Ownership and Control of the Media

Who owns the media?

concentrated in the hands of a few large companies

• total circulation of newspapers 86% is controlled by four companies

• over half is controlled by two companies

• Rupert Murdoch (media mogul) 2015 - owned Sun and the Times: 32% of news papers sales in the UK

What is the guiding principle of large media cooperations?

profit

• take over smaller papers to reduce competition - ever shrinking pool of media companies in all forms of media

Why is understanding who owns media companies so important?

control a wide range of media - dictate much of what the public see or hear

What idea does Bagdikian produce?

The Lords of the Global Village

What is Bagdikian’s idea of the Lords of the Global Village?

suggests that the owners of these media conglomerate the Lords of the Global Village to demonstrate their dominance over the ‘information creation process’

• media owners have both single and cross media ownership which he called Vertical and Horizontal ownership

How does Bagdikian suggest that companies have media monopoly?

• global conglomerates - operating in different countries

• diversification - have a diverse range of products beyond the media

they can coordinate tactics to produce, promote and sell a product - this is the goal of media companies; synergy

Why is Bagdikian’s exploration of media companies interesting?

acknowledges how the rise of new media has just transferred power from the Lord of old media

Why would Pluralists consider Bagdikian’s analysis to be unsuccessful?

Modern audiences select their media from a range of sources - can reject mindless force feeding of information

What is the Pluralist pick and mix approach?

audiences are active in their choice of media

• pursuit of profit guides modern media - removes control of the owners

• consumer choice drives the creation and consumption of media (bread & circus)

What are the key features of Pluralism considering ownership and control?

• media owners are driven by profit and must compete for customers - create media in which audiences want

• wide range of competing media platforms - wide range of choice

• generally free from government intervention - people can present whatever viewpoint they chose

• ‘pick and mix’

• freedom to accept, reject or re-interpret media content in line with taste and beliefs

Why do Pluralists consider publicly owned media and state regulation to be dangerous?

puts controls on what media companies can own and control media content

• supports privately owned companies because private ownership is the most effective way to provide a wide range of choice

How would Hegemonic Marxists criticise the Pluralist approach to Ownership and Control?

‘freedom to choose’ is an illusion

• e.g. influence of google - churnalism; simple searching, recycling of news without much thought

How do Barnett and Seymour criticise the Pluralist approach to Ownership & Control?

pressure to attract new audiences and gain profit limits choice

• rise of infotainment; media pushing bland unchallenging narratives to the public - attracted to the candyfloss of tabloidisation, replacing serious journalism

Why do Feminists suggest that the Pluralist approach is unsuccessful to ownership and control of the media?

doesn’t consider that female voices are very narrow

• media is male-orientated, male dominated field and so female representation is often objectified

What does the Instrumental Marxist approach suggest about Ownership & Control?

media reflects and reinforces the dominant ideology, like religious used to

• Morely: preferred or dominant reading - messages that accept and justify the capitalist system (false consciousness)

What does the Instrumental Marxist, Miliband, claim about Ownership & Control of the media?

internal hierarchy in the media is fixed and rigid - owner having complete control over the direction and the agenda of the company

• individual journalists have no freedom or integrity and conform to the agenda of the CEO

• depend on the owners for their jobs - will not use apparent autonomy; may have to resist the dissemination of bourgeois ideology

What does the Instrumental Marxists, Curran and Seaton, claim about Ownership & Control of the media?

found lots of evidence of owners directly manipulating media content

• “press barons” open about their propagandist role - serving the interests of their wealthy owners

• today owners are innovationists - Rupert Murdoch; Iraq war in 2003

What does the Instrumental Marxist approach assume about Ownership & Control?

mass public are vulnerable to this manipulation - passively accept the content fed to them by the media conglomerates

• real media is dumbed down by trivial sport, sex, and celebrity - bread and circus approach

How would Pluralists criticise the Instrumentalist Marxist approach to Ownership and Control?

argue that in a postmodern media form there is true choice and diversity

How would Hegemonic Marxists criticise the Instrumentalist Marxist approach to Ownership and Control?

point out that the bourgeois owners of media companies do not have time to micro-manage media content

• laws and regulations in place to guarantee the integrity of the free press and limit churnalism

How would Hegemonic Marxist, Whale, criticise the Instrumentalist Marxist approach to Ownership and Control?

claims that journalists always respond to audience and partition off their own background/experience

How would Hegemonic Marxist, Curran, criticise the Instrumentalist Marxist approach to Ownership and Control?

provides some evidence to support the Marxist perspective

• Rupert Murdoch’s interventions in his publications are more based on commercial needs and sales than being apart of the ideological state apparatus

How is the Hegemonic Marxist perspective of Ownership & Control unsuccessful?

deterministic - overplaying the discerning nature of the public

• not mindless robots!

