Media Hegemonies: The Walt Disney Company

Sure, Walt Disney was a wealthy man, many of us can oblige to that. But how wealthy exactly? And what exactly does his name own? Surprisingly, it’s most likely a lot more than you thought. It’s one of the largest media corporations in the world, founded in 1923 by a team of brothers Walt and Roy Disney. From its humble beginnings as an animation art studio, to the eight theme parks and resorts worldwide, this company has come a long way. As a company, they have virtually covered every area of the media, owning prospects in film, television, books, magazines, and the radio. Not only does Disney own the obvious label of Walt Disney Pictures, but it also houses Touchstone, Miramax Films, Hollywood Pictures, and Pixar. As for the small-screen, it owns several networks across the states, including ABC and eighty percent of ESPN channels, as well as ABC Family, the Disney channel, Toon Disney, SOAPnet, and a partial percentage of the Lifetime Networks, A&E, and the History channel, to name a few. Who would have ever thought that the same company that made Mickey Mouse a household name would support ESPN boxing? As if this was not enough coverage, Disney found a way to make its way into our cars everyday through ABC radio station, owning over 50 stations across the US. As if this wasn’t enough, Disney broadened its horizons to the music sector, with Walt Disney, Hollywood, and Lyrics Street Records. Also, for more educational purposes, this major corporation entered the publishing sector, owning 17 publishing imprints worldwide, not to mention 16 magazine titles including 50% of US Weekly and joint ownership of Biography with GE and Hearst.
With all this ownership, what are the implications? Well, if we take into account the fact that the vast majority of media corporations are supervised under the Disney Corporation, one can see the direct correlation between the subject content, and the everpresent views imposed upon it by the funding source. This means that much of what we watch, listen, and read is provided by a single, biased source, hindering different ideas and individuality from other small corporations that are being bought out by Disney.