Topic 1 : Ownership And Control

Question 1

Ownership of global media has become far more…

Answer 1

Concentrated - meaning the mass media is owned and controlled by a small number of individuals

Question 2

Example of the mass media being concentrated

Answer 2

Murdoch - owns many media outlets including TV channels (sky/fox),newspapers (the sun and the times), journals and news agencies

He has a huge influence over the political processes and what people think
He will make the media present political parties in certain lights and this influences how people vote

Question 3

How has the media developed (new media)

Answer 3

Choice
Digital
Globally networked
Simulation
Interactive
Social media

Question 4

Illusion of choice statistic

Answer 4

6 media giants control 90% of the media - what we read, watch or listen to

6 companies are:

GE
News-corp
Disney
Viacom
Time Warner
CBS

Question 5

Bagdikian on ownership of the media

Answer 5

In 1983, 50 corporations controlled the vast majority of all news media in the USA, but by 2004 media ownership was concentrated in seven corporations

Question 6

Curran about ownership of British newspapers

Answer 6

Ownership of British newspapers has always been concentrated in the hands of a few powerful ‘press barons’.

Question 7

Global conglomeration

Answer 7

The movement of media corporations into the global marketplace

EG Samsung buying other companies / NewsCorp strengthening in Asia / amazon

Question 8

Horizontal and vertical integration

Answer 8

Horizontal integration - range of media owned by the same company EG NewsCorp owns Star TV (China), SKY, ITV, The Times and The Sun

Vertical integration - controls all levels of media production - TimeWarner controls the whole process of film making. They do not rely on other companies

Question 9

Diversification

Answer 9

Spreading into other business areas. EG - Virgin began as a music label, but has expanded into a wide range of products and services including banking, insurance, transport

Question 10

Synergy

Answer 10

Profiting from not just the ‘core’ product

EG Harry Potter merchandise

Question 11

Technological convergence

Answer 11

Combining media services into one device. Not relying on other companies for their services

Question 12

What does Doyle argue about ownership

Answer 12

Too much concentration of media ownership is dangerous because the media have the power to influence public opinion

Question 13

Pluralist theory of media ownership

Answer 13

Owners are responsible in the way they manage
information because media content is shaped by consumer demand - they only give the public what they want

Editors and journalists have professional ethics which act as a system of control on potential owner abuse of the media.

Audiences are the power holders - if they did not like the choices that media owners are making available, or if they suspect that the media was biased, they would respond by not consuming

Globalisation results from the need to find new audiences rather than from cultural imperialism

It is impossible for owners to interfere with the media because their businesses are too economically complex for them to regularly interfere in the daily running of the content.

Question 14

Public service broadcasting

Answer 14

Pluralists say that a large share of the media market in Britain is taken up by public service broadcasters (PSB) - media outlets controlled by the state such as the BBC

The BBC has a legal obligation to inform, to educate and to ensure that all programming is pluralistic and diverse, i.e. that all sections of society are catered for.

Pluralists argue that PSB is impartial and objective, and balances out any potential bias in the private sector.

Pluralists - that the power of owners is restricted by state, or governments

Question 15

Media professionalism

Answer 15

Pluralists - the professionalism of journalists and editors also constrains the power of owners

Journalists are fierce in their pursuit of the truth so they have too much integrity to be biased in favour of one perspective

Investigative journalism also has a good reputation in uncovering abuses of power and corruption among the ruling elite.

Question 16

The Marxist critique of media ownership and control

Answer 16

The function of mass media is to socialise the WC into accepting the legitimacy of the capitalist system and capitalist ideas

Consequently, the WC experience false class-consciousness - they fail to see that they are being exploited by a system that only benefits a powerful minority.

Question 17

The media and ideology + sociologists

Answer 17

Media owners transmit ruling class ideology

Miliband - the role of the media is to shape how we think and audiences are rarely informed about important issues such as inequalities in wealth

The media rarely criticises capitalism - owners shape media content so that only conformist views are heard.

Tunstall and Palmer - governments are no longer interested in controlling the activities of owners because they need their support to gain power

Question 18

Evidence for the ideological nature of ownership and control

Answer 18

Curran - 1920–50 ‘press barons’ openly boasted that they ran their newspapers for the purpose of propaganda that reflected their political views

Curran’s argues the pluralist view that media owners do not intervene in media content is false (since 2000 there has been even greater intervention by owners such as Murdoch)

However, Curran disagrees with Marxists about the motive for this - the actions of media owners are to pursue their economic goals to obtain a bigger share of the market than their competitors.

