To What Extent Is Ownership and Control an Important Aspect of the Media.
Discuss two contrasting theories and relevant studies to explain the extent to which ownership and control is an important aspect of the media.
The term mass media is essentially information which is targeted at a large audience. The Mass media is a global industry which has played a major role in shaping society over the 20th century. As technology has developed and created the opportunity to communicate with huge numbers of people, the mass media has developed and with it the media’s impact on society. Over the last fifty years the media has changed its shape yet again to fit in with our increasingly technological society; various forms of new media have appeared: smartphones, laptops, internet and ipods. The general aim of these new mediums is to allow greater flexibility to the user and access media while mobile, also they are not physical forms of media but electronic, which has its own advantages and disadvantages. There have also been major changes in ownership and control of the media; it has become both increasingly concentrated and transnational. An example would be the controversial Mr. Murdoch. His News International group owns over one third of newspapers in Britain, Two other companies, Mirror Group Newspapers and United Newspapers own another 40 per cent between them. This clearly shows that the bulk of the power is held by only a few individuals, this creates very serious political and economical implications. Murdoch’s paper has been partially responsible for getting each government elected over the past fifty years; every party he has supported over the years has won. Two main sociological theories are used to explain ownership and control of the mass media: Pluralist theory and Marxist theory. Each have there own interpretations of the issues and subsequent strengths and weaknesses which I shall now discuss.
Pluralist theory is all about power in society. They believe that no one group or elite dominates society. It is essentially a
The term mass media is essentially information which is targeted at a large audience. The Mass media is a global industry which has played a major role in shaping society over the 20th century. As technology has developed and created the opportunity to communicate with huge numbers of people, the mass media has developed and with it the media’s impact on society. Over the last fifty years the media has changed its shape yet again to fit in with our increasingly technological society; various forms of new media have appeared: smartphones, laptops, internet and ipods. The general aim of these new mediums is to allow greater flexibility to the user and access media while mobile, also they are not physical forms of media but electronic, which has its own advantages and disadvantages. There have also been major changes in ownership and control of the media; it has become both increasingly concentrated and transnational. An example would be the controversial Mr. Murdoch. His News International group owns over one third of newspapers in Britain, Two other companies, Mirror Group Newspapers and United Newspapers own another 40 per cent between them. This clearly shows that the bulk of the power is held by only a few individuals, this creates very serious political and economical implications. Murdoch’s paper has been partially responsible for getting each government elected over the past fifty years; every party he has supported over the years has won. Two main sociological theories are used to explain ownership and control of the mass media: Pluralist theory and Marxist theory. Each have there own interpretations of the issues and subsequent strengths and weaknesses which I shall now discuss.
Pluralist theory is all about power in society. They believe that no one group or elite dominates society. It is essentially a