Thinking outside the box

People usually develop according to their environment. In the past, each region had its own society folklore where its people had to develop. Thus, each person decided what he or she wanted to be or to do according to the rules of their society.
In comparison today, the communications technology is advanced enough to easily spread identical messages in different regions of the world. Communications media decides culture for most parts of the world according to what media owners decide is the best. The media has evolved into the new environment where people get their “education”.
For example, in the past, a person in South America would have never thought about dressing in the latest clothing gear of United States. The South American would be thinking on things dictated by his own culture.
Today, the environment is determined by a few firms who own the mass media, and they only care about making more money. I don’t think I need to give an obvious example of how these firms take advantage of the public to maximize profits.
Only six firms divide practically all the ownership of networks like BET, MTV, TNT, FOX, ESPN, and Telemundo. It also encompasses news channels such as ABC, CBS, Headline News, and CNN and this is only to name a few.
Moreover, these six firms own other media outlets like cable television, newspapers, most wide used web-sites, radio and music publishing rights giving them the ability to cross-market their products. If this trend continues, it is expected that the amount of media owners can and will reduce even more.
These large firms that represent the few owners of the media can take advantage of the public in many ways. One example: Microsoft, which has considerable influence on General Electric / NBC is expanding its “NET passport” system to many web-sites which leads to the user getting a “NET passport” account to use that particular web-site’s services.
Later, if Microsoft wants to promote a new product to you, the user will be flooded with ads in every “NET passport” site in its domain. It is probable that the product will be also advertised by TV, movies, magazines, and any other Microsoft owned media.
Sooner or later, you will think that you really need that new product.
In a more common example, a company could promote a profitable idea instead of a product.
A designer jean company promoted the assumption that relaxed fit jeans felt better than the traditional jeans. However, is this idea true? Are relaxed fit jeans necessarily more comfortable?
No, probably not, but because of massive advertising by the media, we buy them with the assumption that the relaxed-fit jeans will make us more comfortable.
So, how free are we if we don’t think about the reasons behind the messages in the mass media? I think we should make and effort to analyze the information given. We should look for a different point of view other than the one from a multinational corporation’s ideas of what we need.
I think, mass media should not be only way to learn being good producers and consumers of what people in power decide are viable products and ideas. I believe that mass media’s “education” was not created to convert people into an instrument of the firm.
No matter what is our major, our education should help us think more critically, so we can take more part in deciding what we need for living and not allow the firms that control mass media’s outlets to dictate what products and services we need.