Media Ownership Research Task for 1/11/10 and 2/11/10 and HW:
LO: To investigate the ownership of media institutions and consider the role of public service broadcasting in an increasingly commercial & globalised media environment.
Read this sheet and answer the questions (in italics) on your blog by Thursday 4 November. Look up any words you don’t know in a dictionary or online. Then complete the research task below.
Media texts are profit motivated. Consider this in the light of TV news. What issues does this raise?
‘Conspiracy theory’ in Media Studies suggests that a small group of multimedia tycoons are busy trying to take over or amalgamate with every other media company available, so that in the end this group will end up with more power to control what we know about the world, with all that this implies politically & socially.
The media texts are profit motivated as they would try to converge as much of the media texts as possible ( e.g. through the internet, television channels, newspapers and magazines.) so that they are the dominant producers in the market therefore becoming more powerful and influential over what we, as the audience, would consume. For example Rupert Murdoch, the owner of News Corporation who then own 132 newspapers, 20th Century Fox, Fox News and British Sky Broadcasting etc. these different media texts show how much influence Rupert Murdoch alone has in the media market.
In my opinion this 'conspiracy theory' of multimedia tycoons using convergence of media texts to gain more power could perhaps be true, as each of these small groups control the large media texts that we see in our everyday lives; we could potentially be continuously watching, reading or hearing what these media tycoons choose for us to know therefore getting a lot of power and influence without consumers possibly realising.
The possible issues that this could raise is that people will become narrow minded to different opinions from other media producers or views based on the consumers; people won’t bother to become active consumers of the media but will be imposed to become passive consumers of media as they are simply being ‘spoon fed’ the information without considering another aspect. This could also make people think negatively about what the media texts present; for example the countless stories of children being enslaved into prostitution from around the world particularly in India and Thailand, which would persuade people not to visit these countries but it is intriguing that companies like BSkyB (owned by Rupert Murdoch) would then advertise their sponsors, the Emirates airline, and travel companies after showing these disturbing events happening abroad.
Which media companies do you think could be accused of having too much power and control in our society?
There are no hard and fast rules that can be applied to the media anywhere in the world, although it is the case that in many countries the government owns or controls the mass media. In situations like this the media are often used purely for propaganda and informational purposes. (Think about the furore surrounding the Beijing Olympics and freedom of information. Research this if you did not hear about it). When public uprisings or military coups occur in such countries one of the first targets for protesters is radio and television stations – which demonstrates how important control of the media can be. One of the issues that must be addressed in Media Studies is that much of the media is largely in the hands of a small number of multinational companies.
Media can be accused of having too much power and control in our society as they can change the views of how people would approach an event or change in society e.g.
Task: First answer the 2 questions above in as much detail as possible on your blog. Then research the following 5 media institutions and post all your findings to your blog. Use pictures to illustrate your findings. Then create a 10 minute powerpoint presentation summarising your findings for all 5 institutions (2 minutes on each institution). Be ready to present to the class. All work is due on your blog by 4/11/10.
• Time Warner
• News Corporation
• Viacom
• Sony
• Vivendi
Find out:
• Which brands/products are owned by these 5 media institutions?
TIME-WARNER TBS - AOL (donated 1.6 million to GW's 2000 campaign)
America Online (AOL) acquired Time Warner–the largest merger in corporate history.
Television Holdings:
* CNN, HBO, Cinemax, TBS Superstation, Turner Network Television, Turner Classic Movies, Warner Brothers Television, Cartoon Network, Sega Channel, TNT, Comedy Central (50%), E! (49%), Court TV (50%).
* Largest owner of cable systems in the US with an estimated 13 million subscribers.
Media Holdings:
* HBO Independent Productions, Warner Home Video, New Line Cinema, Castle Rock, Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera.
* Music: Atlantic, Elektra, Rhino, Sire, Warner Bros. Records, EMI, WEA, Sub Pop (distribution) = the world’s largest music company.
* 33 magazines including Time, Sports Illustrated, People, In Style, Fortune, Book of the Month Club, Entertainment Weekly, Life, DC Comics (50%), and MAD Magazine.
Other Holdings:
* Sports: The Atlanta Braves, The Atlanta Hawks, World Championship Wrestling.
NEWS CORPORATION LTD. / FOX NETWORKS (Rupert Murdoch) (donations see bottom note)
Television Holdings:
* Fox Television: includes 22 stations, 50% of US households.
* Fox International: extensive worldwide cable and satellite networks include British Sky Broadcasting (40%); VOX, Germany (49.9%); Canal Fox, Latin America; FOXTEL, Australia (50%); STAR TV, Asia; IskyB, India; Bahasa Programming Ltd., Indonesia (50%); and News Broadcasting, Japan (80%).
* The Golf Channel (33%).
MEDIA HOLDINGS:
* Twentieth Century Fox, Fox Searchlight.
* 132 newspapers (113 in Australia alone) including the New York Post, the London Times and The Australian.
* 25 magazines including TV Guide and The Weekly Standard.
* HarperCollins books.
OTHER HOLDINGS:
* Sports: LA Dodgers, LA Kings, LA Lakers, National Rugby League.
* Ansett Australia airlines, Ansett New Zealand airlines.
* Rupert Murdoch: Board of Directors, Philip Morris (USA).
*(Phillip Morris donated 2.9 million to George W Bush in 2000)*
VIACOM INTERNATIONAL INC.
Television Holdings:
* Paramount Television, Spelling Television, MTV, VH-1, Showtime, The Movie Channel, UPN (joint owner), Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, Sundance Channel (joint owner), Flix.
* 20 major market US stations.
Media Holdings:
* Paramount Pictures, Paramount Home Video, Blockbuster Video, Famous Players Theatres, Paramount Parks.
* Simon & Schuster Publishing.
• Which media platforms (print, broadcasting, e-media) do the brands/products operate on?
• Which products is the media institution currently developing/promoting?
• Which alliances/mergers is the institution currently involved in? Why?
• What profits did the institution make in 2009? What this more or less than usual? Why?
• Who owns Fox News, Sky News and CNN News?
• As a result of your research, do you think it is important to have a public service broadcaster like the BBC to provide news? Why/Why not?
• Write a paragraph answering the following question: ‘Do you think media ownership should be regulated? Why/why not?’
No comments:
Post a Comment