Week 6: Political Economy of the Media Video 3: Strengths and Weakness of a Free Market Think in more depth about the argument that the concentration of ownership reduces the diversity of viewpoints expressed through the media. Reflect on the strengths and weakness of the free-market model. Counterargument regarding the concentration in ownership leads to a narrower range of voices is media historically owned by Rupert Murdoch have accommodated political opinions in opposition to his own e.g. The Simpsons (broadcasted and owned by Fox TV until 2019) has long expressed opinions from the opposite end of the political spectrum to Murdoch, this is seen acutely in a credit sequence created by British artist Banksy, highlighting (through humorous exaggeration) poor conditions of Asian workers whom the animation of the show is outsourced to. •
The fact that Fox screened this shows the way in which a diversity of opinions may be articulated through the holdings of a conglomerate, helping to support their argument that they’re only servicing what the audience demands.
However, in a free-market model, diverse viewpoints are only tolerated if they have an audience big enough to be profitable. Either through direct sales of goods or services e.g. paying to download content via subscriptions and/or through the sale of the audience as a commodity to advertisers. In turn, this becomes a bigger issue than the concentration of ownership, referring to the fact that the ultimate value of the media in a free market model lies in its profitability.
Pressure for Profit Seen by some to be worrying when applied to news media as when news is only produced for profit, it becomes a potential pressure to make it as entertaining as possible to maximise the audience numbers e.g. focusing on celebrities and sports at the expense of more detailed consideration of political issues having important implications for the public.
News as Entertainment