Sociology Mass Media- Ownership and Control

The ownership of different and numerous media companies is concentrated into fewer and fewer hands.

E.g. Rupert Murdoch and Sky ect.

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A large business with operations and outlets in a range of countries. 

E.g. McDonalds 

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A corporation have a wide range of media products and diversity in their products. 

E.g Disney: theme parks, toys, hotels

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It is produced by cross media ownership. Simply an organisation that owns a large number of companies in various media's e.g radio, television. 

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When media companies attempt to control every stage in the production of their media content. E.g. It makesand broadcasts the programmes. 

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Owners run the business side of media but delegate editorial or content matters to others such as determing media content. 

The owners are involved in every aspect including determing media content.

- Think that the media HELPS to put across an ideology 

- They don't see the media as the primary reason for the ideology. 

- Idea of 'Legitimation' which is making the system we see just and fair. 

- 'Hegemony' the dominant ideology in society (through ruling class)

- False consciousness- Illusion instilled into working class that a captalist society is fair for everyone. 

Example Case Study:

GUMG (1985) study of an industrial dispute. Looked at how the employees and employers were presented. 

Employees presented as the ones in the wrong, little coverage on what the strike was actually about, time allocation was short, tone of the interviews were more negative. Whilst the employers had longer times allocated to be interviewed and presented more positively. 

The news media has a large influence on audiences by their choices of what stories to consider newsworthy and how much promience to put on them. 

- Belive the audience are active

- 'Market mechanism'- media outputs have to survive, this will be down to if they have a large enough audience. Idea of we do have control becuase they make what we want and if we dont it fails. 

-Audience participation- general public can always have their say by writing letters or emails, now easier to do this. 

Division of control- argue that media owners cannot possibly control all output of their media and they are forced to give day to day control over to editors and producers. So they favour allocative control. 

- Marxism ect are out of date as the world is changing so rapidly.

-Media saturated- media in its different forms dominate everyday life. 

-Baurillard- 'Hyperreality' we cannot distinguish between real life and the media. 

- Citizen journalism- media production is no longer in the hands of proffesionals but the general public.