Ownership & Control of the Media

Question 1

how many billionaires own 80% of UK media?

Answer 1

5, including Rupert Murdoch of news corp

Question 2

Formal controls on the media

Answer 2

Government legislation, e.g. the Racial and Religious hatred act

Question 3

Informal controls on the media

Answer 3

Threats of ‘leaks’, government spin doctors, electronic surveillance of websites and social media

Question 4

Marxist instrumentalist view of ownership of the media

Answer 4

whoever owns the media controls it.
- media owned by the bourgeoise
- the media is an ISA and messages therefore spread the capitalist ideology (e.g. Brexit portrayed positively in The Sun)

Question 5

Curren - manipulation of media

Answer 5

found evidence of media owners manipulating media content, to keep the desire for capitalism in the UK.
(Ruper Murdoch supportive of the war in Iraq shown through newspapers)

Question 6

Evaluations of Marxist views on ownership of the media

Answer 6

1. Neo-Marxists: news owners do not have the time to micro manage news content
   2: Pluralists: owners interested in profit (will the story sell, not tell)
   3: Trad Marxists assume audience is passive

Question 7

The Neo-Marxist view on ownership of the media

Answer 7

Media spreads dominant ideologies.
- Editors and journalists come from privileged backgrounds to share similar views

Question 8

Glasgow Media Group study on journalists (Neo-marxist)

Answer 8

51% of journalists are privately educated, 19% went to a comprehensive school, 94% are white, and 55% are male

Question 9

Antonio Gramsci - what has the media created? (neo-marxist)

Answer 9

Hegemony - capitalist ideology viewed as common sense by the WC, alt. viewpoints regarded as extremist

Question 10

Neo-marxist evaluation of ownership of the media

Answer 10

1. Trad marxists argue journalists have agenda forced on them so need to produce this content to keep their jobs
2. Pluralists argue content produced by media companies is not a result of the social backgrounds but rather the market demands for profit
3. Difficult to prove hegemony and how much the audience is influenced by the media

Question 11

Pluralist view on ownership of the media

Answer 11

Journalists are not manipulated by owners.
- based on profit maximisation and audience control of the content
- media provides audience with info, rather than being against democracy

Question 12

Pluralist view on ownership evaluation

Answer 12

1. Audience are manipulated into buying certain media products (marxist)
2. Although there is greater choice, many of them spread the same message (fallacy of choice - Barnett and Weymour)
3. Davies - difficult for journalists to be neutral in today’s society. quantity increased but not quality

Question 13

Postmodernist views on ownership and control of the media

Answer 13

• increased choice for audience
• ‘media-saturation’ therefore impossible for owners to control the narrative
• Hyperreality (Baudrillard)
• Ownership is fluid between audience and owner (Levene), audience can reject messages by Twitter and other media

Question 14

Postmodernist views on ownership evaluation

Answer 14

1. Levene theory is too optimistic, usually they remain in a social media bubble or digital community
2. media saturation can provide power to owners and hyperreality/passive audiences can be exploited by media corps

Question 15

Global conglomeration

Answer 15

Media companies buy media outlets in other countries, making them global. (e.g. News Corp)

Question 16

vertical integration

Answer 16

media companies control all levels of media production, e.g. Netflix makes their own movies and also shows movies