The Conglomerate

Media conglomeration in Portugal is somewhat relevant but still is present to this day.  To start off, the government controls most of the advertising and public tv through unilateral control in RTP.  They control alsmost all aspects of RTP (vertical integration).  The national media is under one name, LUSA, which predominately is broadcasted through RTP1 and RTP2.  Agencia Ecclesia, contorls most of the domestic news and covers news in local outlets.  The local news media are divided amongst several companies similar to the big six conglomerates in the United States but only with different names.  Here are some of the companies that own the media in Portugal and a link to one of the outlets they own. (Translation might be required..it was for me)



The most important, I think, is Controlinveste.  I think its the most important because its presence is felt in all mediums of news media, print, online, magazine, and TV.  This "highlights" of this comapany would be Journal de Noticias, 24 Hoas, O Jogo, TSF (radio), Sport TV, and other specialized newspapers and magazines.  Journal de Noticias

 

Next would be COFINA, which focuses mainly on print.  They control most of the daily magazines, comparable to the Long Beach Press Telegram, and many of the free newspapers.  Some examples would be Correio da Manha, Jornal de Negocios and Record.  Some of the free newspapers would be Destak and Meia-Hora.  Meia-Hora



Media Capital is very influential in the audiovisual department.  Leads the advertising sector in TVI radio stations Radio Comercial, Radio Clube Portugues, Cidade FM.  Since then their shift has been toward the music industry.  They are known for some production and distribution.  Cidade FM

There is also ZON Multimedia,they are a major player in the production and distribution of multimedia in Portugal.  They are the major leader in cinematic and tellecommunications industries as well.  Zon Multimedia controls TV Cabo and Zon as well.  Zon also is a major player in the Internet industry as well.  ZON Mulitmedia



Finally there is Impresa, which was formely owned by a government official.  This used to be owned by Fransisco Balsemao.  It owns Expresso, Visao, Journal de Letras, Exame, Telenovelas, Coras, and specialized magazines.  A majority of this company also consists of commercial channels mainly, SIC and SIC Noticias.  Visao

The effects that the conglomerates have in Portugal are difficult to notice because the outlets that are accessible give out a lot of information and most articles seem to be fair in point of view.  The only time its easy to notice the effects is when the article or broadcast is taking aim at a political party or issue.  When that happens you can tell which medium is being lobbied by that political party.  The effect it has on the market is actually a little bit greater.

The market is greatly effected by the "conglomerates" because not all of them dominate all mediums of the market.  Some companies specialize in one department while others dominate the remainder of the mediums.  Yes, some do spill over into the other but it creates a balance and more than one point of view.

In my opinion, the conglomerates in the county are a good thing because it sort of organizes everything.  You do have dominant control is some areas but not all, which creates competition in the ones that are not completely dominated.  I believe that it provides its people with a variety of information and a great selection to choose from. 

In My Opinion...

Hello Everybody!!

The subject of media conglomeration seemed a little tough to fully grasp at first but after doing some research it doesn't seem too confusing.  To me, the idea of media conglomeration is the total control of the media in a particular area and forcing the viewers of that media to believe what you believe.  It's the influence of a greater corporation(s) extending its beliefs to the auidence.  A great example would be one news agency as octopus extending its tentacles into every aspect of society...doesn't matter if it's the economy, politics, social media, and even into the way we think and act everyday.  It is also the bigger guy pushing around the little guy and if that little guy decides to give up, the big guy takes over what the little guy had.  The impact it has on society is very substantial.

If you only have two main companies distributing and providing information, you have no choice but to believe one or the other.  This creates a very narrow and limited point of view where the information comes from.  Then the amount of information comes into play because depending on the number of news agencies, the information can be very limited or can be too broad; its one extreme or the other.  If there is only a limited amount of information you don't get the full picture of what is going on.  If the imformation is in abundance you don't know what to believe (Internet) because the validity can be very hard to determine.  Not all of the impacts that media conglomeration creates aren't necessarily bad. 

 

Media conglomeration can create positive things.  Companies owning many other media agencies opens up the market to the whole world.  It brings media to places in the world that maybe 20 to 30 years ago didn't have anything but their local channels.  An example of this would be the broadcast of public Portuguese TV in the little city of Artesia.  Certain cable companies provide RTP from Portugal to the United States and even broadcasts online.  This allows someone in Brazil to watch Portuguese TV via the television or Internet.  The conglomerate of media in the world can bring the world more together by knowing and understanding what is going on half way across the world.  Currently, the uprising in Egypt has been seen by other countries and has inspired those countries to do the same.  It gives the world a diversity in news content and media as well.  When considering conglomerates, you do loose mid-level media companies but at the same time you are gaining diversity in content and the spreading of that content is a lot greater.

But if you ask me, the big media corporations are like a puppeteer, pulling the strings on what THEY want us to watch and what to believe.  Its hard to find a balanced program out there but it's possible.  As the late George Carlin would put it:

Word Around Town Is....

As I was watching RTP this afternoon, I happened to stumble upon a clip that was quite interesting.  It was centered around protests of transportation for non-urgent patient transport.  This is a big issue because most of the patients that require this transportation are below the poverty line and can barely afford food to eat at the end of the day.  According to the spokesperson of the Commission (State of Health), the cuts would apply to those who can barely afford 250 to 350 euros per month.  Most of the patients are elderly and either retired or simply cannot work.  The cuts also apply to the volunteer firemen, cutting their daily services from 15 to one.  Overall, they (State of Health) are increasing the requirements to have access to public transportation for the sick and/or elderly.  The protesters stated that if nothing was done the protests would increase. 

Ana Jorge

On Friday the Minister of Health stated that the expenses of the state had fallen 6.6 percent from the same month of 2010.  This has been implemented mainly to help the state save money, roughly 45.5 million euros. 

