Australian Media Landscape
Commercial Media
- The TV channel 9, 7, 10, Foxtel, Fairfax Media, Gem, Go, News Limited
Why does it exist?
- To provide eyeballs and ears to advertisers
- So that advertisers can get access to the audience
What is it?
- Profit-driven media production – Not government Funded (or license funded)
- It survives or fails on business success – its business is generating ‘audiences’
- Audiences generate profit through selling advertising
- Companies have share holders
- If there was a cable TV network that was an alternative to foxtel it died because the started loosing money
- Loss or movement between different organisations
- Business success is big thing
- About getting the audience and be able to provide to advertisers, audience generate profit
Major Players
- News limited, Nine entertainment co, Fairfax, Win corporation, Sothern Cross, Seven West Media, Ten Corp
What they produce
- News limited part of the news corporation onset – they have news TV and cable TV do not have any free to air channels, film, magazines, books, involved in NRL
- Fairfax – news papers and digital media, Sydney morning herald, domain.com, RSVP, Brisbane times, The age Documentary he did with raising children, 8 out of 10 couple met online
- Nine - Go, GEM, ninemsn, ticketek, Acer arena, masses of magazines
- Win - Win Television, radio, sport TPG internet
- Southern Cross - Free to air TV and radio, b105 and trippleM
- Seven West Media - 7, 7Two, 7MATE, The West Australian Free to air TV, Newspapers, Magazines, Digital Media, Pacific Magazines, Yahoo 7
- Ten
Form and Function
- Form
- Sponsored means adds
- Subscription – foxtel
- Subsidised means government funding
o Major government dollars has gone into commercial media especially TV
- Function
- Commercial
- Propaganda – News Limited for right wing, Fox News
- Social – about little block of information
Role in Democracy
- Can Commercial media deliver on both commercial (profit) and social (‘public treat’) functions? (or is it really just both the mighty dollar?)
- Has important part democracy
Social Responsibility of media in Democracy
1. A truthful, comprehensive, and intelligent account of the day’s events in a context which gives them meaning;
2. A forum for the exchange of comment and criticism;
3. The projection of a representative picture of the constituent groups in the society;
4. The presentation and clarification of the goals and values of the society;
5. Full access to the day’s intelligence.
To keep it under control:
- All about sales of media
- Legal – ACMA
o Makes sure things are kept under control
- Press Council keep people in check in terms of ethics
Guarantee Commercial-social functions:
- Commercial
o Advertising
o Sales
- Social
o Editorial – making sure it is balanced, fact checking, letters to the editor, it about people making comments on the news – examples two men dying at river fire from two separate buildings
- In between social and commercial is an ethical wall
o Editorial shouldn’t be straying into advertising and sales
- The public Sphere
o Where the whole ethical wall is
Function – commercial, social and policing
- The guardian was known as an ethical newspaper
- ‘The ‘first duty [of the media] is to shun the temptations of monopoly. Its primary office is the gathering of news. At the peril of its soul it must see that the supply is not tainted. Neither in what it gives, nor in what it does not give, nor in the mode of presentation must the unclouded face of truth suffer wrong. Comment is free, but facts are sacred.“ C.P. Scott (Editor / Owner of The Guardian)
Social controls on commercial media
- Government agency
o Regulation content, Egypt tried to close down the internet because it was used for the riots
o Stephen Conroy – a clean feed on the internet, they are banning particular sites, the sort of stuff they are banning is stuff that is unavailable anywhere
- State press subsidies
o Are some countries where commercial media can be become public
- Licensed journalism
o Have to get a license from the government to be a journalist
o If you do something against the government they can take away their journalism license – Media Repression
Style of Commercial Media
- Commercial = corrupt; lack of quality; profit over-rides social responsibility
Results of Style of Commercial media
- Dumbing down
- Tabloidisation
- The ‘desire to please’ newspaper are basically trying to sell
- ‘Mickey mouse’ news – third rate news
Challenges
Is it that simple?
- Advertising revenue for broadcast media is down
o Because there are so many channels now
- Loss of Revenue = Less investment = less money for quality production = More Brought in content (less original)
The future
Business Solutions
- Quality – better, bigger, greater content
- Greater Competition
o Compelling content will be critical
- Moving existing customers to digital
- Pay wall on internet sites
Future – An Alternative View
- Corporate Media Dominance Vs. Expanded Public Sphere
- Perez Hilton, Crikey, Wiki, Mamamia Blogs
- The bigger they are with these people the hard they fall
With commercial media and the concept of it being profit based heavily influences what is put into the media. If the main aim of commercial media is to generate revenue, how are we meant to trust that what they are saying is the truth and not just what we want to hear? I do understand how they work, trying to bring in advertisers which is their main source of income, but after this lecture I feel less inclined to trust what they say.
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