The Importance of the Media in Contemporary Life - Media industries - Major conglomerates that own interest in radio, television, movie production and Theaters music companies, newspapers, periodicals, book publishing, Internet services, Digital social-networking platforms, and content providers that influences people and Cultures worldwide The Political Economy of Media Industries - Technology, in the form of motion pictures, radio, and television, increased competition and Broadened markets in the twentieth century - Radio, by contrast, offered consumers immediate access to information and entertainment From coast to coast - In the 1950s, television emerged to threaten the newspaper and radio industries Media Ownership, Control, and Concentration - Media concentration - refers to the tendency of the media industries to cluster together in groups with the Goal of enhancing profitability - Concentration of ownership within one industry - Cross-media and conglomerate ownerships - Vertical integration Global Media Issues - Central issues - The role that large media conglomerates play in disseminating information and Entertainment worldwide - Role that state-run media and/or government censorship play in distorting or Repressing news and information in nations such as North Korea