Internet Site Owners Give to Science Research

"Some of the world's richest internet entrepreneurs, including Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg, have awarded 11 disease researchers $3m (£1.9m) each." (BBC News, 2013, n.p.)

As the BBC published the article "$3m prizes from internet[sic] titans for disease research," there is a question that comes to mind: Do these supposed "Internet titans" have another agenda?

While many people do not realize it, the various media -TV, radio, telecommunications, print, and the Internet- are all owned by a few groups per medium (click here to be enlightened) and mergers happen frequently to give them more strength. The Internet specifically has a few major rulers, which are Apple, Microsoft, Yahoo!, and of course, Google.

While the broadcast media owners have been in control for years among the likes of CBS, Time Warner, and the Walt Disney company, to name a few, the Internet is an increasingly lucrative area for monopolies to occur in ownership. Monopolies, as we've learned in business and economic classes, weaken the power of consumers because the owners can charge any rate they want due to the lack of competition to drive prices down. They may also potentially silence consumers, such as those who use the Internet, if these cyber managers gain more control and a higher focus on money in the future.

While the Internet is argued as the one free, democratic place to give opinions, take a stand, and cultivate change through social media, there is the paradox of having only four corporate 4 managers who own much of the technology and sites used online. Especially regarding the focus of this article, the Internet is putting a larger focus on money, or at least, the BBC is.

Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, is quoted in the article as saying that "Society needs more heroes" regarding the donations heavyweights of the Internet are giving to science research, which implies that being a "hero" is directly tied to monetary worth -after all, not many average world citizens can afford to donate $3 million. This makes us think of the heroes in our own communities who do not have millions, such as firefighters and volunteers, that, in this context, are not deserving of recognition for the lack of funds.

Not only does Zuckerberg's brief statement hide an elusive meaning, but the photo of Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, shows him wearing the new Google glasses, captioned as "Google co-founder Sergey Brin wore "Google glass" to the prize announcement." The fact that he wore the glasses to the announcement of the researchers receiving the monetary prize is concerning, since the limelight should be on the recipients of the award going toward their scientific research. In the BBC article, the only pictures and video is of Zuckerberg and Brin, the Internet moguls, rather than the scientists who have received the prize.

In sum, the image of Brin with the glasses alludes to sheer advertising for Google and the photo's use on an international website shows that money and media go hand-in-hand, as the scientific research is overshadowed (e.g. donation recipients are listed last). It should also make us wonder how media and science will mix in the future, especially how the media will portray science, as with this article putting the focus on the "world's richest internet[sic] entrepreneurs" rather than the scientists who are working to battle diseases that are just as deserving of a shout-out. 

Overall, we need to keep a watch on the influence of Internet moguls, the freedom of the Internet, and how money influences power.