“The spending behavior of SNS in January 2011, demonstrate an overall reduction of 6.6 percent compared to January 2010,” said Ana Jorge.

In the Azores, an RTP building caught fire on Friday night.  Luckily the building was not being used at the time.  No deaths were reported but a fireman was injured during the process of the fire fight.  The location used to be the headquartes for RTP but was still owned by them.  Sparks seemed to be the cause of the fire but nobody knows.

Information found at:

http://www.jn.pt/paginainicial/

A Political "Party"

Today, I will be following the current events in Portugal via RTP which I described in my last post but with a little bit of a twist today.  I'm going to be watching it with my grandmother so she could translate a little bit since I don't speak the language enough to fully understand what is going on.  If you look at the previous post the RTP live feed is on there if you would like to see the different media it presents to citizens here in the U.S. and in other countries as well.  Here is the link again if you didn't catch it in the last post.  The RTP International TV station


They are currently reporting from Egypt following the resignation of former President Mubarak.  The people are urging the citizens to clean up the streets following their celebration.  Interesting enough is that the Portuguese reporter is speaking English to the Egyptian people. 

Pedro Passos Coelho
Leader of the Social Democratic Party

Different politcal figures are giving speeches this week discussing the financial crisis that has seemed to keep going.  Now in Portugal, they just dont have the American model of bicameral parties.  It consist of many parties.  If you thought American politics was confusing try living in a country with 16 different politcal parties.  Ranging from the far left, the Portuguese Communist Party, and to the far right, Popular Monarchist Party.  The main political parties that rise up against the rest are: Socialist Party (PS, 121 seats in parliament); Social Democratic Party (PSD, 75 seats); Portuguese Communist Party/Green Ecologist Party (Coligacao Democratica Unitaria, CDU, 14 seats); Popular Party (PP, 12 seats); Left Block (BE Bloco de Esquerda, 8 seats).  Different

"Power to the Portuguese Communist Party"

 parties describing how the financial crisis should be dealt with regarding their particular political viewpoints.  The increased taxes and reduction in public spending has been the main cause of the debt the country is in (no one argues the cause). The political parties seem to have building tension with the Government.  They will be voting whether or not to censure the BE or not. 

At the closing of the Forum of New Frontiers-Defend Portugal, Centro de Congressos de Lisboa, José Sócrates stated, “the threat of political instability hampers the effort of all the Portuguese”.  This is a reatction to censuring the Bloco de Espuerda, BE.  

"There are no mistakes, because it is truly serious and there is no time to lose, the duty of those who want to keep on the side of the national interest is cut right now with this irresponsible adventure and end up straight away with any questions or with any ambiguity, each day that passes this uncertainty is a blow to confidence and a sign of contempt by the effort of the Portuguese", defended José Sócrates.

The PSD is highly considering censuring the BE because of its radical viewpoints that it maintains.     

  

Since we are in the realm of finances, Portugal has decided to buy back its own bonds to avoid an international buyout.  José Sócrates, Portugal’s prime minister, has condemned a censure motion to be tabled against his minority government as a “colossal irresponsibility” that will weaken efforts to avert an international financial bail-out.  Portuguese officials say this shows the country has enough money to refinance its debt.  Many people, citizens and politicans alike, fear that they will have to follow suit with Ireland and Greece in asking the EU (European Union) to buy them out.  The estimated cost of the bonds are approximately worth €9.4bn.


I decided to call this entry a political "party" because it seems as though many of the political leaders are weighing in on the financial crisis.  I thought it was pretty catchy, if you think so feel free to make a comment if you can think of a better title. I'd like to know your opinion!


Thank you and have a nice day everybody!




Information found at:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0eed99b2-35cd-11e0-b67c-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz1DmTtoGby

http://countrystudies.us/portugal/88.htm
http://www.algarveresident.com/main.asp
http://www.jn.pt/PaginaInicial/Nacional/Interior.aspx?content_id=1782816

Background To A Beautiful Place

To get things started, Portugal is located in Western Europe and borders Spain and the Atlantic Ocean.  The territory of Portugal includes the Azores and Madeira islands.  The country, including the islands, is predominatly Catholic and holds very strong Catholic beliefs.  The news and social media is broadcasted or distributed by a wide variety of ways.  They are distributed through newspapers (print), online, radio, and movies.

The country is offically named as the Portuguese Republic and consists of a republic with one legislative house.  The head of government is the Prime Minsister, José Sócrates, and the Head of State consistst of a president, Aníbal António Cavaco Silva who was just re-elected January 23, 2011.  The official language of Portugal is Portuguese, including the islands of Azores and Madeira.  Even though Catholicism is prominent in the region, there is no official religion of the country.  The population of mainland Portugal is 10,643,000 (2010).  The Azores (seven islands) has a population of roughly 244,066 (2008).

The newspapers are heavily influenced by the Catholic Church mainly because of thier importance to the people that live there.  The Portuguese State and Roman Catholic Church are essential parts of the media in Portugal.  The Portuguese State controls Lusa news agency, two TV stations (which broadcast in the United States), and seven radio stations.  The Catholic Church on the other hand, owns the leading radio network in terms of auidence and influences radio stations and local/regional newspapers mainly in the Northern part of the country. 

Since we are on the topic of glocalization...there is a great example on how that works from Portugal from the United States.  The TV station RTP broadcasts news, soap operas, and talk shows; pretty much a multi-puropose station that shows a wide variety of shows.  They broadcast the show via satellite to the United States.  Also in the city of Artesia, CA they have a sub-broadcast called RTA.  Here is a link to what you would be seeing on RTP if you were watching it on TV.  Click here to view the live RTP broadcast, RTP Live