Actual murdoch voting

 Here's a quote for you...
 “I mean in our office there’s a picture of Bush as Hitler. I
don’t know where they got it, but yes, Bush as Hitler. It’s
quite a serious thing comparing Bush to Hitler! So did
anyone in the newsroom in question object? No. Nobody
did.”

 Which newsroom are we talking about?
 Al Jazeera?
 ITV?
 Channel 4?
 CNN?
 Fox News?
 Sky?
 BBC?

 The newsroom in question is one of the main newsrooms of the
BBC. The crucial thing about the quotation above - from a BBC
journalist - is that no BBC staffer objected to the poster being put
on the wall of one of the major newsrooms of the world's most
influential broadcaster. The anti-American bias of the BBC was
recently acknowledged by the Corporation's own Washington
correspondent, Justin Webb. Mr Webb told a BBC seminar that
his employer treated America with scorn and derision and gave it
'no moral weight'.

 The story about Bush-as-Hitler comes in a new book about BBC
bias by Robin Aitken. Robin was a BBC journalist for 25 years.
His inside account of the Corporation's failings is called Can We
Trust The BBC?

Impact of the Media

Newspapers

Television

Internet

 Circulation
 The Sun – 3 million
 Daily Mail – 2.1 million
 Daily Record – 323,000
 Daily Mail – 2.1 million

 They are not impartial. They are privately
owned and tend to reflect the views of the
owners.

 They supported the Tories in 1992 and they won despite Labour
being favourites – ‘It’s The Sun Wot Won It’.
 They moved back to Labour in 1997 and they won, maintaining
power for 13 years.
 However, they backed the Tories in 2009 – ‘Labour’s Lost It’. We
know what happened there.
 Is The Sun really that influential or do they simply know when
the time is right to switch allegiance? Do they influence voters or
do they take into account the views of their readership and
adapt?
 The quality broadsheets tend to be more balanced a they will
lose credibility with their readership if they are too biased. Their
readership tends to be more educated.

 Founder of News
Corporation
 World’s 3rd biggest media
organisation
 They own The Sun, BSkyB
and many, many others

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_Corporation

http://www.ipsos-
mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/poll.aspx?
oItemId=2476&view=wide

 The turnout for Daily Mirror readership was
68%.
 16% voted Tory
 59% voted Labour

 The turnout for Daily Telegraph readership
was 81%.
 70% voted Tory
 7% voted Labour

 The turnout for readers of the Sun was 57%.
 43% voted Tory
 28% voted Labour

1. Why might newspapers be able to influence
voting behaviour in the UK?

2. In what way does political coverage by
tabloids and broadsheets differ?

3. How could ‘The Sun’ claim to have had an
impact on voting behaviour?

4. Make a note of newspapers that tend to
maintain party support and those who
fluctuate.

 The Telegraph – 5% of the readership is from Social
Class DE

 The Sun – 32% of the readership are from Social Class
DE
 12% of the readership are from Social Class AB

Leadership Debates
Party Political Broadcasts

 The average person in the UK watches 22.5
hours of TV each week, therefore it’s a platform
for political parties to reach the electorate.

 51% of adults consider television to be their
main source of political information.

 Approximately, 67% of people surveyed felt that TV broadcasts
had little impact on their decision.

 29% said it was not at all important.

 This is despite it being the most expensive form of advertising
used by political parties.

 In twenty years time, will we still be watching Party Political
Broadcasts as we currently know them?

Facebook

Twitter

2010: The Internet Election

What impact did Social Media have?

 It was predicted that the Internet would have a
significant impact on the outcome of the 2010
Election.

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/rorycellanjones/2010/05/so_was_it_an_inter

 Did it?

