conglomerates have vowed to maintain their ethics, media critics have said this is harder to do as editors face demands to produce revenues and cut costs while keeping in mind the mother ship's varied interests. ``This rapid concentration has had disastrous effect on journalism,'' Miller said. ``What's happened now is that the old problem has metastasized. Now the owners of the media have so many interests. There are so many more fingers, and those fingers are stuck in so many more pies.'' With little risk of these companies blatantly violating anti-trust rules, some industry watchers believe not much is likely to change as consolidation in the media sector continues. ``There's not much you can do but whine about the superior promotional capabilities of competitors. They are not doing anything monopolistic,'' Sands said. Most people do not expect much to change, especially because most consumers are not aware of the breadth of most of the media conglomerates' assets and because most of the companies will push the envelope a little bit at a time, said Matthew Felling of the Center for Media and Public Affairs, a consumer watchdog organization.
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