Consume Media
Title: World News #109 – CONSUME (Media)
Subject: Capitalism and Consumerism of Media and Technology
Created: 2026
Medium: Graphic Design
Software: Adobe Illustrator CC & Adobe Photoshop CC
Dimensions: 36″x48″
Articles
“Materialism in psychology is defined as a value system that places highly valued possessions and acquisitions high on the scale of happiness, success, and social standing. Consistently, empirical studies locate higher materialism with lower well-being, higher anxiety, and compulsive buying (Richins & Dawson, 1992; Kasser, 2002). Social media gives fertile ground to materialistic values since possessions are kept in the foreground in personal identity and social comparison.
Empirical evidence attests to this connection. Kircaburun et al. (2020) determined through a study that excessive use of Instagram indicates higher materialism and social comparison among teens. Similarly, Malik and Khan (2015) found that Facebook users who observed other people’s lifestyle shows had increased material wants and dissatisfaction with their lives. These findings reveal how social media leads individuals to compare themselves with others based on value through material possessions, increasing materialistic behaviours in everyday life.”
– Pyschologs, How Social Media Fuels Materialism and Consumer Culture
“When we talk about corporate control, we’re not just saying that a media outlet is a business that needs to make money. We’re pointing to a specific trend: media concentration. This is the process where fewer and fewer companies own more and more of the media. Studies and reports, particularly in regions like the United States, have suggested that over 90% of media outlets are controlled by just a handful of corporate giants. This system has profound effects on the content we consume, the objectivity of the news, and ultimately, how we understand the world.
–
At its simplest, corporate control means that a media company—like a television network, a newspaper, or a major news website—is not an independent entity. Instead, it’s a small piece of a much larger corporate puzzle. These parent companies are often conglomerates, which means they own a diverse range of businesses. A single corporation might own a news channel, a movie studio, a theme park, an internet service provider, and maybe even a manufacturing plant or a retail chain.
Decades ago, many news organizations were family-owned or run as standalone businesses whose primary, if not only, product was journalism. Today, most major media outlets are publicly traded companies, meaning their top priority is not necessarily public service, but shareholder value. They have a legal and financial obligation to maximize profits for their investors. This fundamental shift from a “public service” model to a “profit-first” model is the driving force behind the changes we see in our news.”
– Journalism.University, The Influence of Corporate Ownership on Media Content
Download the 8.5″x11″ print (.pdf), World News #109 – CONSUME (Media).
Close-ups
World News
World News is a series of artworks by Ihanktonwan Dakota artist David Bernie that discusses issues and stories affecting communities worldwide.
Creative Commons License
World News #109: CONSUME (Media) © 2026 by David Bernie is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
. You may download, share, and post the images under the condition that the works are attributed to the artist.
