Conglomeration and Germany

"I contend that if a single conglomerate controls a substantial portion of the media market, it carries huge control over people's perception and values as a whole." 



As media ownership becomes more and more consolidated, it is important to realize the changes taking place. In many civilized countries including the U.S. and Germany, merging conglomerates are  inhibiting competition,  sharing ideas among each other and are decreasing the scope of creativity within a given media. As time goes by, more and more companies are swallowed up by larger companies and consumers are ultimately harmed by a product of diminished quality. Such can be seen when companies exercise synergy -- or two entities cooperating to achieve something that they would not have been able to achieve separately. Synergy between conglomerates promotes multiple uses of the same information, slightly altered to appeal to as many people as possible. In addition to being cost effective, conglomerates also offer less and less points of view to their consumers.

For example, Bertelsmann, the only German conglomerate in the "big six", has its roots in publishing. Opening its doors in 1835,  Bertelsmann published christian songs as well as novels. In the 1940s, they published nazi propaganda. Now, by purchasing hundreds of publishing houses such as Random House and record giants such as BMG, Bertelsmann has become the world's biggest publisher. Bertelsmann has undergone joint ventures with Time Warner and helped create Sony BMG; which combined many competing American record labels. This move saved both the companies $350 million annually by cutting jobs within the business.

Corporate influence in America is arguably apparent. With power consolidated into the hands of a few companies and with those companies working together effectively narrowing the scope of media even further it's easy to see the potential for a negative impact. In Germany however I don't think it's that cut and dry. As a son of a Polish mother, I have many family members and friends living in Europe many of which have emigrated to Germany. In about a week or two I will interview a friend of mine in Germany and post a Q and A section with him. But until then, he has told me, Germany's media comes off as very transparent and independent. He said that it was because they had a strong political culture. It was interesting for him to see teenagers get involved politically.