Media Conglomerates

I teach a Media Issues class at the school. It’s my baby. I wrote the curriculum before I went to grad school, and I’m super-lucky to be able to teach it again.

Today we started the news unit. Students listed the major news outlets (ABC, NBC, FOX, etc). and then I asked about ownership.

“Who owns ABC?” I asked.

“Disney,” someone replied.

“Who owns NBC?” I asked.

“Universal? GE?” were the uncertain–and mostly correct–replies.

“Who owns CBS?”

“Viacom,” I continued, and at least most of them knew Viacom also owned MTV and Nickelodeon.

We talked for a second about how corporate ownership impacts the news available to the public. And then I asked,

“Who owns Fox news?”

From the back, a student who half the time I think isn’t paying attention said:

“The Republican Party.”

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