Question 19

The Glasgow University Media Group

Answer 19

Media content supports the capitalism. This is an unintended by-product of the backgrounds of journalists rather than a conscious effort - most journalists are male, White, and middle class

Barnett and Weymour - TV in Britain has been dumbed down. Time for news has fallen, and more time on serious news programmes is now devoted to celebrity news.

This has a negative cultural effect on education and information consumed

Question 20

Laws of libel

Answer 20

Lying and printing it as the truth

Question 21

Official secrets act

Answer 21

Printing something that the government deems as a secret

Question 22

How do governments influence and control media output?

Answer 22

Ofcom
BBC
IPSO

1. Official gov press conferences - they hope that the message is clear and will be presented in media clearly
2. Spin doctors - providing a positive slant to a potentially controversial person / news item. Or, they attempt to bury bad news - releasing information that shows the gov in a bad light at the same time as the nation’s media is distracted by a sensational story
3. Refuse broadcasting licenses they see as unfit - EG in china one is only able to broadcast if they support the Chinese government
4. Filtering online content - government interfering with websites (EG google withdrawn from china in 2010 over human rights issues)
5. Government’s electronic surveillance - ability to monitor social media, texts, web browsing etc.

Question 23

Marxist view on the ownership of media

Answer 23

Owners have direct control of media content- they can and do interfere with media content
Owners use the media to spread the dominant ideology which justifies the power of the RC

Journalists depend on owners for their jobs so are unlikely to run stories which challenge the authority of the RC

Audience is assumed to be passive and consume media without thought

EXAMPLE:
Rupert murdoch being a hands on editor
He supported the Iraq war so all of his newspapers did
Sacked people who didn’t support him - harry evans

Question 24

Miliband

Answer 24

Intrusmentalist

Mass media represents capitalist values and this plays a key role in the reproduction of the class system

Question 25

Bread and circus theory

Answer 25

Marcuse

By keeping the population entertained, those in power can divert attention away from potential issues, ensuring social stability. People are distracted and docile

Question 26

Evidence FOR the instrumentalist approach

Answer 26

Berlusconi (Italian PM) owning 3 TV channels which 40% of Italians watched - led him to winning the election

1997 - murdoch instructed his newspapers to support labour and Tony Blair
= this was a business decision as Blair was promising to lift cross media ownership restrictions so Murdoch would profit more

Question 27

What ideological functions do instrumentalists say the media performs?

Answer 27

Presents views of the RC as the truth - alternative viewpoint are dismissed as extremist

Presents inequality as inevitable - favourable portrayals of the wealthy and spreads myth of meritocracy

Negative portrayal of ethnic minorities - discourages criticisms of capitalism

Entertainment distracts public away from more critical thinking

Question 28

Weaknesses of instrumentalist view on ownership of the media

Answer 28

State regulates media ownership so companies don’t dominate

Audiences aren’t passive and actively challenge what they’re informed about - eg twitter

Pluralists - owners are primarily motivated by making a profit and would rather provide diverse content the public wants, rather than use the media to spread their own narrative

The rise of the New Media – encourages audiences to be more active and allow for a greater range of people to produce and share media content

Question 29

Sutton trust statistic regarding journalists

Answer 29

50% of top 100 journalists were privately educated

Question 30

Hegemonic view on ownership of media

Answer 30

Real influence comes from the media reporters / journalists - through this consumers accept the dominant ideology

Media professionals support these opinions by choice, not because of their boss - this creates a cultural hegemony

Journalists are white, mc and privately educated - socialised into these values - this means consumers are only exposed to a limited range of opinions

Occasional critical output to make it seem as if they are unbiased - they must ensure they attract advertisers so they have to come across as unbiased

Media set the agenda and gatekeep - they control what is covered in media and how - this limits real choice (Philo and the global banking crisis 2008)

Question 31

Hegemonic approach - advertising

Answer 31

Media gets revenue from advertising - journalists don’t want to offend the advertisers by reporting extremist views

Thus the influence is economic - they want to make profit and offensive content may lead to less views

EG
Tesco and virgin have pulled out of advertising in some newspapers because of their views

Question 32

Hegemonic approach - agenda setting

Answer 32

Agenda setting - control over what should be discussed / avoided

Setting the agenda might mean that some newspapers focus on trivial stories rather than serious issues (EG inequality)

This leads to a cultural hegemony, where capitalist values (privatisation, profit etc.) are normal and natural

Question 33

Jones - hegemonic approach

Answer 33

Media owners and journalists are part of ‘the establishment’ - they control media and (therefore democracy) and can manipulate it to protect their interests

Media therefore ignores the bad actions of the establishment and vilify the poor and ethnic minorities instead

