Corporate Power and Global Media

In considering the lack of media attention regarding environmental issues it is important to be aware of corporate power and the role of the global media. The text, along with the film, ‘Manufacturing Consent’, specifically referring to the Propaganda Model, demonstrates the control that the mass media maintains over the core culture particularly the media’s capacity to exploit the environment “privately” while publically demonstrating concern, an act sometimes referred to as “green washing”. I found the article presented by Tasha and Adam not only further explained this reality, but expressed the importance of the relationship between individuals and the media and their ability to act individually. There is a severe lack of accountability on the behalf of corporations for the environmental and human exploitation that occurs on a daily basis. Clearly if we totally rely on corporate and government owned media to report with integrity on the issues we will be nothing short of bulldozed. What we need to take with grave seriousness is that human beings have a serious responsibility to rigorously seek information and increase their knowledge in order to act accordingly. Referring to corporate power and the role of the media in the sense that the text does, grants too much power to the media. We need to face the reality that even up against the ruthless power grab of corporations and corporate media we cannot despairingly throw our hands in the air despite the implication that human beings and their individual acts cannot make a difference.