Relationship between ownership & control of the media

The media relates to the technology involved in communicating with large mass audiences such as TVs, laptops and smartphones; the institutions concerned with mass communication in which people work such as publishing, cinema and the products of those institutions such as magazines and movies

Traditional media - Media that communicates uniform messages in one way allowing no interaction with little communication choice such as terrestrial TV channels and radio

New media - Interactive screen based digital technology which involves a mixture of image, text and sound such as YouTube and digital TV

The rise in social media

Social media is now the most significant and popular forms of new media, with people interacting through Facebook, Twitter etc. Blockbuster Video closed due to the rise of new media such as Netflix which allows users to watch a variety of platforms as opposed to before when there were just video players. There's now no need to buy/hire physical copies when they can be downloaded and streamed for cheaper highlighting the shift from traditional to new media

96% of homes in the UK have a digital TV and 77% of households have broadband showing how society has become more media saturated with the media becoming an important source of information, entertainment and leisure activity. If the media did not report on an event the only people who would know about it would be those that are directly involved showing how the media can give distorted images

The law - This restricts the media's freedom to report anything they choose in any way they like:

• The laws of libel forbid the publication of an untrue statement about a person which might bring them into ridicule or dislike in society
• The Official Secrets Acts make it a criminal offence to report any official 'secret' government actvity without authorisation
• The Racial and Religious Hatred Act forbid the expression of opinions which will eoncourage hatred against people because of their ethnicity/religion
• The Obscene Publications Act forbids the publication of anything that a court considers to be indecent and likely to deprave persons who are likely to read it

Ofcom - This was established in 2003 as a powerful media regulator with responsibilities across television, radio etc. This has responsibility for:

• Furthering the interests of consumers
• Securing the best use of the radio spectrum
• Ensuring that a wide range of media are available in the UK with high quality services having a broad appeal
• Protecting the public from any offensive or potentially harmful effects of broadcast media, and safeguarding people from being unfairly treated in media

A record £4.6 million penalty was presented to Vodafone by Ofcom in October 2016 as punishment for its shambolic customer service as well as failure to credit money paid by thousands of pay as you go customers into their accounts after Ofcom opened up an investigation after a series of complaints

The BBC - A largely state funded body which is governed by the BBC Trust whose members are appointed by the Queen on advice from government ministers. It sets the strategic direction of the BBC and has a clear duty to represent the interests of license fee payers who finance them and to remain independent and resist pressure from any source. They are partly regulated by Ofcom, and partly by the Trust

The IPSO - The Independent Press Standards Organisation is an independent regulator for the newspaper and magazine industry in the UK established in 2014. It seeks to monitor and maintain the standards of journalism set out in what is known as the Editors' Code of Practice which deals with issues such as accuracy, invasion of privacy and then it investigates complaints about the content which breachs standards and the behaviour of journalists

In addition to the various legal and regulatory controls governments try to influence the output of the media in a number of other ways:

• By official government press conferences which present the official government position on current issues. Donald Trump did the opposite and banned various news corporations such as CNN and BBC from attending his press conferences as he accused them of lying therefore preventing them from broadcasting his material
• The use of government spin doctors who try to manipulate the media by providing a favourable slant to an unpopular news item or who bury bad news by releasing a sensational story to distract people from it. In Australis they have a communications team which tell politicians how to act

• Refusal to allow the use of some forms computer software and the use of filtering to block access to certain sites. The US government attacked WikiLeaks which release original restricted documents from anonymous sources as documents were allegedly taken from the CIA which detail dozens of secret exploits which could be used to listen in to conversations and take photos and as the companies do not know about the virus security updates can't tackle it. Supporters have protested against the silencing of sources in the name of free speech
• Surveillence of emails and intercepts of calls with a new law being passed in the UK in 2014 allowing police to scrutinise the public's email and social media communications. These can restrict people's willingness to communicate freely for fear of repercussions

86% of national daily newspapers is controlled by just four companies. Rupert Murdoch is the force behind News UK which owns the Sun and The Times making up 32% of all newspaper sales in the UK and he is the world's second largest media conglomerate.