What does the Hegemonic Marxist approach suggest about Ownership & Control?

we have a limited media agenda because of cultural hegemony

• Gramsci - explained hegemony as a system of dominance where the acceptance and conformity through persuasions framing ideology as just common sense

What does the Hegemonic Marxist approach suggest happens to individuals who oppose the dominant hegemonic?

often shown as unreasonable to extreme

• e.g. London Riots - portrayed as starting unnecessary trouble, keeps working-class divided

What does the Hegemonic Marxist, Gramsci, claim about Ownership & Control of the media?

explained hegemony as a system of dominance where the acceptance and conformity through persuasions framing ideology as just common sense

Why does the Hegemonic Marxist approach suggest that journalists and editors are able to influence views of the Media?

media owners have powerful influence; rarely have day to day control - left in hands of editors and journalists

• staff have some independence - still support the dominant ideology by choice

• e.g. Glasglow Media Group - most journalists tend to be white, middle-class and male - share the same views as the dominant class

What do Hegemonic Marxists conclude about Ownership & Control of the media?

hegemonic theory is far bigger than just the news media - extends to the acceptance of the ideology as a whole

• becomes a cultural hegemony

How would Pluralist, Whale, criticise the Hegemonic Marxist approach to Ownership and Control?

views taken by journalists is not because of their background but is the result of what the audience demands

How would Marxists criticise the Hegemonic Marxist approach to Ownership and Control?

not all Journalists share right wing views

How is the Hegemonic Marxist approach unsuccessful in explaining Ownership and Control?

hard to prove that the media helps to establish a hegemony

What does the Pluralist Approach suggest about the Roles of Owners?

Pursuit of profit guides modern media - removes control of owners

• create media that audiences want

What does the Pluralist Approach suggest about Media Content?

consumer choice drives the creation and consumption of media

• free to ‘pick and mix’ whatever explanation suits them

What does the Pluralist Approach suggest about the Role of Media Managers and Journalists?

publicly owned media and state regulation can be dangerous - puts controls on what media companies can own and controls media content

• private ownership is the most effective way to provide a wide range of choice

What does the Pluralist Approach suggest about the Role of Audiences?

audiences are active in their choice of media

• modern day: people have a choice to ‘pick and mix’ what media they see

• freedom to accept, reject or re-interpret media content in line with taste and belief

What does the Instrumental Marxist Approach suggest about the Role of Owners?

owners having complete control over the direction and agenda of the company

What does the Instrumental Marxist Approach suggest about Media Content?

media reflects and reinforces the dominant ideology (like religious used to)

• preferred or dominant reading

What does the Instrumental Marxist Approach suggest about the Role of Media Managers and Journalists?

• Individual journalists have no freedom or integrity - conform to the agenda of the CEO

• Editors and journalists in newspapers and other media organisations depend on the owners for their jobs and will not use any apparent autonomy they may have to resist the dissemination of bourgeois ideology

What does the Instrumental Marxist Approach suggest about the Role of Audiences?

mass public is vulnerable to manipulation - passively accept the content fed to them by the media conglomerates

• real media is dumbed down by trivial sport, sex, and celebrities; bead & circus approach

What does the Hegemonic Marxist Approach suggest about the Role of Owners?

media owners have powerful influence

• however, rarely have day-to-day influence; control of the media content is left in the hands of editors and journalists

What does the Hegemonic Marxist Approach suggest about Media Content?

limited media agenda is because of cultural hegemony - not due to direct control by wealthy media owners

• cultural factors are more important than economic factors in explaining narrowing down of media content

What does the Hegemonic Marxist Approach suggest about the Role of Media Managers and Journalists?

media managers and journalists do not want to upset owners, but also need to attract audiences and advertisers

• journalist news values sometimes go against the dominant ideology - to attract audiences to make a profit

What does the Hegemonic Marxist Approach suggest about the Role of Audiences?

‘agenda setting’ or ‘gatekeeping’ - process where some news is excluded from reporting; audiences have little choice of media content

• produced in the framework of the dominant ideology