 Official Website
 Stealth Sites (Lib Dems set one up a false
Party known as ‘Labservative’.
 Email – regular updates from key Party
members.
 Online Fundraising – Lib Dems reportedly
raised £500,000.
 Strategies to direct web traffic – Tories at
one point had a video linked to a search
for Gordon Brown on youtube.
 www.mydavidcameron.com
 Facebook, Twitter and blogging

1. .
Newspapers
1. Why might newspapers be able to influence voting behaviour in the UK?
2. In what way does political coverage by tabloids and broadsheets differ?
3. How could ‘The Sun’ claim to have had an impact on voting behaviour?
4. Make a note of newspapers that tend to maintain party support and those
who fluctuate.
5. What evidence is there to suggest a link between social class and
newspaper?
6. Explain the relationship between social class, newspapers and turnout.

 Television
1. What do you think political parties see television as a useful tool in an
election campaign?
2. Television can have a hugely positive impact on voting behaviour for political
parties. Provide arguments for and against this view.
3. Summarise the influence of the Leadership Debates.

 Internet
1. In what way did political parties utilise the internet?
2. Summarise the impact of the internet on the 2010 General Election. Was
it the Internet Election that people predicted? Why?

 PBS or Murdoch?
 PBS – BBC, PBS America etc

Broadcasting New Media

Press
Cinema

Advertising

 Gerald Levin, chief executive, AOL Time Warner , in a
CNN discussion on the future of the media, a few days
before the AOL Time Warner merger, predicted global
media would become the dominant industry of the 21st
century — so powerful that they might in fact become
more powerful than governments. "So what's going to
be necessary is that we're going to need to have
corporations redefined as instruments of public
service," he said, adding: "It's going to be forced
anyhow because when you have a system that is
constantly available everywhere in the world
immediately, then the old-fashioned regulatory system
has to give way."

 Media Concept Institutions

 Medium Examined Mass Media

 Topic Media Giants

 Is media a business
whose texts and
products are to be
sold to the
consumers?
 Is media a public
service, in which the
emphasis is to
inform, educate and
entertain the people?

Who will control those who control those
who control?

 Traditionally, the role
of the media is to
safeguard citizens’
rights by ensuring
that public servants,
including those who
govern, are
accountable to the
people. It is the
‘fourth estate’ of
government.

 Industry structure - Incentives for Global
Markets, changes in customer demands
require changes in revenue models

 Content – design process, production
process, distribution process.

 Technology – hybrid devices to use multiple
formats – the bit that Andreas is teaching.

 Self Regulation
 Voluntary code - PCC
 www.pcc.org.uk

 Legal control
 Libel
 Jeopardize State Security – Diana/Dodi trial MI5 in secret.
 ‘Prejudice a Fair Trial’

 Campaign for Press & Broadcasting Freedom
 www.cpbf.org.uk

 Parliament debates
government policy
and makes laws
 The Executive makes
and execute policy runs
the government
 The Judiciary interprets
and clarifies the law
 Media - a free press can
report all government
activity

 Rooted in the freedom
of the press and the
neutrality of the
market.
 Plays a vital role in
democracy;
 Media informs the
electorate,
 Checks and critiques
government;
 Articulates public
opinion.

 Media is profit
motivated
 It generates content
that garners the
greatest profit.
 It tells what sells.
 It is geared to
readership and
audience tastes and
prejudices.
 It cannot be unbiased
or objective.

 Bertelsman AG (Random
House, BMG, Internet)
 News Corp (Murdoch, Fox,
Star TV, newspapers, Dodgers)
 Viacom (Paramount,
Blockbuster, MTV, CBS)
 Vivendi/Universal (Music,
studios, European media)
 AOL/Time Warner (Books,
magazines, movies)
 Disney (ABC, Touchstone,
sports, publishing)

 Corporations own a
variety of media
outlets
 TV, radio, movies,
books, magazines
newspapers,
Internet

 The rise of media conglomerates can be traced
back to the 1980s & 1990s which saw a lot of
mergers and buyouts of media and
entertainment companies.
 Bagdikian, a media scholar who studied this
phenomenon noted that the last twenty years
witnessed a trend where the ownership of the
media industry was increasingly concentrated
in the hands of a few companies. For example,
in 1983

 fifty corporations dominated most of every
mass medium and the biggest media merger
in history was a $340 million deal. ... [I]n
1987, the fifty companies had shrunk to
twenty-nine. ... [I]n 1990, the twenty-nine
had shrunk to twenty three. ... [I]n 1997, the
biggest firms numbered ten and involved
the $19 billion Disney-ABC deal, at the time
the biggest media merger ever. ... [In 2000]
AOL Time Warner's $350 billion merged
corporation [was] more than 1,000 times
larger [than the biggest deal of 1983].

