Ownership and control

 Ownership and control

• What is regulation?

Regulations are rules made by a government or other authority in order to control the way something is done or the way people behave

• What regulations do you follow every day?

COVID regulations (wearing a mask), College regulations (not smoking)

• What are some examples of regulatory frameworks for media products? We have covered two but what others do you know?

- Ofcom

- BBFC

- IPSO

• Do we need to have regulation?

Yes we do need to have regulation to help protect the community and improve safety.

Conglomerate - A company that owns numerous companies in an industry

Monopoly - The exclusive ownership or control of something

Curran and Seaton on monopoly

‘it [extends] their range of business and political connections, [increases] their corporation’s prestige and, through judicious editorial appointments, [contributes] to the maintenance of public opinion favourable to private enterprise’

It is essential to remember that conglomerates are primarily driven by the logic of profit and power!

anti-monopoly media regulation is needed not only to maintain fair competition but also to prevent the distortion of democracy.’

- James Curran and Jean Seaton

• Having a monopoly means domination of multiple media industries

• If the focus is on creating profit, generally conglomerates don’t take risks with the media products they produce

• This often results in limited variety, creativity and quality

Monopoly - A single company dominates a market and sells a good or service with no close substitutes 

Answer these questions

• What advantages do media conglomerates have because monopolies exist?

• What are the negatives of having media monopolies?

• Are there any advantages for audiences of having media monopolies?

• Are there any ‘monopolies’ outside of the media world?

• How has the UK tried to limit and provide alternatives to the domination of media monopolies (find out about Public Service Broadcasting)

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