Ownership of the Media and it`s affect
on Journalists & Journalism
There has been a gradual change in the newsroom environment over the last twenty years. This has been largely driven by the changes in technology, but also by takeovers and acquisitions inside the television, radio and print industry. What we have now is a few major players, owned by huge corporations whose interests span far and wide. An untold story in all of this, is the tale of the journalists who had worked within the realm of investigative journalism during this time.
They had worked in their field successfully, gaining awards in some instances, but as time went on they noticed a change in editorial policy. Suddenly stories were being spiked, there were now discouragement against reporting anything that would highlight wrongdoing in certain companies. People were reassignment, some resigned, the rest kept their head down. The result of this change of personnel is the entertainment led news reporting that we see today, where the news channels broadcast for 24 hours but the scope of what they report on is has narrow enough to to be repeated many times over.
Fear and favour shows what happens to the Journalists who have found themselves shut out from the newsroom, looks at articles that were dropped from publication because someone "high up" was very angry, and the link between companies via the boardroom.
It starts off with a story on banks ripping off American homeowners, and refusing black people mortgages to buy a home. This film was made in 1994, and that example of the shady banking practices, as well as other things highlighted in this documentary shows how the games being played by large corporations and banks was going unchallenged and under reported... way back then.
We are only now seeing the social importance of investigative reporting.
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