media ownership and control

what is the general theory about the ownership of media

it is concentrated with few firms owning the majority of media outlets

who argued concentrated media ownership in the US

Bagdikian argued that over the years ownership went from 50 corporations in the 1980s to 6 in 2014

who argued concentrated media ownership in the UK

Curran showed that UK news has 7 main companies, many of them are actually individuals rather than corporations

outline the ownership of UK broadcasting and why it occurs

much of it is also concentrated ownership with 12/15 tv franchises being owned by ITV, much iff the technology is also centrally owned such as Virgin and BT Broadband owning most of the telecommunication infrastructure

how has horizontal integration taken place in media including an AO2 example

corporations having similar companies across the globe such as Rupert Murdochs News Corp having NY post and The Sun

how has vertical integration taken place in media including an AO2 example

companies owning multiple parts of the supply chain such as Murdoch owning both tv studios and channels where they are streamed

how has lateral integration taken place in media including an AO2 example

companies owning different forms of media and expanding their product portfolio, usually in different industries such as Richard Branson owning music and publishing

how has conglomeration taken place in media including an AO2 example

corporations becoming increasingly globalised and acquiring firms within different countries such as News Corp owning firms in Australia, US and UK

what is synergy with an example

marketing strategy whereby TNCs use the power of conglomeration and lateral expansion to produce multiple forms of media that promote one product such as a soundtrack to support a film

what is technological convergence

putting multiple technologies into one delivery system such as a camera and laptop being put into a smartphone

what did Doyle say about the study of media

we must study media in order to examine all the perspectives of it and see the dangers of concentrated ownership

what is the generic pluralist perspective on media

media has a range of viewpoints which reflects the varied interests of society, power is dispersed rather than in the hands of the few and consumers have choice in what they wish to consume

discuss the pluralist viewpoint on media from an economic perspective

we are in a free market society whereby demand influences what media is produced, consumers have freedom of choice, attempt to cater to the masses rather than the individual, corporations compete for consumers purchase and are profit motivated

who do pluralists argue control the media content

the market rather than the owner

what is the pluralist justification for the concentration of media ownership and conglomeration

concentration of ownership is the benefit from economies of scale and lower production costs as they are purely profit motivated, conglomeration takes place to reach more audiences

what is the pluralist justification for owners influencing media output

many media owners have too many media products so cannot have the time to influence all products or companies eg murdoch has the sun the times ny post etc

what do pluralists argue about media on democracy

as there are so many products, views are diverse and all views are catered for, media often represents what the public want to see and values as important

what do pluralists argue about media on public service broadcasting and public media ownership

much of the UK media is state owned (BBC) and produces unbiased viewpoints on global relations, counterweighs the private sector media

evaluate pluralism on PSB (public service broadcasting)

although it is meant to be unbiased and counterweigh private media, the BBC are having to report popular stories to maintain an audience which could be seen as allowing a bias

what is the pluralist perspective on state controls on media and concentrated ownership

states can prevent vertical integration to allow more competition and prevent the presence of monopolies, BBC and ITV have to follow rules and regulations from Ofcom so that they don’t present bias

what do pluralists say about media professionalism in relation top new media and concentrated ownership

lot of investigative journalism so hard to present bias viewpoints, many journalists have enough integrity to report facts and not opinion as they have to be professional, corruption is easily discovered so no point doing it

how did curran evaluate the pluralist perspective on media ownership and control

there is evidence to suggest that media owners are selective with who they decide to employ such as those with specific political viewpoints

how did trowler evaluate the pluralist perspective on media ownership and control and what specific example did he give

evidence of bias journalism during the invasion of Iraq, 500 journalists amongst British and American troops which provided bias viewpoints

how do feminists evaluate the pluralist perspective on media ownership and control

media ownership is male stream so will provide patriarchal viewpoints such as the looks of women rather than their accomplishments, also reinforces stereotypes about women such as mothers or sexual

what are some other evaluation points about the pluralist perspective on media ownership and control

hard for people to decide what they want to consume when media is their only source of information, hard for powerless groups to set up media channels and be heard so further contributes to concentrated control

outline the generic marxist perspective on society and media

the ruling class use the media as an institution to transmit ruling class ideology and justify inequalities, working class fail to see the exploitation and results in false class consciousness

what are the two main marxist theories on media control and ownership

hegemonic marxist theory and instrumental marxists theory

what is instrumental marxist theory based on according to Miliband

the way that the ruling class use the media as an ideological instrument to reproduce and justify class inequality, media doest encourage people to be critical about capitalism and positively presents the ruling class

what is an example of positive representation of the ruling class within media

the royal family, protests about the paedophilic allegations against Prince Andrew were never broadcasted

what are the main forms of media that ruling class ideology is transmitted through and how does this maintain an agenda (use a specific theory / example)