The features of media ownership include the following:

• Concentration of ownership - Most of the media of all kinds are concentrated in the hands of a few very large companies such as News UK and News Corporation who also own 39% of Sky and HarperCollins
• Vertical integration - There is concentration of ownership within a single medium such as a film company which also owns the cinema chain which will show the film
• Horizontal integration - Media owners have interests in a range of media such as newspapers, magazines, music, websites etc

• Global integration - Media ownership is international; owners have global media empires such as Rupert Murdoch who owns Asian channel Star TV
• Conglomeration and diversification - Media companies are often part of huge conglomerates with interests not just within the media such as Virgin who own an airline, network, travel agents etc
• Synergy - Media companies produce, promote and sell a product in a variety of forms often in collaboration with other companies thereby promoting sales of that product such as the Harry Potter franchise which spans a vast range of media and entertainment products licensed to a range of companies
• Technological convergence - Media companies try to maximise sales of their products by making them available in a variety of formats such as a smartphone which can be used to advertise the film, watch the film, download the soundtrack etc

Bagdikian says that 5 global media firms (Disney, News Corp, Time Warner, CBS & Viacom) own most of the media in the US giving them more power than a dictator

Ideology refers to a set of ideas and beliefs that represents the outlook and justifies the interests of a social group. The ideological role of the media is concerned with the extent to which the media socialise audiences into a particular view of the world. This is often achieved by the media producing messages that they expect audiences to respond to in a particular way. This is what Morley calls the dominant reading - the interpretation of messages that those producing media content would prefer their audiences to believe such as Anti-Jew propaganda in Germany and Anto-EU features in The Sun

Marxists see societies as having a dominant ideology which justifies the social advantages of wealthy, powerful groups in society and justifies the disadvantages of those who lack power and wealth. It is spread through the ideological state apparatuses such as the media and education system which seek to induce the people into a false consciousness of their exploitation

Marxists believe that the owners of the media directly control media content and manipulate the content to protect their profits and spread their dominant ideology. Media editors have little choice other than to run the media within the boundaries set down by the owners as they depend on them for jobs

Curron & Seaton found evidence which suggested media owners did interfere and manipulate newspaper content at the expense of the independence of journalists to protect their own interests. An example of this is Rupert Murdoch who in 2003 advocated a war with Iraq and all of his 175 newspapers supported his view too. The Leveson Inquiry uncovered a range of links between media owners and governments with media support given to political parties in return for policies which support the interests of media owners

Criticisms 

• It assumes the media audience is passive but audiences are not as gullible or as easily manipulated as the approach suggests as people can reject the dominant readings
• Pluralists argue there is a wide range of opinion in the media as media owners are only concerned with making profits and in order to do so they have to provide what the audiences want, not what the owners want
• Ofcom and laws regulates media ownership so no one can have too much influence such as TV and radio having to report news impartially
• Pluralists and Neophiliacs who are optimists who rapidly adopt and use the new media suggest the rise of social media has undermined the traditional influence of media owners as the public can share their opinion on events through Twitter for example

This is a recent neo-Marxist approach associated with the work of the Glasgow Media Group which suggests the mass media spread a dominant ideology justifying the power of the ruling class. It recognises the power of owners but instead say they rarely have direct control of the media which is instead left in the hands of managers. These managers generally support the dominant ideology not by choice but because most managers are white middle class males with similar socialisation and opinions. This means the audience is exposed to a narrow range of opinions in which anyone who threatens the status quo is presented as outside the established consensus view of the world

Journalists also have their own news values which can sometimes go against the dominant class to attract more readers such as during the recession the Sun labelled top bankers as 'Scumbag Millionaires'. Media will be presented with a dominant ideology such as the London Riots where the news focused on the damage caused rather than looking into the reasons why the riots began

Agenda setting involves the power to manage which issues are to be presented for public discussion and debate and which issues are to be kept in the background and Gatekeeping is the power of some people to limit access to something valuable or useful

Philo studied media coverage of the 2008 global banking crisis and found the media focused attention predominantly on the views and solutions offered by the 3 main political parties and the bankers themselves

Criticisms

• It underrates the power of the owners as journalists' careers are dependent on gaining approval from the owners
• Pluralists argue the rise of new media has undermined the traditional influence allowing audiences to criticise on social media
• Agenda setting means audiences have little choice of media content as media is produced within a framework of the dominant ideology

Pluralists argue that the media are generally free from any government or direct control and can present any view they want. The same goes for journalists who are not simply the pawns of their employers as many have integrity and independence. Audiences as well have more choice in what they read and are able to choose from a wide range of material. The rise of social media and the internet enable all sorts of views to be represented through citizen journalism. More people are free to choose in a pick and mix approach to whatever interpretation suits them and they have the opportunity to communicate with vast numbers of other people. For example everyone can publish their thoughts on Twitter

Criticisms

• Media owners appoint editors who share a similar outlook on the world and they have constraints placed on them by the owners
• Not all groups have equal influence on editors to get their view across as the rich and powerful are more likely to be interviewed and appear on chat shows
• The pressure to attract audiences doesn't increase media choice but limits it as media becomes sensationalised aimed to attract large mass audiences with bland content. Media has become tabloidised with the focus on celebrity gossip rather than real news or original content