The Corporate Times: Who Owns Our News?

How often do you look up who owns the newspaper you’re reading, or who is in control of the stories being released through digital news sites? Do you even know who is in control of the information you’re consuming on a daily basis?

One term that has become commonplace over the past couple years is “fake news”. This term is tossed around by everyone, on both sides, who disagree with the topic being covered in the news article they’re reading. What a simple, and easy way to dismiss a story that a reporter put many hours into researching, investigating, and then composing into an exciting and informative article to help get this crucial information to the masses. And then one person, with a lot of influence, disagrees and shares the article with that dreaded term, FAKE NEWS. Unfortunately many don’t then stop to do their research and see if it is, in fact, fake news or just something that person disagrees with on a personal level. This has given power to those that want to spread misinformation, in a time when information can be spread so easily!

If like me, you DO do your research into controversial articles and try to get the whole picture. Do your part to see both sides of the story, and make an informed decision for yourself on if it is actually “fake news’.

A great way place to start is by finding out who is the one responsible for putting out that specific piece of information, who owns that newspaper or news site? I recently came across an interesting infographic that reveals the ownership behind 100 of the top digital news sites, and boy are there some powerful and influential names on there!

What name/company were you most surprised to see on this list?