1. ownership & control of the media (m)

Question 1

what is ‘the media’?

Answer 1

-technology involved in communicating with large audiences without personal contact
-products of those institutions like films, dvds
-the institutions and organisations concerned with mass communication. in which ppl work like the press, cinema
-main media include: cable & satellite tv, radio, newspapers, books, films

Question 2

what is traditional media?

Answer 2

-refers to the mass media that communicated uniform messages in a one way, non-interactive process to large audiences which were assumed to be homogenous
-associated with traditional broadcasting, bbc radios 1 & 2

Question 3

what is new media?

Answer 3

-interactive and ‘providing greater connectivity’ than traditional forms of the media
-digital media enabled user generated content
-sociologists who are optimistic about the new media are neophiliacs
-enabled greater consumer choice, higher quality produce

Question 4

what are some legal limits to the media’s freedom?

Answer 4

-the laws of libel- forbid publication of an untrue statement about a person which might make ppl dislike them
-the official secrets act- make it criminal to report without authorisation any official government activity which the gov defines as an ‘official secret’
-the obscene publications act- forbid publication of anything that a court considers to be indecent

Question 5

what is Ofcom?

Answer 5

-a powerful media regulator, with responsibilities across tv, radio, telecommunications & wireless communication services
-they have responsibility for:
•furthering the interests of consumers
•securing the best use of the radio spectrum
and more

Question 6

what is IPSO?

Answer 6

-an independent regulator for the newspaper and magazine industry in the uk
-established in 2014
-replaced the former press complaints commission which was discredited following its inadequate response to journalists hacking into people’s mobile phones

Question 7

who has ownership of the media?

Answer 7

-ownership of the main mass media in uk is concentrated in the hands of a few large companies, that are interested in making profits
-of the total circulation of naitional daily and sunday newspapers, around 86% is controlled by 4 companies, and over half by 2 companies
-rupert murdoch is the head behind uk news, he owns the sun and the times

Question 8

what does bagdikian say about media monopoly?

Answer 8

-wrote ‘the media monopoly’- looked at inc concentration of the media in the US in the hands of corp owners, which he argued threatened freedom of expression
-argued some 50 corporations controlled what most ppl in the US watched, later decreased to 5 corps
-disney, news corp, time warner

Question 9

what are the main changes in media ownership?

Answer 9

-concentration of ownership
-vertical integration
-horizontal integration
-technological convergence
-global ownership
-conglomeration and diversification
-synergy

Question 10

what did Curran (2003) say?

Answer 10

-suggests the concentration of ownership of british media isn’t a new phenomenon. in 1937, 4 men owned most of the media. today, 6 individuals dominate the ownership and content of the uk daily and sunday newspapers
-daily mail- lord rothermore
-pearson- viscount cowdray
-the independent- tony o’reily

Question 11

what is the marxist theory in ownership and control?

Answer 11

-believe the mass media is a societal institution that transmits and controls the masses though the transmission of ideology
-argue there’s a dominant ideology within society that is akin to the dominant class (bourgeoisie) ideology
-traditional marxists argue the media is controlled & owned by a small group of people. this allows for a very narrow range of media material to be published
-the owners of the media directly control and manipulate content

Question 12

how does the media perform ideological functions?

Answer 12

-we see many favourable representations of the wealthy
-it spreads the ‘myth of meritocracy’- dragons den & the apprentice are examples
-the news often dismisses radical view points as extremist, dangerous or silly, and a conservative view of the world is normal
-entertainment distracts the picked from thinking critically about important political issues

Question 13

what did ralph miliband say about the state in a capitalist society?

Answer 13

-the media is a tool used by the dominant group to control the masses and convince them that widespread inequalities are inevitable within a capitalist society
-he suggested that this control isn’t only imposed on the masses, but it’s also economically imposed on the media workforce- as they have to produce what their bosses want to keep their jobs

Question 14

what is some evidence for the marxists perspective?

Answer 14

-tunstall and palmer argue that governments are no longer interested in controlling or regulating media conglomerates. instead they offer ‘regulatory favours’ in return for support or disinterest in gov policy, thus allowing media owners to publish and broadcast whatever they want

Question 15

what is some evidence against the marxists approach?

Answer 15

-pluralists argue that media owners are businessmen, not editors. james whale (1997) suggests ‘media moguls’ are busy dealing with global business matters, not what story to run in a particular national newspaper
-marxists don’t explain how the manipulation works in practice, only theoretically
-social media means the media elite are more subject to critcism

Question 16

who controls the media: neo-marxists?

Answer 16

-for neo-marxists it’s the media professionals who control the media
-they do so by being under the influence of the dominant ideology, this is no intentional but a by-product of their socialisation process
-neo-marxists argue media professionals are set an ‘agenda for discussion’ meaning some items are deliberately excluded from being reported in media as they don’t control with ruling class ideology.
-media professionals use ‘gate keeping’ to censor reports and thus avoid criticism of the dominant class

Question 17

what does owen jones say about the establishment?

Answer 17

-jones (2014) describes relationships between different groups which he believes form the british establishment. he explains how these groups and their common interests promote right-wing ideals, and often claim to serve the public
-media owners & journalists are part of the establishment
-argues it should be the job of the media to scrutinise the establishment but the ‘british media is an integral part of the british establishment’: they share the same underlying assumptions & mantras

Question 18

what are some strengths of the hegemonic perspective?

Answer 18

-recognises that owners are often non involved in day to day running of the media business
-recognises that media managers, editors& journalists have some professional independence, and aren’t simply manipulated by media owners
-recognises there can be a range of media content to attract audiences, some of it critical of the dominant ideology

Question 19

what are some weaknesses of the hegemonic perspective?

Answer 19

-underestimates the importance of economic factors
-role of the new media may make this perspective less relevant. now much harder to maintain dominant ideology
-ignores the role of patriarchy. it also ignores the power the audience has due to citizen journalism

Question 20

what did Baudrillard (1998) say?

Answer 20

-argues that audiences are so immersed in the media, they can find it difficult to distinguish between real life & the media version of reality
-call this ‘hyper reality’. this has undermined truth & objectivity
-for example, he argues images in video games look as real as images on news reels, to the extent it’s hard to identify which is reality

Question 21

what did Levene (2007) say?

Answer 21

-members of society now have a greater choice in their access to a greater diversity of media, making it easier for them to reject of challenge the meta-narratives proposed by the powerful

Question 22

what are some limitations of post-modernism?

Answer 22

-post modernist ideas are not often based on research
-ignores evidence of the structural inequalities in wealth & power relations in relation to media ownership
-more choice may just means more of the same, passive participation

Question 23

what are some points for pluralism?

Answer 23

-media are held responsible for what they post
-argue media companies must compete for customers, so they must provide content audiences want
-audiences are active as they’re free to select, reject & re-interpret a waive range of media content
-control over the media content lies with consumers

Question 24

what are some points against pluralism?

Answer 24

-owners hold the power to hire/fire journalists and can select editors who have similar views to themselves, influencing media agenda
-it requires a lot of money to establish a large media company
-owners, editors and most journalists share an upper m/c background and a conservative worldview

Question 25

what are some criticisms of the pluralist approach?

Answer 25

-media owners appoint editors, & have in numerous occasions sacked uncooperative editors. owners, top managers and editors often share a similar outlook on the world suggesting the pluralist view is too positive in terms of media owners not intervening in production
-only very rich groups will have the resources required to launch major media companies to get their views across independently