ownership and control of the media- sociology

the media (definition)

organisation that conveys information/messages to a large socially mixed and widely dispersed audience

three types of media

the print media

the audio-visual media

cyber and digital media

who owns and controls the media

90% of the world’s media -

• time warner

• Disney

• national amusements

• meta

• news corporation

• Sony

public sector

BBC was a public company set up in 1926

non-profit organization and is financed by a license fee

BBC is run by a board of governors who are independent from the government

private sector

this covers a whole range of media

press, commercial TV, commercial radio stations

all financed through advertising revenue and subscription

concentration

ownership is in the hands of the very few

conglomerate

an organisation that owns large numbers of companies in various mass media

Bagdikan

Marxist

1983 = 50 corporations controlling majority of news media

2004 = 7 corporations

media is concentrated

companies are “lords of the global village” - dominate the world’s media

what’s changed to make these companies so powerful

companies with the private sector have become a massive global industry worth billions

media conglomerates now own multiple media platforms

cross media ownership - global media corporations cross media boundaries to invest in a wide range of media products

integration

owning and controlling all the stages of media production, distribution and consumption of product

diversification

moving into new unrelated areas of business

synergy

companies working together to cross-promote

formal control (the law)

there are laws which controls what is allowed to be shown by the media

formal control (Ofcom)

regulate the mass media and aim to deal with complaints and protect the public

formal control (IPSO)

independent regulator for the newspaper and magazine industry in the UK

formal control (The BBC)

a public broadcaster which aims to provide impartial media coverage

formal control (watershed)

a period of time during which programmes with adult content may be broadcast

formal control (film certification)

rating system classifies films based on their suitability for audience due to their treatment of issues such as sex, violence or substance abuse

governemnt’s influence/control over media output

• press conferences and briefings - informs the public of their position and issues

• leaks/ off the record briefings - gov manage reports

• preferential treatment - journalists who portray gov in a positive light are treated better (access to sources and breaking news)

• spin doctors - employed to manipulate media stories