Mobile Maine News

Justin Fisk

January 28, 2010

Editorial

With the recent economic downturn, many industries are looking to consolidate in an effort to conserve funding and pool their resources to keep businesses alive. Some companies are shipping jobs overseas, others are laying off workers. A lot of small businesses are either being bought out by larger corporations or are being completely shut down altogether. These are tough times for businesses, no doubt, and media sources are no exception. Now, more than ever before, newspapers and small publications have either been sold or have stopped printing altogether, and monopolization is beginning to look like a larger problem.

When it comes to the media, having different sources and outlets is a must. Competition and differences of opinion are required in order for people to see things from several points of view and build their own conclusions. Simply stated, journalism is democracy. The beauty of democracy is that you are able to think for yourself, distrust your government if you so desire, and even do your own investigating if it comes down to it. The point I’m trying to make, is that there is always at least one avenue keeping the media in check. If a monopolization of the media was to occur, untold problems could arise.

Needless to say, if one company owned all supermarkets in this country, or even worldwide, they would be able to sell whatever they’d like, and charge whatever they would see fit for any of those items that they sell, right? Well, in theory, the same could happen within the media. Many believe it to be dangerous ground for only three major corporations to be controlling the flow of information, namely Comcast, The Walt Disney Company, and Viacom. Hopefully the inquisitive mind never becomes a thing of the past and the government never tries to dip its hands into information flow. That is a boundary that should not be overstepped. The people will always have a need for those willing to track down stories and uncover the facts and, most importantly, the truth. Journalists put a lot at stake for the truth to be shown, and that should never be taken for granted.