This blogposts contains information i have learnt in class
Media consolidation - Media Consolidation refers to the concentration of ownership of our media sources (news, film, TV, radio, video games etc)
into the hands of fewer and fewer corporations.
Advantages of media consolidation:
Able to provide content for niche audiences
Improved quality due to better funding
It is cheaper for the audience
Converging technologies (eg. we can now get our TV, phone and internet from the same company, making things
simple)
Diversification - less risk for the media company. (if something fails, it is not too much of an issue)
Can reach a larger audience.
Disadvantages of media consolidation:
smaller/independent media outlets can’t compete with the production quality
Illusion of choice
Lack of competitiveness and alternate view points. Every TV channel is expressing the same viewpoint.
The focus is making money, not good content
Less local news
Curran & Seaton Theory
The mass media is owned and operated by fewer and fewer companies. (media consolidation into conglomerates.
(conglomerates - conglomerates are large parent companies with smaller independent entities that may operate
across multiple industries.)
Mass media is driven by political agendas and economic influences.
The rise in new media is associated with the decline of quality content.
Web users have a larger voice and can challenge conglomerates.
Vertical integration - it is when one company owns more than one stage of the media chain. (production, distribution, exhibition)
Benefits of owning all stages of production:
For the company (eg. Disney):
Creative control over story, script, design, editing, rating, marketing
Able to use more characters that appeal to a wider audience.
Increase revenue (don’t share profits)
Access to user data (tailor content, suggestions)
For the audience:
More content, intertextuality (intertextuality - the relationship between media products where one text references another text by reusing some of its ideas and meanings)
Horizontal integration - when one company owns more than one stage within the same level.
It also allows companies to diversify their content, profit etc. it also allows for cross - promotion, and different media platforms bring access to different audiences.
Audiences can benefit because it gives them more exposure to their favourite media properties/characters, and can increase engagement. (children who are exposed to character when they are young will more likely consume the same property when they are older)
Synergy - mutually beneficial cross promotional strategies used by companies.
How synergy benefits both parties:
For examples James Bond
Benefits for James Bond:
High pays from companies
More locations, tax free
Luxury brands to bolster Bond’s image
More awareness (each company will have its own Bond marketing campaign)
A chance to reach new markets/audience
Benefits for companies:
Get to be associated with Bond
Good advertisement for locations
They can include the character in their marketing campaigns
Bond fans may purchase products they see on screen
Hypodermic Needle theory (not really a working theory anymore)
It assumes the audience as a sponge, absorbing ideologies from the media passively, without any questions
Two Step Flow theory
Expand the passive audience theory to suggest that people have their interpretations formed by opinion leaders (opinion leader - an active media user who interprets the meaning of media messages or content for lower-end media users. / trusted members of the community -> celebrities, influences)
Uses & Gratification (Blumer & Katz)
The audience is actively using the media to satisfy some of our bas social needs;
Diversion - a form of escapism from the stresses and strains of life. Maybe all media falls into this group
Personal identity - the media supplies us with role models and ways of understanding our place in society
Social relationships - people make connections with performers they see on the screen, they also form relationships with people in society when discussing the media product
Surveillance - audiences use the media to gather information
‘In the world of media ownership, bigger is always better.’ To what extent is this true in the media area you have studied? [25 marks]
How to answer:
Topic sentence that answers the question
Outline the company, what it owns
Give an explanation of vertical integration
Introduce the media and how it was produced, distributed and exhibited
How does this benefit the company?
How does this benefit the audience?
Are there any disadvantages?
How do the ideas of Curran and Seaton fit this case study? (what is the company’s ideology? What economic influences played a role? Has this integration resulted ina decline in quality?)
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