THE CONCENTRATION OF CAPITAL/35Concentration in the written press and the establishment of
veritable global media empires (Maxwell, Murdoch, Hersant) have
snuffed out a large number of quality papers, a process also under
way in the former Soviet Bloc.
When you throw the concentration of film production and distri
bution companies into the mix, there really is not that much left. The
same big-budget movies are released almost simultaneously in all the
world's main cities. The same kind of values and ideological content
flood the world with a speed and power never dreamed of in the past.
Those with political and economic power have always used big
media to push their policies and interests, even when this involves
military or repressive action. Television is fully harnessed in this
respect. The landing of American soldiers in Mogadishu on 9
December 1992 was timed to coincide with American 'prime time'.
A single perspective of the so-called humanitarian Somalia operation
was simultaneously broadcast across the globe.