Six Corporations own 90% of the U.S. media (newspapers, magazines, TV
and radio stations, books, records, movies, videos, wire services, photo
agencies, and the Internet

The following information was found at
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/gia
nts/

 Japan-based Sony Corporation started in 1946
as Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering,
with three employees. Now, it boasts more
than 180,000 employees worldwide and over
$58 billion in sales for 2001.

 BOOKS
United States
Random House; Ballantine; Fodor's; Knopf; Modern
Library
 Book Clubs: Book-of-the-Month Club; Doubleday Book
Club; Bookspan (50 percent)
 Canada
Random House of Canada; Quebec Loisirs Book Club
 U.K.
Random House; Book CLUB BCA (U.K.); European
Book Clubs; Bertelsmann Media (Switzerland); Circulo
de Lectores (Spain); Circulo de Leitores (Portugal);
Donauland (Austria); ECI (Netherlands); France Loisirs
(France); Swiat Ksiazki (Poland)

 Sudamericana
 Pacific
Random House Australia; Random House New Zealand
 Germany
Berlin Verlag; C. Bertelsmann Springer Verlag; and 15 other imprints covering all aspects of
book publishing; Book Club Der Club
 Online book sales
Barnes&Noble.com (40 percent); BOL
 TELEVISION /RADIO
CLT-UFA (merger of Audiofina, CLY-UFA and Pearson Television)
 Television Stations:
Germany
RTL; RTL-2 (34.5 percent); SUPER RTL (50 percent, with Disney); Premiere World (5 percent,
with KirchPayTV); VOX (joint venture with News Corporation)
 England
Channel 5
 France
FUN TV; M6; Multivision Teva
 Netherlands
RTL-4; RTL-5; RTL-9; RTL-Tele Letzebuerg
 Hungary
RTL Klub

 Hungary
RTL Klub
 Television Production:
UFA Film and Television Production; Trebitsch Production; Delux Productions
(Luxembourg); Cinevideo (Canada); Holland Media House (Netherlands); Pearson
TV (U.K.); UFA Sports
 Radio:
France
Radio RTL; RTL 2; Fun Radio
 Germany
Antenne Bayern; 104.6 RTL; Radio Hamburg; Radio NRW; RTL Radio
 Belgium
Bel RTL
 Sweden
104.7 RTL; Wow 105.5
 U.K.
Atlantic 252
 "With 22 television stations and 18 radio stations in ten countries, RTL Group is
Europe's biggest broadcasting corporation."

 — www.bertelsmann.com/tv
 MAGAZINES
Gruner Jahr is Bertelsmann's magazine division,
publishing 80 magazines worldwide.
 USA
American Homestyle; Family Circle Inc.; McCalls;
Parents
 France
Femme; National Geographic and 13 other magazines
 Germany
Stern; TV Today; Impulse Brigitte; and 17 other
magazines
 U.K.
Best; Prima; Focus - and this is just the tip of the

 "Today, Bertelsmann is the world's largest
publisher. Our U.S. publishing group Random
House alone ships over one million books a
day."
— www.bertelsmann.com/book

