Article Written by: Aparna Mohan, 10
In 1983, 90% of American media was owned by 50 corporations. In 2011, the same 90% was and still is controlled by just six: General Electric, News Corp, Disney, Viacom, Time Warner and CBS. In a world increasingly globalized and influenced by the media, it is rather unsettling that such a small fraction of the population has the ability to pull the strings on what we know.
Transnational corporations (TNCs), such as the aforementioned, are business entities that have operations critical to their prosperity in multiple countries. We can undoubtedly attest that such corporations have a massive influence over every aspect of our lives–from what we eat to what we wear. While the rise of TNCs has definitely made many positive contributions to the economical development of our world in terms of decreasing poverty, and increasing national GDPs, the masses have yet to see the other side of the coin. For all the economic benefits that TNCs present us with, there is an equally alarming price that must be paid and we must realize it before it is too late. That price is public interest.
Every corporation’s survival is dependent on its profit-making ability and the past 150 years have seen this ability rapidly rise and transcend borders. Growth and free trade have become so sacred in modern culture that rarely do we have the courage to ask why accelerating growth and trade should be of any importance at all except to the extent that they serve people and nature. Rather, people and nature are often compromised, through the ravenous use and capitalization of cheap labour and raw materials.
The Philippines is a rapidly developing country dependent on foreign investment for the implementation of its economic policies.. Living in it, we are thus very much susceptible to the power of TNCs on both a national and personal level. On the national level, we see that TNCs often hold power over local and national governments through a monopoly on technological and intellectual property and the threat of market withdrawal. As individuals, we see that their influence means we have a limited perception of the truth. The fact that a majority of the media we are familiar with can be traced back to just six corporations shows its lack of diversity, potential for censorship and, essentially, restriction of free speech. As citizens of the world, this is clearly detrimental to our ability to make informed decisions and we must be wary.
Photographed by: Ramya Srinivasan
