Media Blog 1

Industries: Ownership and control blog task 1) Type up your research notes from the lesson - what did you find out about your allocated media conglomerate? Selection of companies: Alphabet,  The Walt Disney Company,  Comcast,  21st Century Fox,  Facebook,  Viacom,  News Corp,  Time Warner. If you were absent or don't have the notes, research any of the companies above and find examples of all the terminology outlined in the notes at the start of this blogpost. Disney owns (conglomerate): Disney/ABC Television Group. Disney/ABC Television Group operates Disney's broadcast television, cable television and radio businesses. ... ESPN, Inc. ... Walt Disney Parks & Resorts U.S., Inc. ... Lucasfilm Ltd. ... Marvel Entertainment, LLC. Synergy: Abc's Dancing with the stars (Toy Story) Teaser trailers 2) Do you agree that governments should prevent media conglomerates from becoming too dominant? Write an argument that looks at both sides of th

Media Lesson Catch-up: Cultural Industries (11/12/17)   Cultural Industries: notes Hesmondhalgh discusses the way the cultural industries operate and explores their effect on audiences: “Of one thing there can be no doubt: the media do have influence.” He points out that societies with profitable cultural industries (e.g. USA, UK) tend to be dominated by large companies, have minimal government regulation and significant inequality between rich and poor. Do cultural industries reinforce these conditions? The cultural industries: a risky business Hesmondhalgh acknowledges that media companies are operating a risky business. There is no guarantee a creative product will be a success. They offset this risk both creatively and through business structure. In terms of media products, they use stars, sequels and well-known genres. In terms of business, they use vertical integration and diversification to spread their risk and maximise profit. Commodification Hesmondhalgh disc

Media Lesson Catch-up: Ownership and Control (4/12/17) Conglomerate ownership A conglomerate is a large company composed of a number of smaller companies (subsidiaries). A media conglomerate, or media group, is a company that owns numerous companies involved in creating mass media products such as print, television, radio, movies or online. Examples include Comcast, 21st Century Fox or Disney. Vertical integration Vertical integration is when a media company owns a range of businesses in the same chain of production and distribution.  For example, a company might own the film studio that makes a film, the distributors that sell it to cinemas and then the movie channel that premieres it on TV. Vertical integration allows companies to reduce costs and increase profits – but it is not always successful if the parent company lacks expertise in certain areas. Horizontal integration Horizontal integration is when a media company owns a range of different media co

Audience Theory Media effects Facts-Sheet: 1) Yes I play 'violent video games' however they do not change my behaviour in the outside world and do not contribute to making me more violent. 2) The four categories are: Direct Effects, Diffusion, Indirect and The Pluralist Approach 3) If someone watches a violence, it will make them behave violently or accept violent behaviour. Child's Play - The murder of Jamie Bulger Mariyln Manson - The Columbine High School Shootings Natural Born Killers - a number of murders committed by romantically linked couples. 4) The Columbine Massacre was a high school shooting in Colorado. The two killers were members of a group of social outcasts that were fascinated by goth culture or had been influenced by violent video games and music. The media reported these factors to be the cause of their shooting. 5) The ease of access to firearms and the social acceptance of gun ownership The alienation felt by teenagers who felt as though