 The Sony Bit of Sony BMG ----

Film •Movielink (jointly owned
•Sony Pictures Entertainment with Paramount Pictures,
Sony Pictures
•Columbia TriStar Entertainment, Universal
•Sony Pictures Classics Studios and Warner Bros.
•Screen Gems Studios)
Television Music
•Sony Pictures Television •Sony BMG Music
Entertainment (50% with
•AXN Bertelsmann)
•Animax Japan Labels include: Arista
•SoapCity Records, BMG Classics,
•GAME SHOW NETWORK (50% BMG Heritage, BMG
with Liberty Media) International Companies,
Columbia Records, Epic
Records, J Records, Jive
Records, LaFace Records,
Legacy Recordings, RCA
Records,

 RCA Victor Group, RLG - Other
Nashville, Sony Classical,  Sony Electronics
Sony Music International,  Sony Computer
Sony Music Nashville, Sony Entertainment America
Wonder, So So Def Records,
Verity Records
 PlayStation
 Sony/ATV Music Publishing
 989 Sports
(joint venture with Michael  Sony Connect Inc.
Jackson)  Metreon
 Music Choice (venture with
Time Warner, EMI,
Motorola, Microsoft, and
several cable companies:
Cox, Comcast, Adelphia,
Time Warner Cable)

 The Walt Disney Company is the third largest
global media conglomerate. Its 2000 revenues
topped $25 billion, with 27% derived from parks
and resorts, 24% from studio entertainment, and
17% from media networks.

 Television
 ABC, Disney Channel; Toon Disney; Soap Net; ESPN, ESPN2, Lifetime and Lifetime Movie
Network; Disney and ESPN channels in more than 140 countries; Production including
Buena Vista, Touchstone, Walt Disney, ABC Entertainment
 Magazines
 US Weekly, Discover, Family Fun, Disney Adventures, ESPN The Magazine, Talk
 Books
 Hyperion, Talk Miramax, Disney Children’s Book Group, ESPN Books, ABC Daytime
Press
 Resorts
 Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, Disney Vacation Club, Tokyo Disney,
Disneyland Paris, Hong Kong Disneyland, ESPN Zone
 Movies
 Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, Hollywood Pictures, Miramax Film Corp.,
Dimension, Buena Vista International
 Other
 50 radio stations; ABC Radio Network; Radio Disney; ESPN Radio
 Sports teams: Mighty Ducks, Anaheim Angels
 Theatrical productions of Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, The Hunchback of Notre Dame,
and Aida; 741 stores and Disney catalog
 Licenses characters for clothes, toys, etc. and for teaching aids; videos/films for schools;
stakes in sites including NFL.com and Movies.com; markets cell art from Disney animated
films; owns Celebration, FL (a 4,900-acre town)

 "ESPN International dominates televised sport,
broadcasting on a 24-hour basis in 21 languages
to over 165 countries. It reaches the one desirable
audience that had eluded Disney in the past:
young, single, middle-class men. 'Our plan is to
think globally but to customize locally,' states the
senior vice president of ESPN International in
Latin America. The emphasis is on soccer; in Asia
it is table tennis; and in India ESPN provided over
1,000 hours of cricket in 1995."
— Robert W. McChesney, "The Global Media
Giants" in Extra!, November/December, 1997

 In January 2001, the $165 billion mega-merger between AOL and
Time Warner was the largest media merger in history.
 The new company promised integrated communication, media and
entertainment across all platforms.
 But shares of the company fell off sharply in the two years following
the merger.
 Heading into 2003, U.S. Justice Department has opened inquiries
into AOL's accounting practices prior to the 2001 merger.

 Employing an estimated 84,900 employees,
AOL Timer-Warner earned USD 43.7 billion in
2005.
 As can be observed, this media conglomerate
owned different media businesses which
operates worldwide.

