We want to inform the public about things they should know about that they aren’t hearing on a daily basis.” When we asked Paul if media technology is helping or hurting democracy, he replied, “Well, it’s not so cut and dry. - From 1920 to 1950, press barons such as Lord Beaverbrook, who owned the Express newspaper group, openly stated their ideological intentions. If we were to do the same at the global level, it would not get much beyond Amazon, Google, YouTube and Facebook. The owner then takes control of the content, in example news stories, their media showcases and portrays to a large number of people. Also, the sociological theories that question the control the owners have over the content shown on our televisions, read in our newspapers and shown through all aspects of media. The Leveson Inquiry showed exactly how concentration of media power, in a few pairs of hands, corrupted the relationship between politicians and the press and the police. Men would photograph women working as maids, other labor jobs, or in factories to make them appear as though they were miserable or unhappy working and supporting themselves without the aid of a man. Conforming to the owner's requirements brings rewards in terms of interesting assignments and promotion, whilst dissident journalists are often sacked. Community organizations became increasingly concerned that the mass media in Canada, for the most part, ignored the presence and contribution of racial minorities as part of the multicultural/multiracial fabric of Canadian society. In short the power to shape media is in our hands but we give all the power right back to the media. In today’s western culture and in most parts of the world, male domination and authority still takes place even in today’s 2014 modern culture. This is the crucial distinction between shareholder ownership and control that is practiced in the real world. There is a grain of truth in this, but it is clear that the reality is much more complex. It is difficult for ordinary people to decide what they want to see or hear if the media provide their only source of information. It was for this reason that we selected an independently run newspaper as our Community Partner to aid in our research. Also, the sociological theories that question the control the owners have over the content shown on our televisions, read in our newspapers and shown through all aspects of media. Many countries have cross-ownership rules preventing companies from owning more than one media form in the same areas- for example, an owner may only be able to own one television station rather than several. These tend to be overwhelmingly white, middle class and male. Postman said, “a medium has the power to fly far beyond that context into new and unexpected ones” (Postman, 1985), he goes on to talk about how the medium allows us to organize our thoughts and share our experiences with each other. In 1973, four men- Lords Beaverbrook, Rothermere, Camrose and Northcliffe, known as the 'press barons' owned nearly one in every two national and local daily newspapers sold in the UK. Their website says they have been operating online since 1993 and states clearly on the homepage: “The Washington Free Press exists to carry under-reported news and thought-provoking opinion out to a wider audience. Here the media also refused to search for the underlying cause behind the protest choosing instead only to depict African-American males engaged in violence and destruction. Thorham notes, that feminists perspectives are often dismissed by journalists as extreme and threatening. Curran: there is plenty of evidence that media owners have undermined newspaper independence and balance in subtle ways by choosing the editors that they want and getting rid of editors and journalists that fail to toe their owners line. The Report charged the media with failing to properly communicate about race to the majority of their audience. Or more specifically, what is America’s collective history concerning Media Ownership and Control? Therefore, he takes responsibility for all the Policy – making decisions and is also accountable for them. Women were able to regain and in some cases, for the first time gain individuality. However, by 2014, media ownership in the USA was concentrated in six corporations: Comcast, Disney, 21st Century Fox/News Corporations, Time warmer, Viacom and CBS Corporation. Personal use only; commercial use is strictly prohibited (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice). On September 26th, 1690 Richard Pierce published what would go down in history as the first News Paper to be printed in America. The Medium of media has allowed for messages to come across stronger or more emotional than ever before. Agenda setting therefore results in 'cultural hegemony', with the basic principles of capitalism- private enterprise, profit, the 'free market' and the rights of property ownership- being presented by the media as 'normal' and 'natural'. This site makes use of cookies. Just three companies control nearly 70 per cent of national newspaper circulation – Rupert Murdoch's News UK; DMGT (The Daily Mail group), chaired by Jonathan Harmsworth, 4th Viscount Rothermere; and Trinity Mirror. Feminists are critical of pluralism because they argue that the range of female voices made available in the marketplace is actually very narrow. Marxists believe that the media owners do this by transmitting a conservative and conformist ideology in the form of news and entertainment. That is why we need to sign the petition to demand effective legislation in Europe to put blocks on the concentration of ownership of the media and to ensure that it is free from political interference. The TUC has nearly six million members, but that is rarely reflected in the media. They argue that journalists have too much integrity to be regularly biased in favour of one perspective. Concentration of ownership is also strengthened by vertical integration. It merely mirrors what the audience wants or sees as important. Those who fail to benefit from capitalism are encouraged to believe inequality is their fault for not working hard enough. Twenty five years later Benjamin Franklin published the “Pennsylvania Gazette.” This became the first newspaper to be successful with the general public. Postmodernists argue postmodernists society has three characteristics that have an impact on the ownership and control debate. All Rights Reserved. These perspectives have to be considered because they effect what the media at the time would portray. Clearly, the economic structure of the American news media and the local media make them subject to pressures from powerful interest groups. