Republic of the Philippines

UNIVERSITY OF ANTIQUE
Sibalom, Antique

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

Module in COMM 5 ( Communication, Media and Society)

Lesson 2: Media and Economics

Starting Accurately (Introduction)

In this lesson, you are expected to: (Learning Objectives)

1. Discuss the different types of media ownership, its structure and system
2. Explain how globalization and digitization have changed the communication media landscape

Inculcating Concepts (Input/Lesson Proper)

Key Concepts in the growth of Mass Media

The mass media is a system that has weathered repeated significant change with the coming of
increasingly sophisticated technologies.
The ‘penny press’ was soon followed by mass market books and mass circulation of magazines.
As 1800s became the 1900s, these popular media were joined by motion pictures, radio and
sound recording.
A few decades later came television, combining news and entertainment, moving images and
sound all in the home and all for free.
The traditional media found new functions and prospered side by side with television.
Then came the internet and the World Wide Web. Because of its impact, all the media industries
are facing profound alterations in how they are structured and do business, the nature of their
content and how they interact with and respond to their audiences.

The Structure of the Media Industry

In economic terms, 3 common structures characterize the media business:
1. Monopoly - occurs when a single firm dominates production and distribution in a particular industry either
nationally or locally
2. Oligopoly – an economic situation in which just a few firms dominate the industry; concentration of the
media industries into an even smaller number of companies
3. Limited competition - sometimes called “monopolistic competition”. It characterizes a media market with
many producers and sellers but only a few differentiable products within a particular category

On Concentration of Ownership and Conglomeration

Ownership of media companies is increasingly concentrated in fewer and fewer hands.
Through mergers, acquisitions, buyouts and hostile takeovers, a very small number of large
conglomerates is coming to own more and more of the world’s media outlets.

Consequences of the Changes in Media Ownership in the US setting

Changes in media ownership have been swift and staggering. Over the past two decades, the number of
major US media companies fell by more than one half; most of the survivors are controlled by fewer
than 10 huge media conglomerates. As media outlets continue to be gobbled up by these giants, the
marketplace of ideas shrinks. New and independent voices are stifled and the companies that remain
are under little obligation to provide reliable, quality journalism. Stories that matter deeply to the
country’s well-being have been replaced by sensationalized murders and celebrity gossip.

As conglomerates swallow up newspapers, magazines, publishing houses, and networks, and profit
rather than product becoming the focus of corporate effort, news organizations-particularly in

1
 television-are folded into entertainment divisions. The ‘news hole’ in the print media shrinks to make
room for advertisement, and stories needed by informed citizens working together are pulled in favor of
the latest celebrity scandals because the media moguls have decided that uncovering the inner workings
of public and private power is boring and will drive viewers and readers away to greener pastures of
pabulum. Good reporters and editors confront walls of resistance is trying to place serious and
informative reports over which they have long labored. - Baran, J. ( 2012)

On Globalization, Audience Fragmentation and Hypercommercialism

Closely related to the concentration of media ownership is globalization. It is primarily large,
multinational conglomerates that are doing the lion’s share of media acquisitions.
The potential impact of globalization on the mass communication process speaks of the issue of
diversity of expression.
The nature of the other partner in the mass communication process ( audience) is changing too. The
audience is becoming more fragmented and its segments are more narrowly defined. It is becoming
less of a mass audience.
The costs involved in acquiring numerous or large media outlets, domestic and international and of
reaching and increasingly fragmented audience must be recouped somehow. Selling more advertising
on existing and new media and identifying additional ways of combining content and commercials are
the two most common strategies. This leads to hypercommercialism.

On Convergence, Content Producers and Audiences

Convergence is fueled by 3 elements: digitization of nearly all information, high-speed connectivity and
advances in technology’s speed, memory and power.
Digital media have changed what content producers and distributors know about their audiences
because they have changed how audiences talk back to those sources.
As a result of all the changes in the communication media industry, traditional conceptions of the mass
communication process and its elements must be reconsidered:
a. Content producers cans now be lone individuals aided by low cost of entry.
b. Messages are now varied, idiosyncratic and freed of the producer’s time demands.
c. Feedback can now be instantaneous and direct and as a result, audiences, very small
or very large can be quite well-known to content producers and distributors.

Living Media Literacy

Media literacy champion Art Silverblatt (2008) identified several goals that media literate people can
set for themselves to improve their critical awareness of the media. These are his 3 suggestions to
make our media literacy a living enterprise:

a. Develop an awareness of programming trends as a way of learning about changes in the culture.
b. Keep abreast of patterns in ownership and government regulations that affect the media industries.
c. Promote discussion about media programming and issues with friends and colleagues.

Using/Applying Knowledge (Application)

Critics of concentration of media ownership and conglomeration say that they are a threat to
democracy. Do you agree or disagree with their point of view? Share your opinion as a post in not more than
3 sentences.

Evaluating Understanding (Assessment)

The quiz for this lesson will be uploaded in the LMS.