Ownership and control of the media Flashcards
Most of topic 1 in textbook, excluding what are the media?
… suggests that “in the last 30 years more information has been produced in the world than in the previous 5000 years, while a single copy of the Sunday edition of the New York Times contains more information than a cultivated person in the 18th century would consume during a lifetime”
Baudman (2007)
….% of homes had digital TV in 2022
97 (OFCOM)
…% of homes had internet access in 2023
95
…% of UK adults owned a smartphone in 2023
94
Legal control of media: Laws of libel
forbid the publication of an untrue statement about a person which might bring them into contempt, dislike, ridicule or hostility
Legal control of media: Official Secrets Act
make it a criminal offence to report without authorisation any government activity which the gov. defines an “official secret”
Legal control: Defence and Security Media Advisory Notices (DSMA-Notices)
issued by government as requests to journalists not to report defence and counter-terrorist information which the gov. believes could damage national security
Legal control: Racial and Religious Hatred Act (2006), Equality Act (2010)
forbid the expression of opinions which will encourage hatred or discrimination based on race or religion
Legal control: Obscene Publications Act (1959)
forbids the publication of anything the court deems to be “obscene” and likely to “deprave or corrupt” those who read, see or hear it
Legal control: Contempt of court
forbids the reporting, expression of opinions or publication of material about cases which are in the process of being dealt with in court and which is likely to jeopardise or prejudice a fair trial
2003 OFCOM (Office of Communications) established with responsibilities across television, radio, telecommunications and wireless communication services. Their responsibilities include:
- furthering the interests of consumers
- securing the best use of the radio spectrum
- ensuring that a wide range of television, radio, electronic media and communications are available, with high-quality services having a broad appeal
- protecting the public from offensive or harmful effects of media content and safeguarding people from being treated unfairly in tv/radio programmes
The BBC
Established by a royal charter, funded through the state with TV licence fees . BBC trust members appointed by monarch with government advice, who have to ensure it stays independent and represent the interests of consumers
Independent Press Standards Organisation (ISPO), established 2014
Independent regulator for newspaper and magazine. Replaced the Press Complaints Commission following the Leveson Inquiry into culture, practice and ethics in the press in 2011-12 - many view it as not very different to old organisation. Monitors and maintains Editor’s Code of Practice (deals with accuracy, privacy invasion, intrusion into grief/shock and harrassment)
Board is made up of people from journalism and people with a legal and regulatory background
Government influencing media: Official Press Conferences
present the official government view on issues - hoping to get their views presented in the media
Government influencing media: Leaks and off-the-record briefings
Informal meetings through which gov. tries to influence reporting - not quotable (“sources close to the government”) - can give journalists favourable treatment if they support the views given in these meetings
Government influencing media: Spin Doctors
Try to manipulate media by providing a favourable slant to potentially unpopular decisions or distracting from bad news by releasing negative info about gov. at the same time as a big sensational story or during a holiday period
Government influencing media: Broadcasting licenses
they can refuse to give broadcasting licenses to potential opposition
Government influencing media: blocking some forms of computing software and filtering/surveilling internet
eg Google withdrew from China in 2010 because the gov. was hacking Google to track human rights activists
eg Wikileaks blocked in USA in 2010
Government influencing media: surveillance of emails, monitoring websites and intercepting mobile phone calls
in 2014 a new UK law passed allowing police and security services to scrutinise public’s email and social media communications
…. of national daily and sunday newspapers are controlled by 4 companies
86% (2 companies control over half)
Rupert Murdoch’s companies make up …..% of all national daily newspaper sales in the UK (mostly News UK)
32%
… pointed out in 1989 that the concentration of media ownership meant that a handful of global companies controlled most media - “Lords of the global village”
Bagdikian
Vertical integration
means that there is concentration of ownership within a single medium eg News Corporation owns film and tv studios as well as channels and sky TV - they can make and produce the film within a single company
Horizontal integration
means companies own a range of media eg newspapers, tv, film, websites etc
Conglomeration and diversification (global conglomeration)
media companies are often parts of massive global conglomerates that have a variety of other products eg Virgin owns airline, mobile company, travel agency, bank, train companies and more
Synergy (key term)
when a company produce, promotes and sells a product in a variety of forms - eg Harry Potter books, films, games, clothes, toys etc
