Chapter Review

COMMON THREADS

One of the Common Threads discussed in Chapter 1 is the commercial nature of mass media. In thinking about media ownership regulations, it is important to consider how the media wield their influence.

During the 2000 presidential election, two marginal candidates—Pat Buchanan on the Right and Ralph Nader on the Left—shared a common view that both major-party candidates largely ignored. Buchanan and Nader warned of the increasing power of corporations to influence the economy and our democracy. In fact, between 2000 and 2012, total spending on lobbying in the nation’s capital grew from $1.57 billion to more than $3 billion.35 (See Chapter 12 for more on lobbyists.)

These warnings have generally gone unnoticed and unreported by mainstream media, whose reporters, editors, and pundits often work for the giant media corporations that not only are well represented by Washington lobbyists but also contribute generously to the campaigns of the major parties to influence legislation that governs media ownership and commercial speech.

Fast-forward to 2012. While politicians spoke of transparency and truth-telling, their campaign-funding process had few of those characteristics. In the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United (2010) decision, new Super PACs (political action committees) formed that can channel unlimited funds into political races as long as the Super PACs don’t officially “coordinate” with the political campaigns. With his own Super PAC (named Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow), comedian Stephen Colbert satirized the lax standards of Super PAC rules that enable hundreds of millions of dollars to be channeled into politics while obscuring disclosure of the contributors’ identities. By December 2012, Super PACs had spent more than $644 million on the 2012 election cycle (mostly in negative attack ads), with the majority of contributions coming from a few dozen elite ultrawealthy donors. For example, Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and his wife donated in excess of $54 million to candidates and Super PACs in the 2012 election cycle.36 In the 2014 midterm elections, billionaire Tom Steyer surpassed the Adelsons by donating at least $58 million, mostly through the NextGen Climate Action Super PAC. NPR noted that liberal climate activist Steyer was the “election’s biggest donor—that we know of,” a testament to the fact that most big donors like conservative billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch opt not to disclose most of their campaign expenditures because they aren’t required to do so.37 The huge influx of money was a boon for media advertising profits.

What both Buchanan and Nader argued in 2000 was that corporate influence is a bipartisan concern that we have in common and that all of us in a democracy need to be vigilant about how powerful and influential corporations become. This is especially true for the media companies that report the news and distribute many of our cultural stories. As media-literate consumers, we need to demand that the media serve as watchdogs over the economy and our democratic values. And when they fall down on the job, we need to demand accountability (through alternative media channels or the Internet), especially from those mainstream media—radio, television, and cable—that are licensed to operate in the public interest.

KEY TERMS

The definitions for the terms listed below can be found in the glossary at the end of the book. The page numbers listed with the terms indicate where the term is highlighted in the chapter.

monopoly, 446

oligopoly, 446

limited competition, 446

direct payment, 446

indirect payment, 446

hegemony, 453

synergy, 455

cultural imperialism, 468

REVIEW QUESTIONS

Analyzing the Media Economy

  1. Question

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    How are the three basic structures of mass media organizations—monopoly, oligopoly, and limited competition—different from one another?

  2. Question

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    What are the differences between direct and indirect payments for media products?

  3. Question

    UwKDNjTv/Xf0J3ETZ++j3o4OCVXsDG6LpLjrjQr3iB7TJOqZPzhZ9ru2vKRd3UYNf8zTm22WXXfyg1QKD9Q8Kgbe8GPAtNNyrU0r2O2o5PlWAJy4ynIZ12asqP8GhBi0Cx9ulR912IMRXCXp
    What are some of society’s key expectations of its media organizations?

The Transition to an Information Economy

  1. Question

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    Why has the federal government emphasized deregulation at a time when so many media companies are growing so large?

  2. Question

    3ThkCar2F6CrnBYkDFy/FXtvRlJTScKcItbu5xw1UVICbOdqETFQqZQq2HE6fCwuq48IJ2RK9CtRbKFQUq2SnJdF2Xo1aVMX0utr/9TWxuLHy1NgPmSGz0YuRbU=
    How have media mergers changed the economics of mass media?

