Media conglomerates are nothing new in the 21^st century, but nonetheless deserve the attention of the concerned public. As of September 22, 2014 MGM Productions has swallowed up Hearst’s reality TV production company, One Three Media, as reported in The New York Times. MGM, the 90 year-old movie studio which has seen silent movies switch over to talkies, known for their hugely famous credit introduction starring a live lion and his massive roar, now owns a reality TV company. As if they aren’t already a leader in the feature film market, with this purchase MGM is claiming a stake of 55% in the cash cow that draws its main crowd from the younger generations, perhaps in an attempt to stay relevant. After all, MGM’s motto coined in the 40’s is, “More stars than there are in heaven”. Its funny though, that their other motto is “Ars Gratia Artis," Latin for “Art for art’s sake”.

            As the late Walter Benjamin would argue, television, much less reality television, lacks a genuine aura that truly individual, unique pieces of art possess; an aura created by the hands of the maker and the presence of the actor, one which the camera disintegrates.

            These media conglomerates that are popping up everywhere are formed not for the sake of art, but for the sake of money. Author of “Rich Media, Poor Democracy”, Robert McChesney is weary of these ever-engulfing companies. What is most disconcerting is just how powerful, as McChesney puts it, these “oligopolies” have been allowed by capitalism (and a few revisions of laws) to become. For example, One Three Media was owned by Hearst, and Hearst owns several magazines (21 US, over 300 international) and newspapers (15 dailies, 34 weeklies). The previous owner of a reality television production company controls what is on the front pages of newsstands everywhere. Talk about bias.

            Now MGM owns One Three Media though, and reinstated the United Artists Media Group which they had tried in the early 2000’s but ended in bankruptcy. As well known of a company as it is, MGM is just not in the top 6 media giants (GE, News-Corp, Disney, Viacom, Time Warner, CBS), who squash competition by making it nearly impossible to compete with them. MGM is trying to get back into the game with the United Artists Media Group. Why should the public care? Because media conglomerates control what is available in the news, on the television, and in politics.

Resources:
Barnes, Brooks. "MGM Buys Big Stake in Mark Burnett’s Reality TV Production Company." The New York                   Times. The New York Times, 22 Sept. 2014. Web.

Benjamin, Walter. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. 1935.

McChesney, Robert Waterman. "US Media at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century, Part 1: Politics." Rich                   Media, Poor Democracy: Communication Politics in Dubious Times. Urbana: U of Illinois, 1999. 15-77.Web.