Chomsky and Herman explain the systematic biases of the North American media as a consequence of the pressure to create a stable and profitable business (2002), exemplified in the study of the Walt Disney Company. The importance and influence of the Walt Disney Company on consumer culture has provoked widespread critical debate on the topic of media convergence. Disney has always been a profit-motivated company, originally operating as a small independent production company in the 1930s and 1940s, but moved into theme parks and television in the 1950s, before expanding further into merchandising in the 1980s (Wasko, 2001 pp. 237--257). Since then, The Walt Disney Company has evolved into a transnational media and entertainment conglomerate, with revenues exceeding $25.4 billion in 2000. The Disney Company encompasses a broad range of entertainment labels, including films under the Walt Disney label, as well as Touchstone, Hollywood, Miramax and Merchant-Ivory. By 1998, Disney received nearly 22% market share in the North American market (Wasko, 2001, pp. 237-257). It is clear that the Disney Corporation is a dominant player in the entertainment and media industry, an increasingly corporate and centralized industry with an increasing focus on children, and is dominated by other transnational media conglomerates such as Viacom, Fox, and Time Warner. These companies not only have enormous economic power, but also show great political influence. They have funneled extraordinary sums of money to political parties and officials, spending more than $3,570,000 on lobbying in 2010. This political influence is not superfluous: it allows the company to influence political changes to prevent the dissolution and degradation of its average.