Technological convergence
Media companies try to make products accessible in a variety of forms all accessible from one device - eg on phone you can view film adverts, watch film, listen to soundtrack, play related game etc
… confirmed from the 2011 Fortune500 list that 5 companies (Walt Disney, News Corporation, Time Warner, CBS and Viacom) own most film, tv, press etc in the USA
Bagdikian
… suggests that the most powerful global conglomerates have “more communications power than was exercised by any despot or dictatorship in history”
Bagdikian
… called the interpretation of media intended by those producing it the “preferred (or dominant) reading”
Morley (1999)
…. suggest that the media plays an important role in spreading the dominant ideology and encouraging false class consciousness. The media is an ideological state apparatus”
Marxists like Milliband or the Glasgow Media Group
Manipulative or instrumentalist approach
Traditional marxist approach, suggests that owners directly control media through direct orders and journalists’ self-censorship, enforcing the dominant ideology and maximising profit
Manipulative or instrumentalist approach: … found that media owners did interfere with content to protect their own interests
Curran and Seaton 2010
eg Murdoch’s news supported war in Iraq based on his personal views (shown in interviews) and he frequently endorses politicians based on his personal relationships with them
Manipulative or instrumentalist approach: former sun editor David Yelland suggested that
all of Murdoch’s editors “go on a journey where they end up agreeing with everything Murdoch says… ‘What would Rupert think about this?’ is like a mantra inside your head”
Manipulative or instrumentalist approach: Criticisms
- Pluralists argue there is a wide range of opinions in the media - owners are more concerned with profit than showing their own view
- State regulates media ownership to stop anyone from having too much influence - by law the media has to be impartial
- audiences are not simply passive and gullible - can criticise media
- pluralists and neophiliacs suggest citizen journalism has undermined the power of owners
Dominant ideology or hegemonic approach
More recent, neo-marxist approach associated with Glasgow Media Group. Suggests that media enforces dominant ideology through hegemony, partially due to owner influence but also due to managers and journalists
Hegemony (key term)
Created by Gramski (marxist) - means that through spreading the dominant ideology, other classes are persuaded to accept the views of the elite
Dominant ideology or hegemonic approach: … points out that most journalists are white, middle class and male so support the dominant ideology and mock ideas which challenge the status quo
Glasgow Media Group
Dominant ideology or hegemonic approach: … suggest that agenda-setting and gatekeeping means audiences have little real choice and stops some stories from being reported
Glasgow Media Group
eg reports focusing on effects of 2011 riots rather than why people were rioting
Dominant ideology or hegemonic approach: … studied the 2008 banking crisis and found that the media focused on solutions put forward by 3 main political parties and bankers - very little criticism of the system
Philo
Dominant ideology or hegemonic approach: Criticisms
- Underrates the power and influence of owners (see instrumentalist approach)
- agenda-setting and gatekeeping suggest a direct manipulation of audiences more in keeping with the instrumentalist approach
- pluralists suggest that new media has undermined traditional influence of owners and given more power to media uses
Pluralist approach
sees the exercise of power in society as reflecting a range of social interests, with no single indvidual having a monopoly of power
Pluralist approach: only control over media content is..
Consumer choice - the media is driven by desire for profits so present the views that audiences want to see, some of which challenge dominant ideology
Pluralist approach: Media regulators like OFCOM…
prevent any single individual from having too much power
Pluralist approach: journalists have some independence
as well as journalist integrity so produce stories with a wide range of views
Pluralist approach: audiences are free to pick ‘n’ mix content
can select what to consume as well as how to interpret it
Pluralist approach: citizen journalism
the new media allows people to create their own content and easily critique traditional media, allowing more consumer power and increasing the range of views available
Pluralist approach: Criticisms
- media owners appoint editors and journalists so can influence them
- owners place constraints on editors and journalists
- the main sources of information to the media tend to be the elites (primary definers) - enforcing dominant ideology
- only the very rich have the resources to own or create a media company
- pressure to attract audiences could decrease media quality and lead to less info available - tabloidization
- hegemonic theories suggest that people have been socialised by the media to believe that the media porvides what they want
Pluralist approach: Whale (1997)
argues that the range of media sources available reflects the variety of groups within society
Davies found that over a fortnight in 1997
80% of newspaper articles were ‘churnalism’
