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Sociology- Mass Media > Topic 1- Ownership and Control > Flashcards

Topic 1- Ownership and Control Flashcards

1
Q

what are the 3 types of ownership?

A
  • private
  • state
  • public service broadcasting
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2
Q

what is private ownership?

A

media organisations that are run for profit by individuals, families or shareholders e.g. News Corporation by Rupert Murdoch

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3
Q

what is state ownership?

A

media organisations that are owned and fully controlled by the government e.g. in China, Chinese Central TV.

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4
Q

what is public service broadcasting ownership?

A

media organisations controlled by the state, but are impartial in their broadcasting and cater for all tastes and opinions e.g. the BBC.

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5
Q

what is media concentration?

A

It refers to when fewer and fewer large companies increasingly own what we see, hear and read.

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6
Q

what are the 6 examples of media concentration?

A
  • vertical integration
  • horizontal integration
  • laterla expansion
  • global conglomeration
  • technicl convergence
  • synergy
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7
Q

what do pluralists argue about the media content?

A

neutral in production

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8
Q

what is vertical integration and give an example

A
  • An attempt by media organisations to own all areas of their business.
  • ITV, which owns production studios that create content for its TV channels
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9
Q

what is horizontal inegration and give an example

A
  • The process whereby an organisation begins in one area of media ownership but then branches out into a different area of media ownership.
  • E.g. bigger media companies often own a range of different types of media outlets.
  • acquisition of Instagram by Facebook
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10
Q

what is lateral expansion and give an example

A
  • The process whereby media owners expand into other business areas in order to spread economic risk. Losses made in one area may be compensated for by profits in another.
  • the virgin group
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11
Q

what is global conglomeration and give an example

A
  • Concentration of media ownership has been assisted by the erosion of traditional national boundaries and the globalization of both economics and culture.
  • Sony, Samsung and Viacom have invested in or brought up media companies outside their countries of origin.
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12
Q

whar is technological convergence and give an example

A
  • This refers to the trend of putting several technologies into one media delivery system such as the smartphone, tablet or laptop.
  • the Apple iPhone, music, films, television, apps and games are more accessible to a global audience
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13
Q

what is synergy and give an example

A
  • media transnationals using their diversity to package the same product in several different ways therefore increasing profit e.g. film is often accompanied by a soundtrack album, a computer game, a downloadable ringtone and so on.
  • frozen and harry potter
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14
Q

what are the 3 types of control?

A
  • government
  • legal
  • regulatory bodies
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15
Q

what are the 4 branches of media control in the government?

A
  • spin doctors
  • official press briefings
  • email surveillance
  • official regulators
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16
Q

what are the 4 branches of legal media ownership?

A
  • the laws of libel
  • the racial and religious hatred act 2006 and equality act 2010
  • the obscene publication act
  • super-injunction
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17
Q

what are the laws of libel?

A
  • prevents the publication of untrue statements.
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18
Q

what is The Racial and Religious Hatred Act (2006) and Equality Act (2010)?

A
  • forbids the publication of opinion that will encourage hatred of and discrimination against people because of their gender, ethnicity or religious belief.
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19
Q

what is the obscene publication act?

A
  • forbids the publication of anything a court deems obscene and indecent.
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20
Q

what is super-injunction?

A
  • : a legal gagging order which not only prevents the media from reporting the details of a story, but also forbids mention of the existence of the injunction itself.
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21
Q

what are the 3 branches of regulatory bodies in media ownership?

A
  • ofcom
  • the BBC trust
  • the advertising standards agency
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22
Q

what is ofcom?

A

independent regulator for the UK communications industries. It considers complaints about programmes transmitted by all broadcasters licensed in the UK against the Broadcasting Code.

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23
Q

what is the BBC trust

A

the governing body of the BBC. It is independent of BBC management and aims to act in the best interests of licence fee payers. The BBC Trust accepts complaints on issues such as editorial content, television licensing, digital switchover.

24
Q

what is the advertising standards agency?

A

considers whether adverts are ‘legal, decent, honest and truthful’ by measuring them against the Advertising Codes.

25
Q

what do pluralists argue that modern capitalist societies are?

A

democratic

26
Q

what do pluralists argue what power reflects?

A

a broad range of interests

27
Q

what do pluralists say about the type of power the media has?

A

no single individual or group has a monopoly of power

28
Q

who do pluralists argue controls the media?

A

the audience

29
Q

what do pluralists say media is driven by?

A

economic factors (profit)

30
Q

what do pluralists say media content is decided by

A

consumer choice

31
Q

what do pluralists say how media professionals act and what does it do?

A

Media professionals act with autonomy (freedom) as they produce news stories, television programmes and news bulletins, that interest and attract the most audience numbers.

32
Q

what do pluralists say about the examples of media concentration?

