Media Convergence

When researching top media companies, one would expect to see Walt Disney and Viacom. One company you might not expect to see; however, is AOL Time Warner. AOL Time Warner is run by CEO Jeffrey Bewkes. Founded in 1990, Time Warner is one of the top media companies in the world. Besides owning Warner Bros, Time Warner also owns twenty-four different book labels, Time Magazine, and even CNN. Time Warner's subsidiary companies are countless, and the company as a whole brings in a revenue of approximately $31.8 billion. Clearly, Time Warner is a dominate force in media. The real question is: Is this for the good of the bad of the people involved?

Does media convergence truly mean "info heaven"?

There are upsides and downsides to media convergence. One of the downsides is that when a company becomes so large and powerful, there is a high risk of unethical political and economic influence. Capitalism is what our nation was founded on, but if a company creates an economic monopoly, it will wreak havoc. If a country becomes entirely dependent upon one company in particular, that company is able to virtually control the entire economy just by raising or lowering its prices. Think about the simple concept of supply and demand; if this company is essential to everyday life, the demand will be unstoppable, and so will the company.

Are we controlling the media or are
the media controlling us?

Yet there are also advantages to media convergence. Communication in the 21st century is vital; we pass information from source to source faster than some people can say, "Fiddlesticks." From Facebook, to Tumblr, to Twitter, we are constantly receiving and reacting to the information around us. Because of media convergence, technological communication has become part of everyday life. If companies were being constantly hindered because they were unable to become "too powerful," who knows if we would even have things such as iPhones and Kindles right now? Media convergence has drastically sped up the communication process.

Overall, media convergence is a part of life. Good companies become great companies, and small companies become big companies. In scientific fashion, it is truly the survival of the fittest. What your company does to survive today will determine how people interact tomorrow.