Lesson 6: Who’s in Control?

Understanding the “Powers that Be” - Economic Domain

Key Word: Conglomerate, Merger

Common Core State Standard(s):

● CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.6

Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how the author

acknowledges and responds to conflicting evidence or viewpoints.

● CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.2

Analyze the purpose of information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g.,

visually, quantitatively, orally) and evaluate the motives (e.g., social, commercial,

political) behind its presentation.

● CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.8

Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the

reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; recognize when irrelevant

evidence is introduced.

● CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.1

Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with

diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and

persuasively.

● CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.8.2

⠂Sarah Taylor ⠂USofD ⠂Capstone ⠂ 2018 ⠂

 Analyze the purpose of information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g.,

visually, quantitatively, orally) and evaluate the motives (e.g., social, commercial,

political) behind its presentation.

● CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.4

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including

vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies.

● CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.6

Identify aspects of a text that reveal an author's point of view or purpose (e.g. loaded

language, inclusion or avoidance of particular facts).

Time Needed: 60 minutes

Materials Needed:
● LCD Projector
● Class Set of Computers with Internet Access
● Student Lesson Guide (Shared via Google Classroom)
● Student CML Growth & Reflection Blog

Essential Question:
● How do economics affect media?

Lesson Objective:
● Students will be able to exercise critical autonomy by thinking for themselves and
“controlling the interpretation of what they see” (Loucky, 2015) by identifying and
explaining the economic impact on media construction.

Bellwork:

⠂Sarah Taylor ⠂USofD ⠂Capstone ⠂ 2018 ⠂

Blog Activity:
1. Open: ‘Class Blog URLs’
2. Choose a peer’s blog post to reply to. (Reply to a different person than you have before.)
3. Read their LP5: Fake News post
[Original Response: Respond to one of the three questions.]
4. In three to four sentences, comment on what your peer wrote.

Anticipatory Set:
1. Watch: Media Conglomerates [Stacking Cups] (YouTube - 2012) Inform the information
in the video is outdated
2. Elicit student responses and discuss as a class the following:
a. What is a conglomerate?
i. Define: a large business that is made of different kinds of companies
b. What was the meaning of the video?

Lesson:
1. Watch: Who controls media? (YouTube 2016) - (Stop at 2:58)
2. Project on the LCD projector: Business Insider - These 6 Corporations Control 90% Of
The Media In America
a. Inform them the infographic is outdated (2012), but it gets the message across.
b. Mergers (companies buying companies) happen all the time.
2. Project on the LCD projector: NPR - Outline of Big Media Companies
a. Inform them this website is also outdated since the end of 2016.
b. This is another way to visualize the ‘Big Media Companies and their Many
Branches’
3. Project on the LCD projector: Investopedia - Social Media Marketing
a. Read aloud first paragraph
b. Read aloud fourth paragraph
c. Discuss the implications
4. Project on the LCD Projector and discuss: The Big Picture - The media landscape in the
U.S. is dominated by a handful of companies graphic
5. Elicit student responses and discuss:
a. Who owns the media?
b. Why is it important to know this?
c. The graph below:

⠂Sarah Taylor ⠂USofD ⠂Capstone ⠂ 2018 ⠂

 a.

Closure:
1. Individual “Exit Ticket” Assignment:
a. Sign into your blog and click “New Post”
b. Label your post: LP6 - Media Conglomerates
c. In three to four sentences, explain the meaning behind the image in your CML
Growth & Reflection Blog:

Image Source: https://flowofwisdom.com/2014/08/06/6-corporations-control-the-u-s-media/

Assessment:
Formative:
● Student Discussion of the Economic Influence on Media

Summative:
● “Exit Ticket” Blog Post

⠂Sarah Taylor ⠂USofD ⠂Capstone ⠂ 2018 ⠂

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References:

ConsidertheSource1. (2012, June 08). Media Conglomerates. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gu9usJBv7i4

Loucky, J. P. (2015). Motivating and Empowering Students Language Learning in Flipped

Integrated English Classes. Flipped Instruction Methods and Digital Technologies in the

Language Learning Classroom Advances in Educational Technologies and Instructional

Design, 108-138. doi:10.4018/978-1-5225-0824-3.ch005

Lutz, A. (2012, June 14). These 6 Corporations Control 90% Of The Media In America.

Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com/these-6-corporations-control-90-of-the-media

-in-america-2012-6

Media Control. (2018, January 15). Retrieved from

https://islam4deen.wordpress.com/2018/01/15/media-control/

Media Reform Information Center. (n.d.). Number of corporations that control a majority of the

U.S.. media [Digital image]. Retrieved from http://www.corporations.org/media/

⠂Sarah Taylor ⠂USofD ⠂Capstone ⠂ 2018 ⠂

NowthisWorld. (2016, March 21). Who Owns The Media? Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awRRPPE3V5Q

Selyukh, A., Hollenhorst, M., & Park, K. (2017, December 22). Big Media Companies And

Their Many Brands - In One Chart. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/sections/

alltechconsidered/2016/10/28/499495517/big-media-companies-and-their-many-brands

-in-one-chart

Radcliffe, B. (2018, February 10). Social Media Marketing (SMM). Retrieved from

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/social-media-marketing-smm.asp

⠂Sarah Taylor ⠂USofD ⠂Capstone ⠂ 2018 ⠂