Walker, Sopranos, and The Myth of the Liberal Media Questions

Where can I find the documentary, The Myth of the Liberal Media?

Did you try searching York's library catalogue? Because it's at SMIL.

You can also find the entire documentary here: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=6ED7BD08E220E9F4


Where does Walker fall into place when discussing media conglomerations' effect on film?


Walker is not a blockbuster, and was produced by independent production companies.  It was, however, distributed by Universal Pictures, which was already part of a media conglomeration in the 80s due to Reagan's policies on deregulation.  Universal Pictures is a production company but distributed this film, which is an example of vertical integration.  Studios got into distribution after the paramount decrees disallowed them from exhibiting their own films.  However, I am sure you are very well aware of Universal Studios, and now Universal pictures is part of the NBC-Comcast conglomeration, which is owned by GE.  This would be a great way to discuss the concept of synergy discussed by Holt in her article.  Walker is a rare insofar as it is critical of media conglomeration.  If you recall, William Walker was sent to the Nicaragua by a railroad corporation to build a canal, but ended up taking over the country, which is more or less historically accurate.  If you discuss Walker you should be able to discuss the Nicaraguan conflict case study.  Walker's ironic use of genres, is a criticism of genre revisionism, which exploit as many genres as possible to appeal to the widest possible audience, an effect of media conglomeration.   Also, in Walker, the ironic use of advertising, consumer goods, and even media itself is an equally ironic criticism of the way films in the 80s had to appeal to a broad range of markets, synergy.  Lastly, you could discuss its blatant allegories of the Vietnam War, which would be a good way to compare the Nicaraguan conflict. 



How do you discuss Sopranos with They Myth of the Liberal Media?

For The Sopranos, you will need to discuss them in relation to pay-per-view television, namely, HBO.  Why wasn't Sopranos, a show that was predicted to be immensely popular regardless of the network, picked up by the big 3 networks?  Why was HBO allowed to air it?  This topic would equally require an understanding of the effects of media conglomeration.

If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to send them my way.