Topic 1 - Ownership And Control Of The Media Flashcards
What does the media refer to?
- The technology involved in communicating with large audiences without any
personal contact eg. television - The institutions and organizations concerned with mass communication in which
people work eg. the press, cinema, broadcasting, advertising - Products of those institutions eg. news, films, television,magazines, books, radio
and comp
What is traditional media?
Mass media that communicated uniform messages to large mass audiences. E.g. terrestrial television channels and radio stations broadcasted from the BBC and newspaper.
What is the new media?
- emerged in the late 20th/early 21st century. Usually interactive and screen based.
- includes social media sites, the streaming of video and audio files, digital/satellite and ‘smart’ tv, computer games and apps for mobile telephones and tablets.
What does Bauman say about the power of the media?
During the last 30 years, more info has been produced than during the past 5,000 years.
A copy of the New York Times contains more info than a cultivated person in the 18th century would consume in a lifetime.
What are the concerns about the power of the media?
- Is it informative or does it ‘filter’ the information and obscure the truth?
- Do they misrepresent or stereotype certain groups?
What are some of the formal controls of the media in Britain?
- The law: restricts the media’s freedom to report anything they choose.
- Ofcom (The office of communications): protects the public from any offensive or harmful effects of broadcast media.
- The BBC: represents license paying audiences.
- Independent broadcasting: license companies and are responsible for the amount and quality of advertising and programmes on independent television and radio.
- IPSO (independent press standard organisation): engage in self regulation. Regulate and deal with complaints about the content of newspapers that breach acceptable standards.
Summarise the case study of the Levenson enquiry
- in 2011 journalists of News Of The World hacked mobile phones linked to new stories.
- victims were celebrities and even a murder victim.
- led to a high profile inquiry which proposed key changes like replacing the PCC with an independent regulatory body.
How do governments try to influence the output of media?
- Official government press conferences and briefings of journalists.
- Leaks and off the record briefings.
- The use of government spin doctors.
- Refusal to issue broadcasting licenses to those who it deems are unfit and unsuitable.
- Refusal to allow the use of some forms of computer software as well as the use of filtering and surveillance software to block access to some internet sites.
- Electronic surveillance of emails, monitoring of websites and intercepts of mobile calls.
What is a media mogul?
An individual who owns a significant share of a media company, arguably by providing them with significant control over that companies media content.
What did Bagdikian come up with?
‘Lords of the global village’ - the concentration of media ownership by a few media companies.
What are the key features of lords of the global village?
- Concentration of ownership.
- Vertical integration.
- Horizontal integration or cross-media ownership.
- Global ownership. Media ownership is international.
- Conglomeration and diversification.
- Global conglomeration.
- Synergy.
- Technological convergence.
What does Morley (a Marxist) say about the media?
Preferred (or dominant) reading - the interpretation of messages that those producing media content would prefer their audiences to believe.
What does Althusser (Marxist) say about the media?
Agencies like the media and education system use ideological state apparatuses. They seek to induce in the mass of people, a false consciousness of their exploitation and their real interests.
What does Milliband (Marxist) say about the media?
Media editors, managers and journalists have very little choice other than to run the media within the boundaries set down by the owners as they depend on them for their jobs.
What evidence did Curran and Seaton (Marxists) find about media owners?
They did interfere and manipulate newspaper content, at the expense of the independence of journalists and editors, to protect their own interests and supported or withheld criticisms of governments which defended those interests.
What is some AO3 of Marxism?
- Neo-Marxists point out that the owners of the media companies do not have time to micromanage media content.
- State regulates media ownership so no one person or company has too much influence.
- Pluralists suggest the rise of new digital media and the internet and the growth of citizen journalism had undermined the traditional influence of media owners.
What does Gramsci say ‘hegemony’ is?
Norms and values of the ruling classes is taken as common sense.
According to neo-Marxists why do we have a limited media agenda?
Cultural hegemony. Journalists have accepted the conservative worldview of the ruling class as common sense and they share this world view with the ruling class therefore unconsciously spreading the dominant ideology themselves.
What is the AO3 of Neo-Marxists?
- traditional Marxists would question the idea that journalists themselves share the right wing views of their owners.
- pluralists would argue that the views of the media are a result of the market demands of the audience.
What is pluralism?
A theory of the distribution of political power that holds that power is widely and evenly dispersed in society rather than concentrated in the hands of the elite or ruling class.
What is the pluralist view of the media?
The audience controls media consumption as they actively choose what to consume, influencing media companies to meet their demands.
What is the postmodernist and globalisation view on media?
There is a greater choice than ever for the audience, therefore they’re the most powerful group when it comes to media as the owners cannot control what’s out there anymore.
What does Levene (postmodernism) say about the media?
People can use social media platforms like Facebook and twitter to put across their own narratives. They are not controlled by the media, they themselves control the media.
What are some AO3 evaluations of pluralists, postmodernism and globalisation views on media?
- Marxists argue that the audiences are manipulated by the media.
- Barnett and Weymour say that despite there being hundreds of tv channels, there is not an offer of a greater choice, it’s all the same.
- The pressure to attract audiences doesn’t increase media choice but limits it.
