2IV075 Media, Culture & Society Lecture 3: Media structure and production: examples and contexts Dr James Pamment, 4 September 2012

Required Reading Albertazzi & Cobley, chs Key Themes What factors have impacted upon the development of a given medium? What are the current challenges for a given medium? Which research methods are most appropriate for analyzing a given medium?

Media Ownership Trends Digitization & convergence Multinational ownership New production centres Small producers dependent on large distributors Changing revenue streams Diplomacy supports corporations Concentrated power

News Agencies (1) Early agents of globalization (imperialism) Havas/AFP (1832), AP (1846), Wolff (1849), Reuters (1851), PA (1868), UP (1907) National monopolies (& symbols) Cartel agreement s Gathered and packaged news from around the world and distributed to news retailers (B2B)

Undersea cable 1890s Fiber-optic cables 2004

News Agencies (2)

News Agencies (3) AFP, AP & Reuters now the big three Many competing national & specialist agencies (eg Bloomberg, Dow Jones) Business models vastly changed –Retail direct to public –Mergers & ownership patterns –Regional competing agencies (Al Jazeera) –Competition from web services / blogs –Blurring of boundaries between news & entertainment; opinion & information

News Agencies (4) To what extent do we live in a world shaped by these agencies? How important is a national news agency to developing countries? Should they be subsidized? What are the positives and negatives of highly specialized, rather than national or regional, agencies? How does the B2B / retail distinction relate to trends such as citizen journalism? What is the agenda setting function of news agencies?

News Agencies (5) How do we research news agencies? Marxism – sociology, political science Political Economy – sociology, economics Frankfurt School – sociology, cultural studies, philosophy Ideology – sociology, political science Ethnography – sociology, anthropology Uses and Gratifications - psychology Psychoanalysis – psychology, film studies Semiotics - linguistics Feminism – sociology, cultural studies Critical or traditional paradigms?

Newspapers (1) As mass media c:a 1850s National and regional publication Centralized / decentralized Distinguished by class, audience Red tops, black tops & broadsheets Alternate divisions: sports, regional Financed by payment &/or advertising Advertising revenues relate to broadcasting costs in country

Newspapers (2)

Newspapers (3) Ownership increasingly concentrated Germany: 3 companies own 87% UK: 3 companies own 70% Also ownership of other media (eg News Corp) National regulation (no EU rules) Mixture of legislation & self-censorship Generally less partisan now

Newspapers (4) Future? Free dailies (eg Metro) Online (fee or free?) Entertainment or factual? Information or opinion? Specialized or general? Citizen journalism The phone hacking scandal (UK)

Newspapers (5) How important is identity (national, political, economic) to the press? Why have both paper and online news? What does citizen journalism mean for journalism as a profession? How should newspapers make money? What is the difference between news and entertainment? Is there still a need for general, national newspapers?

Newspapers (6) How do we research newspapers? Marxism – sociology, political science Political Economy – sociology, economics Frankfurt School – sociology, cultural studies, philosophy Ideology – sociology, political science Ethnography – sociology, anthropology Uses and Gratifications - psychology Psychoanalysis – psychology, film studies Semiotics - linguistics Feminism – sociology, cultural studies Critical or traditional paradigms?

Television (in brief) B&W, color, HD, 3D # Channels Antennae, satellite, cable, Internet Digitization, Smart TVs Fee models National contra commercial VHS, Betamax, DVDs, BluRay, Tivo

Cinema (in brief) Sound, Color, CGI, IMAX, 3D Digitization Piracy Post-cinema life Blockbusters contra independents Art contra mass culture De-Westernization of industry? Distribution oligarchy

In Conclusion All media industries undergoing challenges –Digitization/convergence-specialization –Globalization-regionalization –Concentration-new actors Why? –Use, purpose –Technologies –Social/industry organization –Regulation

The Seminar (1) 1.Choose a media industry or product 2.Investigate –Its history & development –Its organization & ownership –Its key issues & challenges 3.Give a 10-min presentation of your results

The Seminar (2) Consider (lecture 1) Purpose, needs, usage Technologies Social Organization Regulation & Control Which research methods are most appropriate?

The Seminar (3) Consider (lectures 2 & 3) The usefulness of competing research paradigms Specific cultures & contexts –National differences –Production –Consumption –Distribution, etc Specific issues related to new media (even if study object is old media)

The Seminar (4) Research Questions What factors have impacted upon the development of this medium? –E.g. social, cultural, political, technological, purpose, needs, regulatory… What are the current challenges for this medium? Which research methods are most appropriate for analyzing this medium?

The Seminar (5) Mandatory Not graded Supports the knowledge & skills for the final exam An opportunity to critically reflect on a familiar media phenomenon