It's, in short, how we learn what we know about other people and about the world.
简而言之，那就是我们如何了解到，我们对于其他人的认知，以及我们对于全世界的认知。
But we live in a 100-percent media-saturated society.
但是我们生活在一个媒体无处不在的社会中。
What that means is that every single aspect of your human existence
也就是说，人类在基本生理机能之外的
outside of your basic bodily functions is in some way touched by media.
每一个方面，都多多少少与媒体有关联。
From the car that you drive to the food that you eat to the clothes that you wear
从你开的车，吃的食物，到你穿的衣服，
to the way you construct your relationships
到你建立人际关系的方式，
to the very language you use to formulate thought -- all of that is in some way mediated.
到你表达思路时所使用的特有的语法--所有这些都以某种方式被媒体化了。
So the answer in our society
所以，在我们的社会中，
to how do we learn what we know about other people and about the world is largely through media.
关于如何了解自己对于其他人和世界的认知，答案就是很大程度上是通过媒体的。
Well, there's a wrinkle in that, in that our society,
然而，有一个在媒体中存在，在社会中也同样存在的小问题，
media don't simply exist as information distribution technologies and devices.
媒体并不单单作为信息发布的技术和设备而存在，
They also exist as corporate entities.
它们也作为企业的实体而存在。
And when the distribution of information is tied to financial gain, there's a problem.
并且，当信息的发布与商业利益挂钩时就出现了问题。
How big of a problem? Well think about this:
多么严重的问题呢？试想一下：
in 1983, 90 percent of American media were owned by 50 companies.
在1983年，五十家公司掌控着全美国百分之九十的媒体。
In any market, 50 companies doing something is a lot of companies. It's a lot of different worldviews.
在任何市场领域，五十家公司共营意味着很多个公司。意味着许多不同的世界观。
In 2015, that number has shrunk to six, six companies.
在2015年，公司的数目锐减到了六个，六家公司。
They are NBCUniversal Comcast, AOL Time Warner, the Walt Disney Company, News Corp, Viacom and the CBS Corporation.
它们是NBC环球集团，AOL时代华纳公司，迪士尼公司，新闻集团，维亚康姆以及CBS公司。
