TRENDS IN THE OWNERSHIP AND

CONTROL OF THE MEDIA

A2 SOCIOLOGY

Media ownership

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjwJ2JSEjzM

Introduction The mass media are generally defined as

those agencies of communication that transmit information, education, news and entertainment to mass audiences,

There are broadly three types of media: 1. The print media, 2. Audio visual media, 3. Cybermedia or digital media.

Print media Newspapers, magazines, comics, books, and

some form of news advertising – most of the these types of media are commercially owned and produced in order to generate profit for the publishing companies that own them.

The audio visual media Terrestrial and satellites television, radio,

cinema, DVDs, and music. Most of these medias are owned and

produced by commercial broadcasters whose main aim is to make profit usually through subscriptions and/or advertising revenue.

In the UK a significant proportion of the audio visual media is publicly owned or state owned.

Cybermedia and digital media

Those are the new types of media whicoh also include the internet or worldwide web and in particular interactive online websiites such as Facebook.

What do you think

Individually read through the handout and answer the three questions.

Ownership and control

Why do you think those two key terms are

important when looking at the mass media ?

Ownership and control Some sociologist have expressed concerns

about recent trends in media ownership and control.The number of media outlets available to the

general public has increased dramatically (increased in the TV choice and the birth of the internet),

All these changes in the in the availability of media seem to imply a greater degree of choice however some sociologist argue that this might just an illusion

Concentration of ownership - Bagdikian (2003)

In 1983, 50 corporations controlled the vast majority of all news media in the USA,

In 1992, 22 companies owned 90 percent of the media,

He argues that if the USA media were owned by separate individuals there would be 25000 owners,

Media/cybermedia ownership in the USA

1. Time Warner, Bebo 2. Disney, 3. News Corp, MySpace 4. Sony, 5. Bertelsmann of Germany, 6. Viacom (formerly know as CBS), 7. General Electric NBC

Concentration of media ownership

4 distinct features:Ownership within a single medium e.g. Company owning

several newspaper, Owners have an interest in a range of media such as

newspapers, magazines, book publishing, the film industry, Ownership is international: owners have media interest in

many different countries, Media conglomerates: companies that have a range of

interest in a wide rage of interest in a wide variety of products besides the media. For example Virgin also has an airline, train company, soft drinks, mobiles phones etc...

Who owns what in the UK Read through table 3.2 in your handout which summarises media ownership in the

UK.

Suggest at least 2 reasons why the concentration of ownership of the mass media might be of concern

in a democracy ?

Media ownership in the media

Broadcasting media – ITV Plc (owns 11 of 15 regional commercial television franchise),

NewsCorp ( Murdoch) – BSkyB, Virgin Media (Branson) British Music Industry – EMI

Reading task Read the article on media ownership and

British politics ...

What message is the author of the article trying to bring across?

Horizontal Integration AKA cross media ownership which refers to

the fact that bigger media companies often have a diverse range of media (NewsCorp)Newspaper, Century Fox, Star TV

Vertical Integration Some media companies are increasingly

trying to control all aspects of their industry in order to maximise their profits.

E.g. Time Warner makes its own films and distributes them to its own cinema complexes

Vertical integration therefore gives the media companies greater control over their operating environment.

Diversification

AKA as lateral expansion and occurs when firms diversify into new business areas to spread risks.

Losses into one area may be compensated by profits in another (Virgin Media)

Global conglomerations Media companies have taken advanitage of

the erosion of traditional boundaries surrounding media markets.

Globalisation has opened up natyional markets and has created international competitions between media companies.

E.g.NewsCorp – owns newspaperws in australia, the UK and the USA.

Synergy Media companies are using different interest

to package their products in several different ways

E.g. Spiderman 2 was not only a movie but also a soundtrack, ringtone, computer game, toy action figures, etc...

Very often the media company producing the film also own the companies that produce the music and computer game (franchise)

Technological Convergence A fairly new concept which refers to the

trend of putting several technologies into one media product for example through the personal computer, mobile phones, digital television.

E.g. we can access the internet, telecommunication services, paying bills, buying and downloading media through the use of mobile phones and personal computers.

Plenary

Individually without using your notes, match the correct trend,

definition and evidence.

You have 10 minutes to complete this task