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. However, the many forms and shapes that ownership of news media assume have different impacts on the competition between media outlets, the organization of editorial production, journalistic and professional cultures, and the intensity of corporate and profit maximizing philosophies that journalists work under. The Sun readers are more likely to be outraged by the fact that Jeremy Corbyn did not sing the national anthem at the 2015 Remembrance Sunday ceremony than by the number of people of living in poverty. The GUMG argues that consequently we are not presented with the really important information that would help ordinary members of society make real choices about how society should be run. Powerless groups do not have the resources to set up media companies to communicate their points of view. This straight away raises alarm bells for me. They argue that media owners manipulate and control media content on behalf of a capitalist ruling class in order to ensure the existing economic system remains unchallenged. According to Ronald Takaki, author of the book, A Different Mirror, A History Of Multicultural America, explains in chapter 6, “Fleeting The Tyrant’s Heel” how gender roles in the late 1800’s and nineteenth century played a major part in the foul treatment of women, as well as how men preferred and arranged for women to be viewed as less than by the public eye/community. As time went on, women began to move to America because job opportunities in factories and labor work were available and for enough income which would allow for the women to survive on their own without the support of a male. Pluralists claim that the range of media products available is extremely diverse and that, as a result, all points of view in a democratic society are catered for. Tags: , media barons, news, new media, tuc, ownership, turkey, italy, bulgaria, media plurality, National Union of Journalists That is, white America needed to hear more about the actual conditions and feelings of African-Americans in the U.S. Only when events are associated with concern of the “white public” do they become newsworthy. Amusing ourselves to death: Public discourse in the. Most media companies aim to make profits by attracting advertising, and advertisers are attracted to a specific type of media by the number of readers and viewers. Marxists argue that the outcome of ruling-class ideology is that the poor fail to see the real cause of their poverty-the exploitative and deeply unequal organisation of the capitalist system that benefits the few at the expense of the many. Just as Postman says in Amusing Ourselves to Death, “The written word endures, the spoken word disappears.” With written publications circulated in mass production, the country became more unified than it had ever imagined. Pluralists stress the professionalism of journalists and editors, arguing that editors would never allow owners to compromise their independence. However once you hear stories where what was said or shown was false that you start to realise how news producers can break that trust we have built with them to exploit others. Curran suggests that there has been a similar concentration of ownership in the British newspaper industry since the early 20th century. Gender and gender roles have played a very significant part in how our world functions and works together since the beginning of time. This resulted in one-sided, rather than balanced, reporting of the conflict as journalists formed personal attachments with the soldiers with whom they were living. Ronald Takaki states in his book A Different Mirror (concerning Jefferson’s interracial relationship) “The seeming scandal could not be contained. Reclaim the media: UK Coalition for media pluralism, has organised a public meeting on Monday 28 April, at the House of Commons, with speakers Tom Watson MP, Caroline Lucas MP, John McDonnell MP and Michelle Stanistreet. Trade union leaders and their members are just one of the groups that are routinely treated as outsiders, ripe for caricature rather than fair reporting. For example, the media are happy to talk about the size and shape of a female singer's bottom, but don't often discuss the massive inequalities that exist in society. The differences in gender and the different roles in which each gender plays is significant in how the world perceives and treats one another. Miliband takes a manipulative or instrumentalist approach to the ownership and control of the media. The motive of these professionals is to make profit rather than to make political or ideological points although hegemonic Marxists point out that this means that media content is rarely critical of a status quo that benefits the powerful. Access to satellite, cable and digital television in the UK is generally controlled by three companies- Sky plc (39 per cent of Sky's shares are owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp), Virgin Media and BT Total Broadband. Politicians of all parties paid homage at the court of Rupert Murdoch - understandable when his newspapers made up 37 per cent of the newspaper market and whose boast was that they could deliver election results. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. ( Log Out /  Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. So, despite the proliferation of websites and social media, power and influence is still concentrated in the hands of the few - super-rich billionaires, multinational corporations and governments. While these photographs made them appear unhappy, the fact of the matter was that these women felt the exact opposite.