A

aimed at reducing the costs involved in contracting services out to other media companies that might be competing with them.

33
Q

what do pluralists say about the range of media products available?

A

extremely diverse

34
Q

what is the result of media products being diverse according to pluralists?

A

all points of view in a democratic society are catered for. If some viewpoints have a greater range of media representing them, this is not necessarily biased. It merely mirrors what the audience wants or sees as important.

35
Q

what does levene say in support of pluralism?

A
  • postmodernist
  • media ownership is not ‘concentrated’ but ‘fluid’.
  • Public opinion is influential in what the media shows/broadcasts.
36
Q

puralists see the existance of ……… ………….. …………. as support for their theory and why?

A
  • public service broadcasting
  • the epitome of impartial and objective media without any potential bias that might occur in the private sector
37
Q

what does curran say in argument against pluralism?

A
  • media owners have undermined newspaper independence and balance in subtle ways by not choosing the editors and journalists that ‘fail’ to toe their owner’s line.
  • He observes that journalists deliberately self-censor their reports to omit controversial issues that might draw the owner’s attention to them.
  • Dissident journalists are often sacked.
38
Q

what does dissident mean?

A

a person who opposes official policy

39
Q

what do Blulmer and Gurevitch say in rejection to pluralist views?

A

that many journalists are over reliant on official sources – particularly politicians and the police – for information and stories, and this undermines journalistic objectivity.

40
Q

how does mass media corporations producing a variety of products support pluralism?

A
  • Pluralists argue readers, viewers and listeners are the real power holders because they exercise consumer sovereignty, which is the right to buy or not to buy.
  • Pluralists point out that mass media corporations produce an amazing variety of media products aimed at different markets.
  • Consumers are empowered because they have access to more diverse media products
41
Q

why does professionalism of journalists support pluralists’ theories?

A
  • arguing editors would never allow owners to compromise their independence.
  • They argue that journalists have too much integrity to be regularly biased in favour of one particular perspective
42
Q

what is a point against pluralism about people deciding what they want to see in the media?

A
  • It is difficult for ordinary people to decide what they want to see or hear if the media provide their only source of information.
  • Powerless groups do not have the resources to set up media companies to communicate their points of view.
  • Consumers therefore do not have access to a diversity of media reflecting every conceivable opinion because particular views are deemed unacceptable or too extreme by owners and media professionals.
43
Q

according to traditional marxists what has media concentration allowed to media to do?

A

to be controlled by a small proportion of media owners

44
Q

who directly controls the media content according to marxists?

A

owners

45
Q

which marxist takes a manipulative or instrumentalist approach to the ownership and control of the media.

A

miliband

46
Q

what did miliband argue the mass media represents and what does it do?

A
  • ideological instrument
  • which plays a key role in the reproduction and justification of class inequality.
47
Q

what type of ideology do media owners transmit according to marxists?

A
  • conservative
  • conformist
48
Q

what is the role of media according to marxists?

A

convince the general public that ruling class ideology is ‘truth’ and ‘fact’.

49
Q

what is an example of media owners shaping and manipulating how people think?

A

the media rarely inform the general public about why people continue to live in poverty or if they do, they represent the poor as somehow responsible for their situation.

50
Q

how would you describe media representations of wealth from a marxist point of view?

A

positive

51
Q
A
52
Q

what do marxists argue media representations of ethnic minorities portray them as?

A

criminals, migrants and extremists in order to divide and rule the working class

53
Q

what do marxists believe the mass media does to result in alternative viewpoints of a subject are dismissed?.

A

ensure that members of society only get a narrow range of ‘approved’ views and knowledge

54
Q

what do media owners have because of their economic power according to marxists?

A

ability to influence and control its ideological output

55
Q

what is curran’s study and how does it support marxist theories about the media?

A

investigated the content of newspapers and found evidence to support the claim that newspaper owners often did interfere with the newspaper content.
* 1974 to 1992, Curran argues sole trader, Rupert Murdoch acquired both the Sun and the Times. He was oriented towards what sold rather than what furthered a party interest or ideological viewpoint
* 1997, Murdoch instructed his newspapers to abandon support for the Conservative party and to support Tony Blair’s New Labour. It was a hardnosed business decision because Blair was willing to lift state controls that prevented cross media ownership.

56
Q

what is a criticism of marxism in terms of the ruling class ideology?

A
  • They assume that ruling class ideology has an effect upon its audience in the form of false class consciousness although there is little evidence for this.
  • Neo Marxists such as Gramsci argue that the working class are likely to experience dual consciousnesses.
  • They may agree with aspects of ruling class ideology but their experience of everyday life and work means that they have the ability to see through and reject the ideology transmitted by owners of the media.
57
Q
A

Sociology- Mass Media (1 decks)

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