Billionaires and their new media empires

Whether in the US, in Manila or anywhere in between, billionaires have been expanding into the extremely powerful information space.

Forget about the traditional media empires already owned by some of the world’s billionaires.

This time, the wealthy and the powerful are investing in the wider and faster information space such as social media, online entertainment streaming platforms, and the new media as they seek to influence what gets inside our minds and the way we react to it.

Elon Musk

The world’s  richest man Elon Musk, for instance, has agreed to buy microblogging and social networking platform Twitter for $44 billion.

In the Philippines, richest man Manuel Villar Jr. is likewise building a sprawling media and entertainment empire. It has to be beyond the traditional formats such as radio and television, Villar said in a recent chat.

Twitter and free speech

But let’s talk about Musk and Twitter first because its impact is global.

It’s not yet clear why Musk wants to buy Twitter. He hasn’t laid down his plans yet for the platform, but simply gave broad hints on making the company private and loosening content restrictions.

Musk, 50, said he wants to make Twitter a “platform for free speech around the globe.”

And yet, despite Musk’s promise to teach the little blue bird the concept of free speech and how benevolent that sounds, many are wary – media experts, analysts, members of the academe, etc.

What does Musk mean by this anyway? Does it mean he will allow anything and everything to appear on our timelines, including the untruths? Only Musk knows.

What is clear is that billionaires are now owning information entities that are powerful platforms for public discourse.

In Musk’s case, I speculate, this will give him free rein on the algorithms we see and what information he wants the roughly 290 million monthly Twitter users – including you and me – to consume.

His fellow billionaire, Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, as we all know, is behind social media platforms Facebook, Instagram and Facebook Messenger.

Wild, wild West

As it is now, these widely used internet platforms are already the wild, wild West of cyberspace. Information, disinformation, misinformation or just about anything under the sun – you’ll see it here.

What does it mean for the public then if a single individual like Musk, with a huge interest in making profits and growing his business empire, becomes the owner of a platform that can make or break a government; can build or destroy a business; and can create or ruin a person’s reputation?

A recent Washington Post article said it best: “Technological change and the fortunes it created have given a vanishingly small club of massively wealthy individuals the ability to play arbiter, moderator, and bankroller of not only the information that feeds the nation’s discourse, but also the architecture that undergirds it.”

Channel 2

Here at home, the latest to foray into the growing information and entertainment space is Villar, the real estate tycoon.

Villar’s  Advanced Media Broadcasting System Inc. (AMBS), was awarded the frequencies previously held by Lopez-owned ABS-CBN.

“We will operate Channel 2. We are Channel 2,” he said.

Villar is in no hurry to operate the network, but is open to partnerships, even with ABS-CBN itself.

He declined to reveal his specific plans for his media empire, but he said he wants to build something like The Walt Disney Co., the world’s premier entertainment company.

Disney has theme parks, resorts, movies, TV programs, characters, games, videos, music, merchandise and more. It owns the highly popular media brands Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars.

For sure, Villar said, his media company will go beyond television and radio, and will have other businesses.

I asked him if this includes venturing into streaming platforms similar to Netflix, and Villar said it could.

And yes, he also wants to build theme parks. Just like Disney’s Disneyland.

If this happens, Villar’s Channel 2 will surely play a role in the flow of information within Philippine society. How big a role that will be, we have yet to see.

In the Philippines, there is nothing new about a billionaire or a wealthy family owning a media company.

Nearly every tycoon in the country has a media entity or is invested in one. Villar is simply joining the bandwagon.

Fake news

Still, I hope that in the era of fake news and disinformation, media tycoons will ensure a committed and steady fight against fake news, perhaps the biggest malaise of the modern world at present.

Felipe Gozon, chairman and CEO of GMA Network Inc., in a recent chat, said that indeed, the problem of fake news is one of the biggest in the country today.

Against this backdrop, I hope that media tycoons – the old and the new – and their media organizations will strive to consistently provide the public with all the right information and not the kind that will only serve their interests.

The right and proper information will help Filipinos make informed choices and in the process, become better citizens.

In societies, the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, will help ensure that government officials are carrying out their duties well.

Freedom of information, after all, should always belong to the people and not just to one individual or a powerful few.

Iris Gonzales’ email address is [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @eyesgonzales. Column archives at eyesgonzales.com.