Now playing: the bottom line.

• Author: Saltzman, Joe
• Position: WORDS IMAGES - Oligopoly in the American mass media industry - Critical essay

IF THE WRITERS GUILD of America strike proved nothing else, it once again put a spotlight on how most of what we see and hear is controlled by about seven worldwide conglomerates. The Hollywood and New York writers learned quickly that they were not really bargaining with people who are concerned about movie and television content. Instead, they were sitting at the table with corporation lawyers who could not care less about the product or who produced it. The old Hollywood moguls may have been egotistical, often mean-spirited moneygrubbers, but they were passionate about movies and anything else under their name. They have been replaced by giant movie studios bought up by corporations that consider a movie or a TV program just another product--like a toaster or an alcoholic beverage. Quality is secondary and only important if it helps the bottom line.

If you read a DC comic book, Time magazine, Sports Illustrated, People, or Mad magazine, or watch CNN, HBO, Cinemax, or any of the Big Ts (TBS, TNT, TCM) or a Looney Tunes cartoon, or if you utilize AOL on the Internet, you are using media controlled by Time-Warner Inc. If you see "The Little Mermaid," watch ABC television or the Disney Channel, or listen to ABC radio, or are glued to ESPN, you are using media controlled by The Walt Disney Co. If you swear by Fox News or read the New York Post or Wall Street Journal, or simply watch "24" on Fox TV, you are using media controlled by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. If you watch the CBS network or the music channels (MTV, VH1), view a Paramount film, or enjoy Comedy Central, or if your children love Nickelodeon, you are using media controlled by Viacom. If you watch the NBC network or CNBC, MSNBC, Bravo, A&E, or the History Channel, or see a Universal film--or visit Universal Studios--you are using media controlled by NBC Universal. If you see a Columbia or TriStar film or play any video games on a Playstation, you are using media by Sony Pictures Entertainment. If you read a book published by Random House, the world's largest publisher, or buy a BMG recording or a book from Barnes & Noble, you are using media controlled by Bertelsmann AG.

The problem is not that these corporations are evil or have a specific agenda they want to force down consumers' throats. The problem is the nation's media is being controlled by a finite group which has the potential to do all of that and more.

When you have huge controlling interests of this sort, the...