 Television and Cable
 WB, HBO and Cinemax, Comedy Central, Court TV, E! and Style, TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network,
Turner Classic Movies, CNN, Headline News; Second largest provider of cable
 Movies
 Warner Brothers, New Line, Fine Line, MGM, RKO, Warner Home Video, UCI, WF Cinema,
Castle Rock
 Music
 Warner Bros, Atlantic, Elektra, London-Sire, Rhino Records, majority interest in Alternative
Distribution Alliance, Quincy Jones Entertainment, Warner/Chappell
 Books
 Warner Books, Little, Brown, Time-Life Books, Book-of-the-Month Club
 Internet
 America Online, CompuServe, Netscape, ICQ, aol Instant Messenger; websites include
MusicNet, EMI, RealNetworks, Mapquest, Winamp, RoadRunner cable
 Magazines
 More than 64 magazines including the 3 best selling: Time, Life, and People; Fortune, Sports
Illustrated, DC Comics; IPC (leading in Britain)
 Other
 Sports teams including Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Hawks, Atlanta Thrashers, Goodwill Games,
Phillips Arena; Warner Bros. Movie World Theme Park, Time Warner Telecom, Warner Bros.
Studio Stores, DC Comics, Hanna Barbera characters, WB properties

 Cable Broadband
 Potential to solve AOL’s
broadband strategy
 Powerful means to deliver
content
 Publishing Industry
 Brand extension opportunities:
Online sites
 Music Industry
 Potentially huge market for
music downloads
 Cable Industry
 AOL TV: capitalize on our TV
habit
 Platform for other media devices

 Film Industry

 Created in December. A merger combined Vivendi's
telecommunications assets with Universal Studios and Canal+'s
programming and broadcast capacity.
 Vivendi Universal's subsidiary Universal Music Group is the world's
top music company, with roughly 22% of the global market share in
1999.
 Heading into 2003, the company plans to sell off $16 billion in assets
because of massive debts.

 USA Network, Sci-Fi Channel; Universal
Studios; Leading French publisher; Houghton
Mifflin publishers, medical & reference books
and CDs; 27% of US music sales: Interscope,
Geffen, A&M, Island, Def Jam, MCA, Mercury,
Motown, Universal; Universal Studios,
StudioCanal, PolyGram Films, Gramercy; info
technology and medical journals; theme parks
(Universal Studios & SEGA Game Works),
stores inc. Spencer Gifts; Second largest private
water rights owner in the world; 151 recycling
facilities, 119 landfill sites, 83 incineration
plants worldwide

 June 14, 2000 Announcement that Vivendi and
Seagram in merger talks. It was reported as one more
global media merger, creating a $55 billion group,
Europe's version of AOL Time Warner.
 October, 2000 Mario Monti, EU Competition
Commissioner, clears merger. Terms include selling
Vivendi's stake in BSkyB and making Universal's
library available to rival media groups on fair terms.
Company to also sell 55 percent held in ISP AOL
France. After Seagram and Canal Plus shareholders
agreed on merger, Vivendi Universal began trading on
December 11, 2000. A month later shares in the
company had fallen by 12 percent.

 TELEVISION and FILM
Canal 14 million subscriptions to pay-TV in 11 European
countries. Main companies include CanalSatellite;
StudioCanal; Canal ; Spain Telepiu; Canal Digital.
 Universal Studios; Universal Pictures; Universal Studios
Home Video; Universal Television & Networks Group
(4,000 film titles, 24,000 television episodes of such series
as "Kojak," "Miami Vice," "Columbo"). Several theme
channels, including SciFi (U.K.) Action and Suspense
Channel; 13ème Rue; USA Network.
 Distribution
Cineplex Odeon Corporation (42 percent)
Cinema International Corporation (49 percent)
United Cinemaa International (49 percent)

 Television
 NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, A&E, History and Biography channels (shared), Snap TV,
AMC, Bravo, WE, and Independent Film Channel; regional news, sports, and
entertainment channels; Canal de Noticias NBC and TV Azteca; Production
including NBC Productions, Radio City Television, Bravo Original
Programming, IFC Productions, Next Wave Films, Satellite DBS Provider
 Internet
 Snap, NBC.com, CNBC.com, Salon.com, polo.com
 Other
 Ammonia plants, Nuclear reactors
 Aircraft engines; GE, Hotpoint & other appliances; light bulbs
 14 communications satellites, cars, computers
 MR and CT scanners, X-ray and ultrasound machines
 Health, accident, and long term care insurance; investment and retirement plans;
mortgages, home equity and commercial real estate loans, car loans,
 Credit card application processing, sales authorization, and collection services
for retailers in 23 countries
 Owns stock in retail, financial services, telecommunications, healthcare, food and
beverages, cable and broadcasting industries; leases 1,000 aircraft, 190,000
railcars, and about 1 million cars, trucks, and tractor trailers