Frankfurt school marxists believe that candy floss culture was established where the working class were kept happy and docile through entertainment based media presenting them with ruling class ideology so that they don’t question capitalism

candy floss culture

cheap entertainment based media is generated to keep the working class majority happy, usually appeals to the many

who argues that media divides the working class and why

Castles and Kosack are that the media divides the working class on characteristic based grounds such as race in order to prevent them from coming together in order to stop capitalism

what is the relationship between ownership, ideology and government intervention within media

owners of the media are usually ruling class so will transmit ruling class ideology, governments are no longer involved with media regulation so ruling class can continue transmitting their ideology without input

how can media ties affect political perspectives, include an example

close relationships between media owners and political figures can cause stories to be politically biased eg ahead of Blairs 1997 election Murdoch was inclined to support him as he wanted to lift media restrictions and improve his business so presented Blair as a good person

what was the specific example of Tony Blair being supported by Rupert Murdoch within the media

The cover of The Sun being a bold headline of “The Sun Backs Blair”

what is some international evidence following the marxist instrumentalist theory of media ownership and control

Italian Prime Minister owned and controlled many main news outlets which reached 40% of the population and lead to him being successful in the election

who argued there was evidence within the British press of the marxist instrumentalist theory

Curran

what did Curran say about the British press controlling the general public

owner of the Daily Express admitted to his paper aiming to present propaganda to the public, Murdoch shifted the views of his papers as they sold better even though the political viewpoint shifted, many incidences of firing journalists that don’t support the correct political viewpoints

how does journalism support the instrumentalist marxist view

lots more investigative journalism which suggests that there are grounds to be investigated on as corruption is higher

what are some evaluation/ critical points about the marxist instrumentalist theory

doesn’t explain how media manipulation works in practice by owners, much of the evidence is anecdotal and not specific enough, little evidence of false class consciousness, many journalists are dedicated to providing truth, growth of social media means more corruption can be debunked, media owners are profit motivated rather than manipulation motivated

who argues dual consciousness and what is it

Gramisci - argued that the working class experience dual consciousness whereby they are aware of what their position is in society as well as an awareness of ruling class ideology

what is hegemonic marxist theory on media control and ownership and who speak about it the most

mainly argued by the GUMG (glasgow university media group), media content supports the ruling class viewpoints by accident and as a by product of the backgrounds of owners and journalists

who owns and runs media according to hegemonic marxist theory

mainly white middle class men that are privately educated and believe in “middle of the road ideology“

what is middle of the road ideology and why is it presented

ideology that appeals to the masses and takes the least threatening viewpoint on a situation to not disrupt consumers / readers

what are the characteristics of middle of the road media

exclusion of offensive advertisements and content, narrow agendas that don’t promote critical conversations that can question the capitalist agenda

what is an example of media that hegemonic marxists would argue is presented a lot

narrow views such as the looks of a woman rather than the background of her, leads people to not question the societal makeup and issues such as patriarchy

what do hegemonic marxists suggest about agenda setting

the ruling class set the agenda of hegemonic culture through the media, setting basic capitalist principles such as land ownership and class differences as normal and natural

what does Jones say about the establishment

says that media owners are part of the establishment rather than people that critique it, supports the view that they are part of the ruling class

what are some evaluation and critical points about hegemonic marxist theory

implies that media owners have no influence on media production, hard to differ between manipulation and agenda setting, new media such as social media can counter the hegemonic media agenda

what do feminists say about hegemonic marxist theory

media is male stream as the main owners are privately educated white middle class men, they support and reinforce patriarchal values which limits the role of women within media

what are the three main characteristics that postmodernists say influences the ownership and control of media in society

media saturation, globalisation increasing consumer choice, no faith in one absolute truth

what does baudrillard say about postmodernist society and media

we live in a hyper reality whereby society is so oversaturated in media and cannot distinguish between what’s real and what’s fake

provide an example of hyperreality

shows like the only way is essex being scripted yet viewers believing they are real and getting caught up in the drama

what did postmodernist Trowler say about media messages

media messages are polysemic, they have multiple interpretations and no sole truth can be believed

disseminate

idea that the knowledge presented to media consumers can be picked apart due to a multitude of opinions and interpretations

why do postmodernists argue meta narratives are easy to reject

influx of media users and user generated content as well as opinions means messages become fragmented and subject to opinions, means there is no longer one single truth that everyone will passively accept

evaluate the postmodernist perspective on media ownership and control

evidence eg TOWIE is anecdotal and hard to analyse, we all passively intact with mass culture so we are part of the meta narrative, dont talk about inequalities, focuses on the individual more than the institution