ReviseSociology

Category: ownership and control

  • Evaluate the pluralist view of the ownership and control of the media.

    Read Item N below and answer the question that follows. Applying material from Item N and your knowledge, evaluate the pluralist view of the ownership and control of the media. Commentary on the Question This seems to be a standard question, with the item picking up on the fact that the media are democratic and…

  • What is concentration of media ownership?

    Concentration of media ownership is the trend towards fewer individuals and/ or companies owning a higher proportion of the media. Increasing concentration of ownership has long been a concern of sociologists. For example, In 2004 Bagdikian pointed out the following trend towards increasing ownership of the media: In 1983, 50 corporations controlled the majority of…

  • The British Media: a very upper middle class institution

    Michael Buerk recently lamented the retirement of John Humphrys from Radio Four’s today programme – because his departure means one less working class voice on the BBC: once Humphrys goes all of the remaining Today presenters will have been privately educated. In fact Buerk suggests that Humphrys further represents an older generation of media presenters:…

  • The Marxist Instrumentalist Theory of Media

    Instrumentalists argue that owners control media content and use the media to control passive audiences.

  • The pluralist view of the media

    media owners are driven by profit, journalists are free from direct control and audiences control content through consumer demand.