Ownership and Control Of The Media Flashcards
(32 cards)
List the different trends in ownership and control of the mass media
Christmas has lost some very good toys
Concentration of ownership Horizontal integration Lateral expansion Synergy Vertical integration Technological convergence
Explain concentration of ownership as a trend in ownership and control of the mass media.
Recent trends in media ownership and control suggest that the number of companies controlling global mass media has significantly shrunk in recent years. Bagdikian notes that in 1983, 50 corporations controlled most of the American media whereas by 1992 the number had dropped by half and today five corporations dominate the industry. Curran notes that the ownership of British newspapers had always been concentrated in the hands of a few powerful press barons and today 7 powerful individuals dominate the ownership of the British national daily and Sunday newspapers.
Name a few of the powerful press barons in the UK.
Lord Rothermere
Rupert Murdoch
Richard Desmond
Explain integration as a trend in ownership and control of the mass media.
There are 2 types of integration- horizontal and vertical.
Horizontal integration refers to cross media ownership and the fact that big media companies often have a diverse range of media. Eg. News corp owns newspapers, a big chunk of sky, 20th century fox, and star TV
Vertical integration refers to the way in which some media companies are increasingly trying to control all aspects of their industry in order to maximise profits. For example, Netflix started as a DVD rental business and then moved to online streaming. They found that they could improve their profit margins by producing their own original content as this cuts out the middle man and they only need to pay as much as it costs to produce a film. This gives media companies greater control over their operating environment.
List the different trends in ownership and control of the mass media
Christmas has lost some very good toys
Concentration of ownership Horizontal integration Lateral expansion Synergy Vertical integration Technological convergence
Explain concentration of ownership as a trend in ownership and control of the mass media.
Recent trends in media ownership and control suggest that the number of companies controlling global mass media has significantly shrunk in recent years. Bagdikian notes that in 1983, 50 corporations controlled most of the American media whereas by 1992 the number had dropped by half and today five corporations dominate the industry. Curran notes that the ownership of British newspapers had always been concentrated in the hands of a few powerful press barons and today 7 powerful individuals dominate the ownership of the British national daily and Sunday newspapers.
Name a few of the powerful press barons in the UK.
Lord Rothermere
Rupert Murdoch
Richard Desmond
Explain integration as a trend in ownership and control of the mass media.
There are 2 types of integration- horizontal and vertical.
Horizontal integration refers to cross media ownership and the fact that big media companies often have a diverse range of media. Eg. News corp owns newspapers, a big chunk of sky, 20th century fox, and star TV
Vertical integration refers to the way in which some media companies are increasingly trying to control all aspects of their industry in order to maximise profits. For example, Netflix started as a DVD rental business and then moved to online streaming. They found that they could improve their profit margins by producing their own original content as this cuts out the middle man and they only need to pay as much as it costs to produce a film. This gives media companies greater control over their operating environment.
Explain lateral expansion as a trend in ownership and control of the mass media.
When media companies branch out into non media areas. eg Virgin owns media but also trains and gyms etc.
Explain global conglomeration as a trend in ownership and control of the mass media.
Media companies have taken advantage of the erosion of traditional boundaries surrounding media markets and expanded throughout the globe. This globalisation has opened up national markets and created international competitions between media companies. Concentration of ownership has become global now with a small number of media companies having transformed themselves into transnational conglomerates that monopolise ownership of a diversity of media across dozens of countries.
Explain synergy as a trend in ownership and control of the mass media.
Synergy is when media companies use their diversity to package the same product in several different ways to increase their profits. E.g. turning a movie into a game and soundtrack which can be sold separately.
Explain technological convergence as a trend in ownership and control of the mass media.
Technological convergence refers to the trend of putting several media technologies into one delivery system such as the smartphone. This reinforces the concentration of media ownership.
List the different theories of media ownership and control.
The pluralist
The Marxist instrumentalist theory
The Hegemonic Marxist theory
Postmodernist theories
List the different arguments made by pluralists regarding media ownership and control.
The economics of media ownership The media as a democratic mirror Public service broadcasting State controls - Media professionalism
Explain the economics of media ownership according to the pluralists.
Pluralists argue that in Elmo article, free market economics different medias have to compete for customers which means they need to provide content that consumers want in order to make a profit and survive. If they do not do this consumers will stop buying their media and they will be forced out of business. This would mean that media control lies with consumers rather than the owners of the media. Media owners primarily want to make money and so would rather adapt their media content to be more diverse than use their media channels to publish their own views and opinions as this keeps money coming in. This makes the media less one-sided and biased.
