Policy, Economic, and Business Challenges of Media Ownership Regulation
- ️https://oxford.academia.edu/RobertPicard
Related papers
Journal of Communication Inquiry, 2006
Throughout the third biennial review of broadcast ownership rules, it became clear that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) handled the issue as a policy matter, limiting the debate within the agency to selected groups of experts, rather than as a political matter, which would have involved a much wider range of participants. Accordingly, the authors'analysis shows how most of the 12 studies the FCC used in its review focused predominantly on economic aspects. Contextualizing media ownership primarily as an economic issue tends to disengage the broader public from such policy debates and facilitates the deregulatory agenda sought by the FCC's most active stakeholders and monitors-the regulated industries. Although this issue has begun to resonate with the broader public, such efforts to narrow the FCC's analytic perspective on media ownership rules marginalizes certain categories of stakeholders, as well as their issues and concerns, from the policy-making process.
Although " media ownership " is a fairly straightforward concept, it can be further qualified according to a variety of forms. These include horizontal (the ownership of distinct but similar media products), vertical (the ownership of different stages of production and distribution of media), and diagonal (the cross-ownership of diverse media businesses). Ownership structures might also be described as family owned, stockholder owned, or publicly owned (as in the case of public broadcasting). Different ownership structures are associated with different systems of control and different societal impacts. Scholars have long sought to better understand these relationships, which are often difficult to tease apart. Furthermore, given the proliferation of new media technologies and products, it is tempting to assume that media ownership no longer matters in the digital era. However, much scholarship demonstrates that ownership structures are still important for issues ranging from informational diversity to media effects, with important implications for democratic theory. Generally speaking, this scholarship can be divided into two groups: research that focuses on media ownership structures themselves, and research that focuses on the history and politics of media ownership policies. The latter focus may also refer to the presumed effects of various kinds of media ownership structures. These research foci cut across several subfields and disciplines, including political economy, media policy studies, and media economics, to name a few. Research on media ownership structures The study of media ownership patterns demonstrates that many media sectors are marked by concentration, and in many cases markets can be described as duopolies or oligopolies. A number of scholars have documented how a handful of corporations dominate the American media landscape. Ben Bagdikian (2004) arguably has done the most to draw attention to media monopolies, with the last iteration of the work that he began in the 1980s showing how concentration of ownership also characterizes new digital media. More recent scholarship has shown how old media firms continue to dominate within new digital environments. Other research shows how media conglomerates command significant market power across the globe (Herman & McChesney, 1997). Although scholars are increasingly arguing that power dynamics are changing—and many have argued for years that media " contraflows " are often given short shrift—global media are still disproportionately controlled or influenced by American institutions. Another important strand of global communication The International Encyclopedia of Political Communication, First Edition. Edited by Gianpietro Mazzoleni.
Index on Censorship, 1994
A legal column dedicated to the memory of Bernie Simons (1941-1993), radical lawyer and defender of human rights ERIC BARENDT Never mind the ownership, what about the quality Strong measures against concentration of ownership go some way to guaranteeing freedom of expression, but they do nothing for programme standards or public access to the media
How Media Ownership Matters in the U.S.: Beyond the Concentration Debate
Sociétés contemporaines, 2019
Dans cet entretien avec Eric Darras, Rodney Benson présente ses premiers résultats sur les États-Unis et explique en quoi les nouvelles perspectives diffèrent des études plus classiques sur la concentration économique dans les medias. Text is in English. Éric Darras, Sociétés Contemporaines: You say it's more important to study ‟forms of ownership” than ‟concentration of ownership.” Why? [Author's note: In the published version of Figure 3, under "Stock Market" ownership, two outlets originally listed were cut off in the reproduction: ABC News #12 and USA Today #14; under "Stock Market with Dominant Shareholder", one outlet originally listed is cut off in the reproduction: Wall Street Journal #11.]
The broadcasting issues from the corporate owners perspective, their strategic access to the broadcast spectrum and their political leverage over broadcast licenses, poses a serious threat to the palpable goodwill motive of the media. In this regard, from the consumer’s point of view, they have an interest in receiving information with regard to how the state of affairs is taking place within the country. However, to form an opinion, one requires viewing and observing the opposing view as well to reinforce his opinion. Therefore, demand for varying content increases. But when the cross media operations control the channels through which he receives the information’s and forms his opinion, he gets a skewed viewpoint. The relentless force of corporatization insinuated in the media regime has paved way to new manifold discussions. The upshot of such insinuation has led to ownerships in more than two wings of media by the same entity. On the other hand, the media industry, when starts keeping tabs on the person who although has yet to pass through the ordeal of judicial process, ravages his or her image. The omnipresence power of media in this regard leads to severe forms of vituperation. Against this backdrop, this paper of ours seeks to unravel the above aspects of common ownership, corporate vested interests and media trial issues.
We examine the patterns of media ownership in 97 countries around the world. We find that almost universally the largest media firms are owned by the government or by private families. Government ownership is more pervasive in broadcasting than in the printed media. We then examine two theories of government ownership of the media: the public interest (Pigouvian) theory, according to which government ownership cures market failures, and the public choice theory, according to which government ownership undermines political and economic freedom. The data support the second theory.
Media ownership and communications: Enriching the research agenda
Telecommunications Policy, 2007
This paper examines whether diverse opinions make their way into the communication policy decisions. Specifically, it examines whether academics from distinct disciplines engage one another and whether Federal Communications Commission (FCC) experts rely on a multidisciplinary body of research in making telecommunications-related decisions. After tracing how narrow expertise can lead to shallow policy perspectives, the paper employs a social network analysis of citations to assess the breadth of the media ownership debate. The case of media ownership was considered a worthy choice for analysis because it was so high on the policy agenda. The paper found that the media ownership policy network is extremely hierarchical; it comprises relatively few connected members around which clusters form and the majority of communication takes place. Lacking overlap among subgroups, there is very little interaction across disciplinary boundaries. An analysis of FCC citations demonstrates the impact that the dominant journals have on the FCC decision-making process, with significant implications for FCC decision making in all aspects of telecommunications.
Media Economics and Media Policy: The Good and the Bad
2004
This paper explores the role and function of economics in media policymaking and policy analysis. This paper begins with an overview of the distinctive economics of media industries in an effort to demonstrate the importance of focused and specialized economic analysis of these industries. The paper then chronicles the growing role of economics in US media policymaking and examines both the positive and the negative implications of this transition for media policy.
Communication report into Media Ownership - 11th June 2012.
Communication report into Media Ownership, 2012
1) Identify the top 5 global media companies and map out their pattern of ownership and corporate linkage. What are the political and cultural implications of this international trend? The following report has been compiled as a basis for industry discussion into whether a greater concentration of Media ownership and controlling interests reflect a greater social and political influence on society and its infrastructure by the top five global media conglomerates and whether there is any basis to this opinion. In examining their patterns of ownership and the political and cultural implications of this trend the report will hopefully provide a broad overview of the Global media environment and draw informed conclusions to promote whether there is a need for greater regulation and reform within modern media. The report is compiled of up to date data taken from industry reports, journals and literature to provide examples of current industry trends and patterns that outline the significance of Media ownership and it's cultural and political influence in contemporary society.