Free #4: Media Conglomerate Disney and Dreamworks

What is a Media Conglomerate? I sure as hell did not know even how to pronounce conglomerate until somebody mentioned it to me. It is, according to dictionary.com, a corporation consisting of a number of subsidiary companies or divisions in a variety of unrelated industries, usually as a result of merger or acquisition.

A Media Conglomerate is where companies own other companies related to mass media such as television, radio, publishing, movies, and the Internet. The top 3 largest media conglomerates is News Corporation or NASDAQ, Time Warner, and The Walt Disney Company-where CBS Corporation, Viacom, and Dreamworks are also high end competetors (more are listed on Wikipedia).

I researched into this mess since it relates with our class and came upon an interesting story about how Walt Disney is trying to become and alliance with Dreamworks studios.

What are their morals I asked? Why are they doing this if they are the most successful conglomerate around?

In Vidhi Chaudhri's paper from Purdue, titled Corporate social responsibility and the media: What the Big Five media corporations are communicating about their social responsibilities, she states that Walt Disney's company values' and Code of Ethics are "integrity, honesty, trust, respect, fair play, and teamwork"(17). They are diverse with equal oppertunities for workers just like they don't want to show smoking because they want to show concern with societal welfare.

So when it comes down to teaming up with Dreamworks, how is this "diverse, equal opportunity" going to help people when all they really want is to make connections with famous director Speilberg?

Its not going to give big opportunities as they promoted, it is going to lose more jobs and key into the big time money maker. Because of the economic loss these past few years, Disney is beggining to have a downfall and they are producing fewer movies each year to help their budget. "Disney's long-held position as the world's largest media conglomerate by market value has come into jeopardy: It stood at $36 billion on Friday, while Time Warner (TWX, Fortune 500) was nearly $35 billion" states Richard Siklos from CNN money news. Disney-ABC conglomerate cut 400 jobs in January, Nellie Andreeva from hollywoodreporter.com "the job cuts represent about 5% of Disney-ABC TV Group's payroll."

SO... what I conclude:

The Walt Disney conglomerate is not honestly trying to team up with Dreamworks for good family values, but to get ahold of Speilberg and his famous directing skills of movies such as Roger Rabbit and his new movie TinTin. Disney wants a peice of the success from TinTin and of the sequel to Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen made by Dreamworks, since it was such already a huge success. this is to help the budget of Disney and this baffles me leading to my next question:

How is this helping and giving people diverse oppertunies with their code of ethics, when they are firing people left and right to then bring in Dreamworks to make bank?

HW #4: News Section: Publication of Bass Pro Shops Magazine and Website

Bass Pro Shop


The broad market that this website and and magazine publication applies to is the idea of the outdoors and demographics that are used is how this store and merchandise advertise their stuff. Targeting the audience through their interests and then market it psychgraphically to make money off these needs knowing that people need nature or else they will go crazy. If we as humans did not have nature, then we do not feel fullfilled as a being to get away from reality. Thats when bass pro shop could take atvantage of this reality that they could put a price on somewhere we can run away to to feel better.

When I (or the audience) read this magazine and go online, it is because we are drawn to it by our personal interests. Bass Pro Shop makes me want to go buy everything outdoors that they have even though I can't afford it because there is so much to do with it that I can see how all their overwhelming amount of products suck the audience in. They have anything and everything that the outdoors has to provide for hunting, fishing, camping, shooting, personal protection, clothing, services and events, games, real fish, watersports, electronics, offroading, even outdoor/indoor home furnishing. Resturaunts are in the store yum yum yum. When I walked into the store, it was like candyland for the outdoor user and buyers. Attraction to Bass Pro Shop is easily convenient and admirable.





(Funny video of kids jumping in the fish tank)

The content of Bass Pro Shops are slightly dramatic in a natural form of modest publication. It is very colorful and has alot of stuff left and right to look at and ooo ahh about. It competes on the rack with just its name, but not so much by the eye catching stuff. The short and sweet information is in the colorful pictures of what they are selling and its information while the long stories are usually success stories about the animals that people hunt or the competion events won. Outdoorsmen library is there for tips, advice, reviews, and product reviews. Holidays are supported and advertisements are also within the website and magazines.

This place makes their money through its advertisements and sponsors which are not junk sponsors either. Toyota, Cub Cadet, Under Armor, Yamaha, Nascar are big names seen. Charity work and Foundations such as the SCI Fountation are involved as well to give back to the audience. They are basically their own brand name.

One suggested story idea writers could propose for this publication would be generally on their success stories about the fish they caught or good promoting stories based on equipment used that got people further than those of other products. Other stories written would be about life or death experiences like a guys survival of getting mauled by a bear.