'Media becoming propaganda vehicle for corporates'

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Does a global media actually mean less information? Has globalisation
homogenised culture? The ways in which globalisation has affected peoples'
access to information and shaped cultural trends were issues of concern for
panellists at the World Social Forum's `Media, Culture and Knowledge'
discussion today. Warning of the impending danger of media monopolies, N.
Ram, Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu, said, "In the near future, media analysts
predict that only 5 to 10 players will dominate the media scene." While
chairing the session, he said, "In India, we still have a lot of diversity
in the media. But tendencies of concentration and monopoly are emerging,
which threaten progressive movements." The corporatisation of media
endangered people's right to information, explained Bernard Cassen,
director-general of Le Monde Diplomatique publications in France. "The media
has a responsibility not only to shareholders, but also to society," he
said. "It acts on behalf of economic interests, exalting free enterprise.
But that cannot be at the risk of the right to information. It cannot be
used to propagate lies." To counter the power of monopoly media, he has
founded Media Watch, an international body of media observers who critique
media content and make people aware of media manipulation.

Source:
http://www.hindu.com/2004/01/19/stories/2004011902161200.htm