CNC 3 - victim of corporate puppetry? When news and advertising blur
Most media houses are owned by corporate giants. Most media houses at some time or the other are thus obliged to report on their owner. The tricky thing is that these same media houses are expected to “balance” the story, which sometimes means helping the corporate giant present a desirous identity in order to affect public opinion.
Local TV media house, CNC 3 is owned by local conglomerate Ansa McAl, and found itself in that same situation yesterday, when it devoted a few minutes to covering the launch of Ansa McAl’s new book.
Trini blogger Mani questions whether the segment was a news cast or a commercial, since in his eyes it veered more towards the commercial side. His other peeve is that in profiling the sectors Ansa Mc Al operates in, CNC 3 did not mention the media sector or that CNC 3 itself was owned by Ansa Mc Al. But this is nothing new.In a 2001 article, Trinidad Guardian Associate Features Editor Lisa Allen-Agostini noted the dilemma that the newspaper sometimes found itself in. Coincidentally, the Guardian is also owned by Ansa Mc Al.
“What I’m really disappointed me last night was a report last night on the ANSA McAl conglomerate. I think it’s great that ANSA McAl wants to put out a book. The thought of a massive conglomerate putting out a book is the sort of thing that makes me feel all warm inside and it makes me remember the days when I used to curl up at nights with a good yarn. So hey, the ANSA McAl book, excellent. However, in the 3-minute-plus report, I think you all forgot to mention that CNC3 was owned my ANSA Mcal. In fact, I wonder if that bit of information was left out on purpose.
In introducing the Focus on Business segment, Francesca Hawkins mentioned ANSA McAl’s interests with included “manufacturing, finance, the beverage industry, insurance and banking”, but somehow didn’t mention ANSA McAl’s media interests. That’s a little interesting isn’t it?Now, I know that ANSA McAl is a mammoth-sized company. I’m aware that Francesca’s list was just a brief overview, but it’s a very obvious omission.
Isn’t the failure to mention the relationship between the two companies a conflict of interest? Even the mighty CNN does not report on AOL Time Warner without mentioning at the end that they are owned by the latter. So how does CNC3 air this entire Focus on Business segment and not say, “By the way, blah, blah, blah”. That’s a little shady if you ask me. When the teaser for the story is, “ANSA McAl: A Success Story”, I have to wonder was that segment news, or an advertisement? Did your reporters find the story, or were they directed to cover it? Should I have to wonder if it’s news or an ad? Is the business news self-promotion or a swipe at another competing company? Is trying to decide worth the hassle?You see, little things like that make me distrust and subsequently rethink the source of my news. Silly little things like that make me very suspicious that what I’m looking at may not be news at all, but instead a broadcast for a captive and uninformed audience.”
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