Ownership And Control 2 Flashcards
Give an example of a privately owned and state owned media corporation
ITV and BBC
What is the concentration of media ownership?
The overall number of media corporations has shrunk and we now have a small number of very large and powerful media corporations
What did Bagdikian argue?
In 1980s 50 corporations owned the majority of all US media. By 2004 it was 7. Now it is the big 6
Who largely controls our television in Britain?
Rupert Murdoch- Newscorp
Richard Branson
What did Curran argue?
Ownership of British newspapers has always been concentrated in the hands of few powerful ‘press barons’
What do mass media corporations expanding into the global market place create?
Transnational corporations or global conglomerates
What is horizontal integration?
When media corporations diversify across different forms of media and create synergies between them eg NewsCorp owns newspapers, magazines, publishers, film studios and TV channels. It channels advertise and gain exclusive access to its films
What is vertical integration?
When media corporations expand across all aspects of the production process eg Paramount not only makes films, but distributes them to cinemas
What do traditional marxists think of society?
Society is defined by its economy. We have a capitalist economy which has divided our society into the bourgeoisie and the proletariat
What do neo marxists think of society?
Agree with trad that there is a conflict in society. However, neo marxists like Erik Olin Wright argue that it is too simplistic to see society as being made up of two classes, which are defined by the economy. Instead, they see society as containing multiple classes, and that differences between them are the result of a number of factors- including economy, but also culture, political systems etc
What is the function of the media to trad marxists?
The bourgeoisie will do anything to preserve the capitalist system. This means using their economic power to control the political and cultural institutions of society. The media performs these functions -
Denying access to competing views about society
Presenting a picture of society that supports the interests of the ruling class/capitalism
Providing entertainments and diversions that stop people thinking about the ways in which they are exploited and oppressed (Herbert Marcuse)
Scapegoating techniques designed to create divisions within social classes, and deflect criticism away from the bourgeoisie
What do neo marxists argue about the function of the media?
Agree with trad Marxists who argue that ownership of the mass media is spreading dominant ideology to justify the power of the ruling class. It is part of a range of institutions which. Create what Gramsci calls ‘hegemony’- a situation wherre the values and beliefs of the ruling class are accepted as common sense. Althusser calls the range of institutions which support the capitalist status quo- ISA
Who owns the mass media according to both Marxists?
Dominated by the bourgeoisie. They have the economic power to invest in privately owned media corporations, and are more likely to gain senior positions in state owned media corporations. Although some of the proletariat might achieve superficial control of the mass media, those with greater economic power have a greater capacity to invest more, in more powerful forms of mass communication .
- Rupert Murdoch took on the job after his father, the owner. All his kids have or do work for Newscorp
- the last three Director Generals of the BBC went to private schools
How are arguments for the control and ownership of the mass media criticised?
Pluralists would argue that this argument is too simplistic. No single group or individual has monopoly of the mass media
Free media and state media are not exclusively controlled by the bourgeoisie
Laws stop a single corporation expanding so widely there is no more competition
Who controls the mass media according to traditional Marxists?
Controlled almost exclusively by their owners. Ralph Miliband argues that owners have ultimate control over the nature of their media organisations. Although they may have managers to deal with day to day content, these managers can be fires if they fail to perform the functions of the mass media.
Eg the editor of the Sun may have control I wear the stories that go in each day, the hiring and firing etc. The owner of the sun (Murdoch) ultimately controls such things as the political stance of the paper, the type of audience it is aiming to reach, and can sack the editor if they don’t perform their function.
