Ownership & Control: who controls media & patterns Flashcards by Eleanor Mensah

What is the definition of ownership for media

People who own a platform, CEO of a media company

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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

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How many patterns of ownership are there

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What are the 7 patterns of ownership

Concentration of media
Vertical Integration
Horizontal Integration
Global ownership
Conglomeration and Diversification
Synergy
Technological Convergence

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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

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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

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What is meant by Media Behemoths

Big companies owning multiple outlets (negative connitation)

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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

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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

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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

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What is Horizontal Integration as a pattern of ownership

A company buys or merges with companies within the same industry (cross media ownership)

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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

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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

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What is Global Ownership as a pattern of ownership

Major media organisations now all operate all around the world

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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

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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

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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

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

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