Vertical and horizontal integration of the media leads to the manipulation of the public perception.
Pew Research Center found that 53% of adults in the US often get their news from social media. 36% of these adults get news specifically from Facebook, 14% of adults get news from Instagram and WhatsApp, two companies that are owned by Facebook. I surveyed 23 family and friends. From those results, 59% of them got their news from Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. My collected data is in line with that of Pew Research’s.
Why should I care?
Media companies such as News Inc., which owns Fox News, and tech companies like Facebook, which owns Instagram and 77 other companies, are not held to the same standards of accountability in terms of business regulations.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is a government agency that regulates communications by way of radio, television, satellite, and cable across the US within the bounds of upholding first amendment rights. The FCC sets standards through anti-trust regulations that prevent media monopolies. For example, the agency would prevent a merger between the four largest television broadcast networks ABC, NBC, Fox, and CBS. However, the FCC does not currently regulate technology companies like Facebook even though it acts like a media company. The lack of regulation is allowing Facebook to integrate vertically and horizontally.
Vertical integration is a business strategy where a company acquires all subsequent aspects of the product through mergers and acquisitions. The goal is to own every part of the process to minimize competition, control the value of my product, and improve efficiency. For Facebook, vertical integration was used to control all functions of communication. For example, if you send a message via Facebook Messenger, the message goes through Facebook owned servers and is received by Facebook app. Horizontal integration is the merger or acquisition of competing companies. For example, in 2012 Facebook bought Instagram for $1 billion. Both companies are social media platforms that operate and compete on the same market field. By buying Instagram, Facebook essentially eliminated its biggest competitor, for now. Vertical and horizontal integration are not uncommon, however if left unchecked it will lead to the establishment of a monopoly. Since the FCC is not regulating tech companies, there is nothing standing in the way of Facebook monopolizing the media industry.
According to my collected data, 87% of surveyed persons were unaware of the role vertical and horizontal integration play in the ability of businesses to silence certain perspectives on media platforms.
Why are vertical and horizontal integration bad?
Competition fosters creativity and innovation. Vertical and horizontal integration eliminate competition and therefore limit the corresponding benefits. Unregulated vertical and horizontal integration through the merging of profit-based media and tech conglomerates limits diverse perspectives.
Facebook has 2.7 billion monthly users. Due to Facebooks’ integration strategies, they have control over what these 2.7 billion people see on their feeds. The Facebook company has the power to influence, organize, distract, and manipulate their audiences on social platforms by programming what certain people see and when. Facebook consciously chooses to keep a certain amount of damaging content on people’s feeds to keep the viewers coming back for more. Within large media or tech corporations, profit maximization often takes precedence over the health and safety of the audience.
According to my survey, 91.3% of surveyed persons believe that the media focuses on distraction more so than education.
However, when presented with two headlines, one with the intent to distract while the other intended to inform, many people were interested in the article that provided distraction.
How does this impact the discussion of Climate Change?
In an article by The Guardian, professor David King is quoted as saying “the scientific community has reached a consensus […] I do not believe that among scientists there is a discussion as to whether global warming is due to anthropogenic effects”. Professor King’s strategic wording points out a critical piece of information. King highlights that the conversation is not happening amongst scientists because the debate has already been concluded. The accelerated rate of Earth’s changing climate is due to human actions. The debate about whether climate change is caused by human effects is solely happening in the media. The business of the media insists on creating doubt on the public perception of climate change.
In the first term of George W. Bush’s presidency, corporate strategists, Frank Luntz, leaked a memo in which Luntz wrote, “The environment is probably the single issue on which Republicans […] are most vulnerable. Should the public come to believe that the scientific issues are settled, their views about global warming will change accordingly. Therefore, you need to make the lack of scientific certainty a primary issue”. To accomplish this, large companies have been known to created fake organizations that diminished the credibility of “unfavorable science”. Climate change science damages the oil and gas industry. Climate science proves beyond a doubt that the oil and gas industry is one of the largest contributors to anthropogenic climate change. However, many corporations that own media companies are also investors in the oil and gas industry. Therefore, the media either aims to cast doubt on the subject through fabricated facts or avoids the topic all together. Their obligations are not to the truth but to money. News Corp owns and controls Fox News which discredit climate change science as a hoax because the parent company is a large investor in the oil and gas industry.
Manipulating the public through the media is not a new revelation. This has been going on since the 1900s when propaganda like Uncle Sam “We Want You” posters encouraged people to enlist for World Wars I and II. As time has gone on, the issue has only gotten worse. The problem is not with journalists and reporters, but within the big business deals and the corporate malpractice that goes on behind the scenes. Nobody is paying attention to the mergers and acquisitions that are leading to a media takeover by tech company Facebook, because the masses are happily being distracted by entertainment media.
People either do not know or do not care that they are only being shown only a part of the picture. Because of emerging monopolies like Facebook, the information we see on our feeds originates from a specifically designed viewpoint that is formulated for profit gain. Journalistic integrity is clouded by the focus on profit maximization. The way to forward involves new and improved FCC regulations on tech companies that act as media companies.
“FCC Broadcast Ownership Rules.” Federal Communications Commission, 16 Mar. 2020, www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/fccs-review-broadcast-ownership-rules.
“George Monbiot: Climate Change.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 27 Apr. 2004, www.theguardian.com/politics/2004/apr/27/media.pressandpublishing.
Hayes, Adam. “Vertical Integration.” Investopedia, Investopedia, 10 Mar. 2021, www.investopedia.com/terms/v/verticalintegration.asp#:~:text=Vertical integration is a strategy,reduce costs and improve efficiencies.
Joseph M. Scanlon, Monroe Community College. “American Government.” Lumen, courses.lumenlearning.com/atd-monroecc-americangovernment/chapter/the-impact-of-the-media/.
LaFrance, Story by Adrienne. “Facebook Is a Doomsday Machine.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 5 Jan. 2021, www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2020/12/facebook-doomsday-machine/617384/.
Mitchell, Elisa Shearer and Amy. “News Use Across Social Media Platforms in 2020.” Pew Research Center’s Journalism Project, 12 Jan. 2021, www.journalism.org/2021/01/12/news-use-across-social-media-platforms-in-2020/.
Shah, Anup. “Some Examples of Corporate Influence in the Media.” – Global Issues, www.globalissues.org/article/162/some-examples.
Shah, Anup. “Some Examples of Corporate Influence in the Media.” – Global Issues, www.globalissues.org/article/162/some-examples.
“What’s Wrong With the News?” FAIR, 8 Nov. 2019, fair.org/about-fair/whats-wrong-with-the-news/.
