PEM Flashcards
Concentration of Media Ownership
One of the major issues pertaining to the business is the level of competition in various markets.
While a competitive market is avowed goal of capitalist, there is an inevitable tendency for markets to become concentrated, due to any number of factors
Media ownership increasingly concentrated
Commodification/Commercialization
Increasingly, media and communication resources have become commodities – products and services that are sold by profit seeking companies to buyers or consumers
Diversification/Synergy
As media companies have expanded, new lines of business have been added in a process of diversification. While new media industries often begin with a relatively large number of differentiated companies, these industries today are typically dominated by huge media- entertainment conglomerates that are involved in a wide range of diversified activities
Horizontal Integration
As media corporations have grown larger and profitable, they often have added companies that are in the same line of business, thus integrating horizontally
Vertical Integration
With new distribution technologies and deregulated markets, media companies have integrated vertically by adding companies in the same supply chain or at different stages of production
PEM
the study of the social relations, particularly power relations, that mutually constitute the production distribution and consumption of resources
Historical Studies (PEM)
Most PEM research incorporates historical analysis.
Certain tendencies and trends have been observed across media, but also many notable historical studies have traced the development of specific media
Media and Labour (PEM)
This area is fundamental to PEM, as relations of production and class issues are key theoretical foundations for this approach and essential for assessing media power
Media and State Relations (PEM)
To understand the media’s role in society, it is essential to understand the relationships between media power and state power, as well as the media’s relationships with other economic sectors
Media and Democracy (PEM)
Political economists also have discussed media and communications specifically in relation to the public sphere, public citizenship and democracy
“The Blindspot Debate”
Initiated by Dallas Smythe in 1977
he pointed out that the main product of media was audiences, which were sold by media to advertisers
Furthermore, he maintained that audiences’ exposure to advertising should be considered labour that added value to the audience commodity
MacBride Report
demonstrates a one way flow of information.
Looks at socioeconomic forces influencing contemporary media and communication field
problematized flows of information