Question 34

1984 miners strike

Answer 34

Thatcher in power

Miners were WC and were striking because of conditions and threats to their workplace - they were angry and protested

Media presented this in an unfair way - miners were portrayed as disruptive and politicians portrayed as calm and not to blame

Consumers were consequently brainwashed

Question 35

Philo

Answer 35

Reporting of the global banking crisis focussed on the banks themselves and solutions presented by political parties and financial institutions that caused it in the first place instead of criticising the actual capitalist system

This bias reaffirmed that we should see governments as saviours

Question 36

What is gatekeeping

Answer 36

Keeping some issues out of the media so they are not discussed

Question 37

What does agenda setting and gatekeeping do

Answer 37

Limits the content of media and the range of perspectives from which issues are discussed

Question 38

Criticisms of the hegemonic approach

Answer 38

Underestimates the power of owners who can hire and fire journalists

Pluralists argue the audience are more active than this theory suggests

New media makes it hard for owners to maintain this ideology

Question 39

Althusser

Answer 39

Media is part of the ISA which puts across capitalist ideas. But this is not because of owners - the general consensus theory in society is pro capitalist and therefore is seen as the norm

Question 40

Why do we have a limited media agenda according to neo Marxists?

Answer 40

Cultural hegemony explains why we have a limited media agenda

However, journalists share the same view as the owners and use gatekeeping and agenda setting to keep items which are harmful to elites out of the media

They see this view as common sense as they were socialised into it - not for economic reasons, factors such as the interests of journalists

Question 41

Pluralist view of ownership of the media

Answer 41

Not one single group has power - there is a plurality of news channels, newspapers etc. - reflect diversity of people

Media driven by companies needing to make profit - have to respond to consumers demand otherwise they will go out of business

This means no one company dominates

Content of media reflects diverse opinions of audiences

Question 42

Pluralist view on audiences

Answer 42

Audiences are free to choose their media - they can interpret media messages how they want (reject/accept/modify)

Stresses how citizens can now generate media - they can become journalists themselves - citizen journalists

People can express their views through social media including being critical of the establishment

Question 43

How true is the pluralist perspective (AO3)

Answer 43

Editors and owners have power and influence - not the public

Journalists have to work within constraints - they’re not independent

Choice has actually become limited - content is dumbed down and sensationalised
= no real varied opinions

Digital divide - not everyone has access to media (CAGE)

Question 44

Pluralism - state control

Answer 44

Power of media owners is restricted by state, or government, controls, e.g. in some societies, owners are not allowed to own too much media or different types of media

Many countries also have crossownership rules preventing people from owning more than one type of media

Furthermore, media in Britain is subject to legal controls and imposed on them by Ofcom

Question 45

Baudrillard - PM

Answer 45

We live in a media saturated society

People have less access to the real world - they rely on media which shapes people and their identities

Question 46

Key PM case study

Answer 46

Baudrillard and the gulf war

American soldiers suffered far less than Iraqis but Iraqi casualties were not reported

Thus the fighting ‘didn’t rlly take place’ from the POV of the west

The media presentation made it impossible to distinguish between the experience of what truly happened in the conflict, and its selective misrepresentation through simulacra

Question 47

PM view on ownership of the media

Answer 47

No longer restricted by national boundaries
Global conglomerates such as TimeWarner own hundred of media companies across the world

Question 48

Postmodernism and the global media

Answer 48

Individuals use the media to construct their identities - we are not defined by CAGE

The globalisation of media - we now have more cultural influences available to us - lifestyle choices and consumption

Ownership of media is no longer restricted by national boundaries. Moguls, such as Murdoch, and media conglomerates, such as Time Warner, own hundreds of media companies throughout the world.

Post-modernists see the global media as beneficial because it diffuses different cultural styles and creates new global hybrid lifestyles

Question 49

AO3 of PM view on globalisation

Answer 49

Marxists - globalisation restricts choice because transnational media companies have too much power

Marxists are particularly concerned that local media and cultures may be replaced by a global culture - Kellner suggests that this global media culture is about sameness and that it erases individuality

However, Cohen and Kennedy - cultural pessimists under-estimate the strength of local cultures – people do not abandon their cultural traditions - rather, they appropriate elements of global culture, and mix with elements of local culture

Question 50

Criticisms of PM view on media

Answer 50

Exaggerating the extent of social change - many people see CAGE as still having an influence over their lives and identities

Many are unable to make consumption choices because of poverty, racial discrimination and patriarchy - inequality remains a crucial influence, as access to the media is denied to many people

Too many generalisations - replacing meta narratives with another meta narrative

Mx would argue we are not free to choose – we are told what to consume by the capitalist society.

Digital divide