 Television
 CBS, UPN, MTV, MTV2, VH1, Showtime, Nickelodeon, Noggin, Nickelodeon GAS, TV
Land, Comedy Central, TNN, CMT, The Movie Channel, Sundance Channel, FLIX, BET
 Movies
 Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies, MTV Films, BET Arabesque Films; Blockbuster;
about 1,800 screens in theaters in the US, Canada, Europe, Asia, and South America
 Books
 Simon and Schuster, Pocket Books, Scribner, The Free Press, Arabesque Books; divisions in
Britain and Australia
 Internet
 MTV.com, VH1.com, Nickelodeon Online, stakes in iWon, Sportsline.com,
MarketWatch.com, hollywood.com
 Music
 184 Infinity radio stations; CBS Radio Network; Westwood One, Sportsline Radio; Famous
Music holds copyright to more than 100,000 musical works
 Other
 Paramount theme parks in US and Canada including Star Trek, The Experience, House of
Blues, theme restaurants, World Wrestling Federation Entertainment
 Exclusive advertising rights on buses, subways, trains, kiosks, billboards, and other venues
in New York, L.A., Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Detroit, Houston, Atlanta, and 82
other US cities and cities in Mexico, Canada, Britain, Ireland, and throughout Europe

 Essentially, all activities of the media industry
centered around the creation and packaging of
intellectual property with the aim of
maximizing revenues by selling it as many
times as is feasible to the widest audience.
 Given its aim of revenue maximization, the
media industry have focused on the vertical
integration business strategy.

 This term describes a style of ownership and
control where a group of companies are united
through a hierarchy and share a common
owner where each member of the hierarchy
produces a different product or service, and the
products combine to satisfy a common need.

 The idea behind vertical integration is that
all activities of an industry are ordered in a
sequence which starts ‘upstream’ at the
early stages in the production process,
works its way through succeeding or
‘downstream’ stages where the product is
processed and refined, and finishes up as it
is supplied or sold to the customer.
 Also known as vertical supply chain.

Production:
creating media
content

Packaging: content is
collected together &
assembled as media product

Distribution:
delivering
Product to
customers

 Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation Ltd. Has media holdings in the
U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia, Latin America and Asia.
 As of September 30, 2000, its assets totaled $38 billion and total
annual revenues approximate $14 billion.
 In 2003, the company is seeking to acquire DirectTV, a U.S. satellite
tv company.

 Television
 FOX, FX, FMC, Fox News Channel, National Geographic Channel, Speedvision and
Outdoor Life, Fox international sports channels, Golf Channel, Health Network,
Television Games Network, TV Guide Channel, internationally extensive holdings in
cable, broadcast, and satellite TV in Asia, Europe, Latin America, and Australia
 Production including Twentieth Century Fox, Regency Television among others
 Books
 HarperCollins (and all its imprints), Zondervan (largest commercial Bible imprint)
 Newspapers & Magazines
 TV Guide, NY Post, the Star, the Boston Herald; in Britain: The Sun, the London Times,
News of the World, the Australian, the Daily Telegraph, the Herald Sun
 Movies
 Twentieth Century Fox, Fox 2000, Fox Searchlight, Fox Animation Studios, New
Regency, Fox Home Entertainment, Fox film library
 Other
 Weekly Standard, TV Guide, stakes in internet sites including ChinaByte.com and
broadsystem.com, licenses for The Simpsons, X-Files, and other Fox properties
 Sports including New York Knicks, New York Rangers, New York Liberty, New
England Seawolves, Hartford Wolfpack, Madison Square Garden, management of
Hartford Civic Center; Los Angeles Dodgers and Staples Center, Dodger Stadium and
Dodgertown; National Rugby League