Explain the media as a democratic mirror as one of the arguments of pluralists.
Pluralists claim that the media reflectors back the views of the consumers meaning all views are catered for. While some viewpoints have a greater range of media representing them, this does not necessarily mean that the media is biased but that this is what people want to see.
Explain public service broadcasting as an argument made by pluralists.
Pluralists point out that a significant share of the media market is taken up by public service broadcasters. For example, the BBC is controlled by a voluntary trust and created by a royal charter. It has a legal obligation to inform, educate and ensure that all programming is diverse. Pluralists argue that the PSB is impartial and objective which balances out any potential bias in the private sector.
Explain state controls as an argument made by pluralists.
Pluralists note that the power of media owners is also restrictive by the state or government controls. Newspapers, television and radio in Britain are subject to legal controls and rules imposed upon them by The Press Council and Ofcom.
The job of Ofcom is to monitor content and quality of television and radio output on both the BBC and commercial channels and investigate viewer and listener complaints. Pluralists argue that this combination of audience and regulator prevents corrupt media owners imposing biased content upon the general public.
Explain media professionalism as an argument made by pluralists.
Pluralists stress that the professionalism of journalists and editors also constrains the power of owners as journalists are fierce in their pursuit of the truth and consequently have too much integrity to be biased in favour of one particular perspective.
Investigative journalism also has a good reputation for uncovering abuses of power and corruption among the ruling elite.
Outline the criticisms of the the pluralist theory the media.
Curran found evidence of owners directly manipulating media content. In the mid 20th century press barons were open about their propagandist role and there were far more conservative-supporting newspapers than those critical of the party and that today media owners are even more interventionist.
Pluralists have been criticised for overstating the impartiality of journalists as many are reliant on official sources which are likely to be biased which undermines journalistic objectivity.
Trowler observed that 500 journalists were embedded with the British and American troops during the invasion of Iraq which led to them to being biased against the Iraqi forces.
Feminists are critical of pluralism because they argue that the range of female voices available in the marketplace is narrow. They argue that the media representations of women elucidates the male domination.
It is difficult for ordinary people to decide what they want to see or hear if the media provides their only source of information. Powerless or small groups do not have the resources to set up media companies to communicate their own perspectives which results in consumers not having access to a diversity of media reflecting a full range of views.
Outline the Marxist instrumentalist theory.
Marxist instrumentalists argue that media owners are part of the ruling class elite and consciously manipulate media content to transmit a conservative ideology to control the wider population while maintaining their own wealth and privilege.
The content of the media is narrow and biased and reflects the opinions of the ruling class and media owners in particular.
The government does not effectively regulate media content because the political elite are also part of the ruling class like media owners.
According to instrumentalist Marxists, the primary role of the media is to spread ruling class ideology, maintain the status quo and keep the current unequal capitalist system in place.
What ideological functions do Marxist instrumentalists argue the media performs?
- Spread favourable representations of the wealthy
- spread the myth of meritocracy e.g. Dragon’s Den
The news often dismisses radical viewpoints as extremist, dangerous or silly and a conservative view of the world as normal.
Negative portrayals of ethnic minorities and immigrants serve to divide the working class and discourages criticisms of the ruling class
Entertainment distracts the public from thinking critically about important political issues. The phrase ‘bread and circuses’ is used to describe superficial entertainment used to satisfy populations so they are distracted from real issues, keeping them happy, docile and ignorant.
Outline the criticisms of the Marxist instrumentalist theory.
- Does not explain how owner’s media manipulation works in practise, with the evidence tending to be anecdotal rather than based on empirical research.
- Economic reductionism: Feminists would criticise them for ignoring patriarchal ideology within the media.
- Assume ruling-class ideology results in false-class consciousness although there is little evidence for this
- Fails to acknowledge that many journalists regard themselves as guardians of public interest and work to hold the powerful to account
- The growth of the new media means owners are now subject to more surveillance and criticism from ordinary people and journalists
Outline the support for the Marxist instrumentalist theory offered by Curran and Seaton.
- Curran and Seaton (2010) studied how media owners influenced media output throughout the 20th century.
- They found distinct phases of influence, from press barons of the 1920s openly stating their ideological intentions to the period from 1997 onwards which they identify as media owner influence based on an ideology of global conservatism.
- This means that although a newspaper’s party loyalties might change, the underlying conservatism does not.
- This supports the Marxist instrumentalist theory because it agrees that although their are different phases of media owner influence, their papers effectively always broadcast the dominant ideology.
