2. Ownership and Control

Question 1

Traditional media

Answer 1

Mass media
Communicated in one way
Non-interactive process
E.g. TV, radio and newspapers

Question 2

New media

Answer 2

Interactive
Screen-based
Digital technology
E.g. computers, internet, e-books, TV and video games

Question 3

Who talked about the concentration of ownership of the media over time?

Answer 3

Bagdikian

Question 4

Comparison of concentration of ownership of the media by Bagdikian in 1983, 1992 and 2014

Answer 4

1983 - 50 corporations controlled majority of all news media in the US
1992 - 22 corporations
2014 - 6 corporations

Question 5

3 types of integration

Answer 5

Horizontal integration
Vertical integration
Lateral integration

Question 6

Horizontal integration

Answer 6

Bigger media companies often own a range of different types of media outlets (E.g. News Corp owns newspaper, Fox TV and HarperCollins publishers)

Question 7

Vertical integration

Answer 7

Controlling all levels of media production (E.g. a company making its own films and distributing them to their own cinemas)

Question 8

Lateral integration

Answer 8

When media companies diversify into new business areas in order to spread economic risk (E.g. The Virgin Group owns music, travel and fitness sectors)

Question 9

What does spreading economic risk mean?

Answer 9

If one sector losses money, it won’t have a massive impact as the other sectors will continue to make up the profits that the other sector lost

Question 10

3 approaches to ownership and control of the media

Answer 10

Manipulative/instrumentalist approach (Marxism)
Hegemonic approach (neo-Marxism)
Pluralist approach

Question 11

What does society have according to Marxists and how does this link to the media? (Manipulative approach)

Answer 11

Society has a dominant ideology, which is spread through society by the ISA. The media is a part of the ISA

Question 12

How does the media reinforce dominant ideology? (Manipulative approach)

Answer 12

It controls the knowledge people have about society and encourages individuals to accept inequality.

Question 13

Level of control that media owners having (Manipulative approach)

Answer 13

Media owners have direct control over media content.
They manipulate media audiences to protect their profits and spread the dominant ideology

Question 14

What enquiry support the manipulative approach and how?

Answer 14

2012 The Leveson Inquiry supports the approach as it found that media support is given to political parties in return for government policies favourable to interests of media owners

Question 15

Assumptions made about media audiences (Manipulative approach)

Answer 15

They are passive and unquestionably accept the interpretation / point of view of the limited range of opinions found in media content

Question 16

How is the public distracted by serious issues? (Manipulative approach) (2 ways with one key phrase)

Answer 16

Through being fed bumped down trivial content
Commodity fetishism - consumers encouraged to focus on must have products rather than think about serious issues

Question 17

Criticisms of the manipulative approach (3)

Answer 17

State regulates media ownership so no one person /company has too much influence
Audiences aren’t as easily manipulated as the approach suggests
Pluralists suggest new media with citizen journalism undermine the influence of media owners

Question 18

What does the hegemonic approach suggest?

Answer 18

Owners have little day to day control of the media content as it’s in the hands of editors, managers and journalists

Question 19

Hegemony

Answer 19

The dominant ruling class ideology is made to seem everyday common sense to all classes

Question 20

GMG

Answer 20

Glasgow Media Group

Question 21

Media managers, editors and journalists according to the GMG (hegemonic approach)

Answer 21

They generally support the dominant ideology by choice, not because they are ordered to by owners

Question 22

Characteristics of most journalists

Answer 22

White
M/C
Male
Their socialisation means they have similar views to the ruling class
56% of journalists attended private school

Question 23

How does the media go along with the dominant ideology according to the hegemonic approach?

Answer 23

Some items are deliberately excluded from the news or some parts of a story are prioritised over others
E.g. reporting of 2011 London Riots focused on the acts rather than the reasons/motives for the riots

Question 24

Criticisms of the hegemonic approach (2)

Answer 24

Underrates power of media owners (E.g. Murdoch’s papers / news agreed with the Iraq War which is his view as he stated it in many interviews)
Pluralists believe that the diversity of the media has put power in the audiences hands

Question 25

Power in society according to the pluralist approach

Answer 25

Modern societies are democratic and therefore power on society is spread among a wide variety of groups and individuals

Question 26

Whose views are represented in the media? (pluralist approach)

Answer 26

The media gives everyone’s views a platform

Question 27

What are audiences seen as by the pluralist approach?

Answer 27

Heterogeneous (diverse)

Question 28

What choice does the media have over its content? (pluralist approach)

Answer 28

The only choice is consumer choice. The media have to be responsive to audiences tastes otherwise they’ll go out of businessn

Question 29

What does media content reflect? (pluralist approach)

Answer 29

What audiences want

Question 30

What are audiences free to do? (pluralist approach)

Answer 30

Free to choose what media they consume in a pick and mix approach as there’s a wide range of media to choose from

Question 31

Audience and views portrayed in the media (pluralist approach)

Answer 31

Audiences has freedom to accept or reject views presented

Question 32

3 reasons why owners are unable to control the media (pluralist approach)

Answer 32

Regulators investigate the quality of the content
Media businesses are too large for owners to constantly interfere
Competition to attract audiences

Question 33

2 criticisms of the pluralist approach

Answer 33

Not all groups have equal influence. Mains sources of information tend to consist of most powerful and influential members of society
Only very rich groups will have resources required to launch major media companies