Murdoch Soccer Deal Sets Up Bigger Play
Goals for Media Empire Motivate $1-Billion Purchase of Famed
Team
MARJORIE MILLER, Times Staff Writer LONDON--There is one
reason media mogul Rupert Murdoch would spend $1 billion and
change to buy Britain's most revered soccer team--more than three
times what he paid for the Los Angeles Dodgers--and it is not just
to tweak the noses of Manchester United fans.
Even more than potential profits, owning one of the leading
teams in the world's most popular sport gives Murdoch's News
Corp. enormous clout with broadcasters worldwide, while
guaranteeing that its games never leave the company's flagship
satellite service, British Sky Broadcasting, an international cable
news and entertainment network that is the dominant pay
television source in Britain.

 "Our reach is unmatched around the world. We're
reaching people from the moment they wake up until they
fall asleep. We give them their morning weather and
traffic reports through our television outlets around the
world. We enlighten and entertain them with such
newspapers as The New York Post and The Times (of
London) as they have breakfast, or take the train to work.
We update their stock prices and give them the world's
biggest news stories every day through such news
channels as Fox or Sky News ... And when they get home
in the evening we're there to entertain them with
compelling first-run entertainment on FOX or the day's
biggest game on our broadcast, satellite and cable
networks. Before going to bed, we give them the latest
news, and then they crawl into bed with one of our best-
selling novels from HarperCollins."
— Rupert Murdoch, News Corporation, 1999 Annual
Report

 By controlling the media vertical supply chain,
a conglomerate can generate enormous profit
out of its media products.
 Therefore, if a media conglomerate has a
successful movie, it could promote the file
through its broadcast properties, and then use
the film to spin off TV programs, musical CDs,
books, merchandise, etc.

 As Viacom’s CEO Redstone put it: “When
you make a movie for an average cost of $10
million and then cross promote and sell it
off of magazines, books, products, television
shows out of your own company, the profit
potential is enormous.”
 For example, Disney’s 1994 animated film
The Lion King generated over USD 1 billion
in profit. It also led to a lucrative Broadway
show, a TV series and all sorts

of media spin-offs. It also led to 186 items of
merchandising.
 The common parlance for such practice is
‘synergy’ which attempts to boost sales by
promoting products across media where for
every ‘hit’ movie (or any other media
product) there is a TV series, soundtracks,
books, plastic mugs, etc.
 In another example of ‘synergy,’ Disney
takes its lucrative ESPN cable channel and
use the name to generate other

products, including ESPN radio network. In
1996, Disney launched ESPN Magazine to
compete directly with AOL-Timer Warner’s
Sports Illustrated. Using incessant promotion
on ESPN, the magazine exceeded initial
estimates with a circulation approaching
500,000 after a few months. This resulted in
the launch of ESPN Grill restaurants to
appeal to those who wish to combine sports
with dining out.

 Corporations cross-
promote products
 Dreamworks Shrek
ignored by Disney
media
 CNN plugs Turner
Classic Movies
 NBC promotes GE-
backed airplane

Batman Synergy

Average American heard 42 mentions by time film opened

 2002 Time-Warner-AOL
film Divine Secrets of the Ya
Ya Sisterhood

 Location of key scene
changed from New York
Times to Time magazine

 HBO showed Media show
28 Days almost daily

 Sometimes followed by
HBO Behind the Scenes: The
Ya Ya Sisterhood

 Time magazine gave
the film a mediocre
review

 Media synergy
doesn't influence all
content

 Not yet . . .

 Disney owns ABC

 How does ABC
cover Disney?

 How does Time-
Warner-AOL cover
its many interests?

 The study of power relations forms the basis of
the study of media and communications.

 Power and knowledge are closely interlinked.

