pluralist views of media ownership Flashcards
what is pluralism
modern capitalist societies are democratic
all interest groups- most persuasive arguments will convince people
mass media is essential and impartial facilitators of democracy
economics of media ownership
free market and pursuit of profit - more significant than the idea that media corporations are means by which owners force their opinions on audiences
media owners compete against eachother - consumers are the power holders
global media market is segmented - variety of products aimed at different markets
rationale for the concentration of media ownership is economic - aimed at reducing costs involves contracting services out
Blondel - no single group in society has a monopoly of power and control - competitive - behaviour constrained by market
media as a democratic mirror
pluralists - range media products available is diverse - result all points of view in a democratic society are catered for
some viewpoints have a greater range of media representing them - just a mirror of what the audience wants
Whale - studied the Sun - changed from socialist to entertaining tabloid newspaper - Murdoch gave the consumers what they want
media as a democratic mirror evaluation
marxists and neo-marxists - media democracy does not exist, as a small number of extremely wealthy individuals own the vast the majority of the media outlets in the UK - transmit capitalist ideology eg Rupert Murdoch - news corp
public service broadcasting
pluralists - significant share of media market owned by state eg bBC - reputation for impartiality
royal charter - BBC has a legal obligation to provide specific services to inform educate and entertain full audience spectrum
Mike Berry - content analysis into BBC coverage - conservative politicians featured 50% more often - tended to reproduce conservative, eurosceptic, pro-business version of world
public service broadcasting evaluation
some sociologists - BBC is abandoning their role as PSB - losing its audience to commercial and satellite TV and more recently streaming services
BBC become more commercialised in attempt to keep its audience
- not a problem according to pluralists - PSB and ITV - offer more choice to audience
state controls
pluralists - power of media owners also restricted by state controls - do not allow owners to own too many media types in order to reduce possibility of one person’s view being too dominant
ofcom - monitor content and quality of media and investigate viewer complaints
state controls evaluation
strength
- nick jones - 1980s strikes - media reporting of industrial disputes by the media - reporting was balanced and non biased reporting both sides equally
limitations
- Jones - bbc radio journalist - study criticised for being biased
- GUMG - when news showed media messages of strikers - involved violence with police - people believed miners responsible for the trouble
media professionalism
pluralists - journalists and editors are professionals - never allow media owners to compromise their independence
media embark on investigative journalism - target those in power eg panama and paradise papers and mp scandals
media professionalism eval
strength
- investigative reporting takes place in topics that public might find interesting - frequently challenges the power and interests of dominant class
limitations
- pluralists criticised over-stating impartiality of journalists - many rely on official sources eg politicians and police
- surveys of general public demonstrate significant numbers of people dont trust journalists
- Trowler - 500 journalists embedded with british and american troops - iraq war - one-sided
press freedom in the uk
reporters without borders - campaigns for journalistic freedom
Uk - government tried to limit encryption on social media and whatapp - journalists prevented gaining access to politicians on run up to general elections - law firm appleby (protecting those who committed tax evasion) tried to sue guardian and bbc over paradise papers
eval - media is democratic mirror - if restricted cannot be democratic
do we really have diversity of views represented in mainstream media
yes - democratic mirror allowing for diversity of views, pluralism argues that theres plurality of view points, investigative journalism allows for views from multiple points as they investigate anything public may find interesting
no - limited journalism freedom, investigative journalism - biased official sources, marxism - media conglomerates only transmit the dominant ideology
how useful is pluralistic perspective
show role of consumer choice
dont deny living in capitalist society but show how state regulates media to prevent one ideology becoming too powerful
however - over-stating power of people and consumer choice - cannot control what journalists are transmitting as sources from places of power