Specialization, Global Markets, and Convergence

  1. Question

    bgwHhwnToaaOPr1V3nHkoDqxizhx9afRQ0nDFAtgdhsy3q7mNpADk1fPhXyCjSQrGmbL8F0nb3eR4tZ1/ZymqvnsR+IMGblltSbKpEXSUFkk2R/gVnBASvTzoDKvJMj/Pwx+o3nOzYZiG4hqokvbdxaa129D5OuRF0MgGSEhZJAZWxivGEsRXREHKpY=
    How do global and specialized markets factor into the new media economy? How are regular workers affected?

  2. Question

    AMkJZJFMuyckPhJ9UmjZarzBkCYhnR0yDttsFv2PTIaQ4bSgdBkXJBCo7TMPznHxgDMllw2SbK6yXW+RCRTY0r2+L7mgJiJwOSnV1MN2l9Mukm3r5YKK7OIinb+0uMR65ld+AkDf5Onz388pS6lig5gPXTF1aU0wVRoOBlwdm9Y=
    Using Disney as an example, what is the role of synergy in the current climate of media mergers?

  3. Question

    s62WVAxyBNtx/4Z1sV5o6Mc0jvmEquapqjyWuyMTmgNNxJEzlYtkZJFz4RCdaGCvQi4+c/PKzpP+IkV3YDaA9Z+0Nywopyjuqh458iD3bknrIj1bm17dbtxHwHqzAfibd4EjJhLKdBWY87hpR0jJexhjd3AGt97sY12Oy9xs67o+9QvPxBhRFm0RiRMCNXx6
    Why have Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft emerged as the leading corporations of the digital era?

Social Issues in Media Economics

  1. Question

    /7Y0XfBFmI+i3rIlS/cA7xEBIYtkwF4JPrnhV5+scsieRSnlCsnnGNwSqnnGR2Clft0W2XBWEIRQPKQM8dXmP6DvjsF9fFWc29GHWqSAYaz7LpR2k6elJrT0Qy3YtFcSbORbeIVEtb0=
    What are the differences between consumer choice and consumer control?

  2. Question

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    What is cultural imperialism, and what does it have to do with the United States?

The Media Marketplace and Democracy

  1. Question

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    What do critics and activists fear most about the concentration of media ownership? How do media managers and executives respond to these fears?

  2. Question

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    What are some promising signs regarding the relationship between media economics and democracy?

QUESTIONING THE MEDIA

  1. Question

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    Why are consumers more likely to pay to download some digital content, like music and books, and less likely to pay for other content, like sports and news?

  2. Question

    vGVN5StO2oNn+HhjLetqFa5t46a+u276a3/57L7Zr/CrYhAvMTjLmgvKnVwNXpAoc6GiGdNHAm+SJXZMFIXr2gs88ZW/VPXBBO5asuE1u6yQ7SJr8DyRVEYJefDXSNtynY2Xx3i8+X+c48UekrH+Giz3Pbh9TTUbGqc8axE7Hg7G5+CQrRARgDjfkAcu6s7k+1MiCv8vgbqVJPAwL0M/OeVRNEi/FqeUYcXxFxKYr5y1sJ4vMUjf3oBDsM7GLgpfOi2YHUx0a5AAtgeYM1RISUNH8Qw=
    Why are narratives—media content—crucial to the success of a media corporation?

  3. Question

    xNg7CVwo+gXQluaqnysNIWqll/zJhTYO+FD3hU/H+vJtO35izr6rvfOB6G+V6I+udyUV8Be58saW4+0cda0QqVqdOk6+2lHea6NsLI2EyyYBO/CkuIqlf1WYdwOAKYLJ9EK8MhLboLvK6tU5Rjyw2lPViEZYRNpYmpfQZPb2KxuosEKnOzmG/c75CD9x2AGhLnbqhEg5mTn3jKA2pHCGKVofFxDw4c4p
    How does the concentration of media ownership limit the number of voices in the marketplace? Do we need rules limiting media ownership?

  4. Question

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    Is there such a thing as a global village? What does this concept mean to you?

LAUNCHPAD FOR MEDIA & CULTURE