Ownership & Control: who controls media & patterns Flashcards
What is the definition of ownership for media
People who own a platform, CEO of a media company
What is meant by ‘those who control the media’
Those who control the media do not have to be the ones who own it
Gov might regulate it but CEOs own it
How many patterns of ownership are there
7
What are the 7 patterns of ownership
Concentration of media
Vertical Integration
Horizontal Integration
Global ownership
Conglomeration and Diversification
Synergy
Technological Convergence
What is Concentration of media as a pattern of ownership
Increase concentration of ownership - less companies are owning more large areas of the media = ‘held in the hand of the few’
e.g Meta (Mark Zuckerberg) owns Whatsapp, Insta and Facebook
What is an example of Concentration of media where 90% of national newspaper market in UK are owned by 3 major companies
1) DMG - owns Daily Mirror and Metro
2) News UK - own The Sun, The times, The Sunday Times
3) Reach PLC - own Daily Mirror, Daily Express
What is meant by Media Behemoths
Big companies owning multiple outlets (negative connitation)
What is one evaluation of concentration of media as a pattern of ownership
Pluralists would say we have lots of choice as consumers - BBC publicly funded so meant to be neutral
What is Vertical Integration as a pattern of ownership
When one company own all/most stages of production for a type of media
Netflix Originals: script writing, editing, marketing, distribution are all done by Netflix
What is the advantage of Vertical Integration for a company
Allows for higher levels of control as you do not have to outsource and give power to other companies for the different stages
Saves money in the long run for big companies
What is Horizontal Integration as a pattern of ownership
A company buys or merges with companies within the same industry (cross media ownership)
What is an example of Horizontal Integration
News Corp - Used to focus on newspapers and now has TV, films radio, owned sky, 20th century fox
Why do companies do Horizontal Integration
Lowers economic risk with many features in different industries
If one fails, the rest will still operate for the company
What is Global Ownership as a pattern of ownership
Major media organisations now all operate all around the world
What are two examples of Global Ownership
Netflix operates in 190 countries
New Corp: originates in Australia and now on global scale, owns 37 TV stations, broadcasting internationally
What is Conglomeration and Diversification as a pattern of ownership
Globalisation allows for conglomerates to form - own multiple media outlets across countries - creates a monopoly
Diversification - conglomerates diversify into new businesses besides media to lower economic risk
What is an example of Conglomeration and Diversification
Virgin - caters for music, holidays, trains, health clubs, insurance
What is Synergy as a pattern of ownership
Marketing strategy when a media conglomerate sell a single media product in several different formats = more profit
What is an example of Synergy
Harry potter sold in books, films, theme parks, merchandise
What is Technological Convergence as a pattern of ownership
Multiple services of media on one device
Media conglomerates may work with other companies (Apple/Microsoft)
Can watch a film, play games and read a book on one device
How many points are there for media concentration
4
What are the four points for media concentration
Diversification
Eyeball Democracy
Synergy and Converging technologies
Range of views
What is meant by Diversification as a point for media concentration
Audiences still have plenty of choice so the fact that most of media is owned by a few does not matter
Companies only diverse for economic stability and not control
What is meant by Eyeball Democracy as a point for media concentration
Audience is in control based on what they chose to watch remains popular and stays = democracy
What is meant by Synergy and Converging technologies as a point for media concentration
Companies own so many related things = consumers benefit from better quality/services - a range, with choice of prices (bundles of media services with same company)
What is meant by Range of views as a point for media concentration
Interactivity of new media = people can share differing views by uploading all content - can see things not covered by mainstream old media
How many points are there against media concentration
4
What are the 4 points against media concentration
Conflict of interests - Echo chambers, Horizontal Integration
Market censorship
Less Local news
Poor quality - Loyalty to advertisers, Fear of failure
What is meant by Conflict of interests as an argument against media concentration
Media meant to hold the powerful accountable, prevent them abusing power but gov can help media companies profit and media help gov gain popularity = gov reluctant to regulate media
Media willl then show one sided politcal views
What is meant by Echo chambers
Believe we have differeing views in media but we dont - just hear echos of same views
What is meant by Horizontal integration as an argument against media concentration
Aids for multiple area of media owned by one company to express one general view = decrease in democracy
What is meant by Market censorship as an argument against media concentration
Companies silence controversial views out of fear of isolating audiance = decrease in numbers and a decrease in profit
What is meant by Less local news as an argument against media concentration
Global media companies less likely to cover local news
What is meant by Poor quality as an argument against media concentration
Do not want to take new risks in new services:
Out of fear of new services failing and loosing money
Or having a large influence and knowning there is not alot of competition = garanteed global audiance so can do what they want and know they will still gain profit (increase costs causing a monoploy) = decrease quality for viewers
Loyalty to advertisers for profit = decrease investments in good quality journalism and lots of adds rather than info
What are the 6 ways govs influence media
Spin doctors
Leaks
Official Press Conference
Refusal to issue licenses
Blocking and flitering
Surveillance of emails
What is meant by Spin Doctors as a way govs influence media
Manipulate the media by providing a positive slant on bed news - highly trained media advisor to government
What is meant by Leaks as a way govs influence media
Informing briefings of journalists, maybe leak ideas to assesss public opinion or members of cabinate who are not happy
What is meant by Official Press Conference was a way govs influence media
Official govs present opinoons e.g covid breifings
What is meant by Refusal to issue license as a way govs influence media
gov can put restricitions on obtaining licenses, prevent ideas being shared
What is meant by Blocking and Filtering as a way govs influence media
Software to prevent output
What is meant by Surveillance of emails as a way govs influence media
2014 law - police to scrutinize public emails and social media