 Power is the means by which certain
individuals and groups are able to dominate
others
 Power is potentially or actually part of all
social relationships
 Usually a person who has control also has
power
 Media Power is exerted by controlling the
informational environment, system of
influences, commands and feedback

P r o p r ie t o r

P re s s m a n a g e r C ir c u la t io n E d it o r A d v e r t is in g m a n a g e r

N e w s E d it o r C h ie f o f N e w s B u r e a u S p o r t s E d it o r F o r e ig n E d it o r

C h ie f s u b - e d it o r C h ie f R e p o r t e r S p e c ia l c o r r e s p o n d e n t P h o t o E d it o r R e p o r t e r s / s u b - e d it o r s C o rre s p o n d e n ts

S u b - e d it o r s R e p o rte rs P h o to g ra p h e rs

 Traditionally = Editors
 Now?
 Competition in the market place?
 Interest groups?
 Advertisers?
 Audience?
 Readers?
 Government?
 Owners?

 Operational: Control of editors / reporters

 Allocative: Through the allocation of
funds / personnel for certain
programs or certain sections
of the newspaper denial
of funds for other sections
or programs

 External: Pressure from advertisers /
consumer groups

 Media diversity is when media outlets are
owned by a number of persons making
diversity of opinion a realistic expectation.
 Democratic governments attempt to ensure
diversity and are wary of concentration in
media ownership.
 Governments attempt to ensure diversity
and are wary of concentration in media
ownership

 Corporations own a
variety of media outlets
and shops Or
 TV, radio, movies,
books, magazines
newspapers, Internet
 In effect this reduces
choice and diversity

 Mergers limit number
of independent voices
in media
 Limits free exchange
of ideas
 Facilitates censorship
 Profit imperative,
rather than quality,
determines
programming
Rupert Murdoch as Mao

 Airwaves are in the
the public domain
 Radio /TV bound by
public service
requirements.
 BUT Governments are
reducing limits on
media consolidation
 More choice at lower
prices?

 Fewer media
businesses = less
choice of opinion?
 Corporations control
more culture
industries
 This drags down
standards
 Leads to more
“trash”
 Future of freedom of

 Monopolies are non-
competitive
 Hypercommercialize
content without fear of
competitive retribution
 US commercial radio =
18 minutes of ads per
hour
 Low quality populist
output

 ‘Media moguls” are
persons who own and
operate large media
corporations in a
personal or eccentric
style
 Moguls occur when
there are one or a few
players in the media
scene
 Gives rise to fears of
the reflection of one
point of view.

 Rupert Murdoch's (News Corp.)
 HarperCollins cancelled publication of
book by Chris Patten former British
Government of Hong Kong
 Why?
 Patten critical China
 Fact. News Corporation has huge interests
in China

 Self-censorship an even greater concern

 Historically speaking, the origins of what we
term as the media has its roots in newspapers
that proliferated in the 19th century.
 The function of newspapers was to inform and
educate its readers on the issues of the day as
well as disseminating ideas.
 However, the 20th century have witnessed the
gradual evolution of the media that moves
away from news to entertainment.

 And the trend in media ownership in the
past twenty years is simply accelerating the
media’s move towards entertainment.
 With the emphasis towards profitability,
rather than social responsibility, media
content have increasingly been watered
(some would say dumbed) down in an effort
to entertain us rather than inform and
educate us (or what Neil Postman calls as
“Amusing Ourselves to Death.”

 And given the pervasiveness of the media in
our lives, its influence is undeniable.
 We are what we read, see and hear through
the media. And the message of the media is
simply this ‘Resistance is futile. Become part
of the mindless audience hive that consumes
what we offer.’

 Can the internet and other new technology
break the hold of the media giants?
 Is the influence of the media giants benign or
harmful to democracy and freedom?
 Is too much power in the hand of too few?

 For the next 3 days, you will keep a log of the
media that you spend time with together with
a brief note of the content of such media.

 Please create a blog (weblog) of all your media
consumption

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