Presentation on Institution

In your groups, you will be presenting information about your chosen media institution to the rest of the class. Although the term institution can refer to types of media and their governing bodies (Advertising, The Press etc) it can also refer to the huge multimedia corporations which control global communications between them, those

“enduring regulatory and organising structures ... which constrain and control individuals and individuality”

It is testament to the ideological victory of capitalism that the regulatory and organising structures which are constraining and controlling the information fed to the public at large are all in private hands, whether those hands belong to the shareholders of Time Warner or the Murdoch family. Free countries in the 21st century seem to have not a free press but one governed by free markets.

Any study of the media has to incorporate (ouch!) understanding of how these media giants function as institutions, with their own regulated and organised structure, and how they affect popular and political culture across the globe. Issues of ownership and control are vitally important. Therefore your presentation needs to reflect your critical research into the practices and history of your selected institution, in order to make your classmates aware of

  • the power and scope of this institution - how does it affect YOUR life?
  • what makes it appealing to investors
  • what makes it not so appealing to audiences - ie what conflicts of interest might there be with cross media ownership?
  • how it has become embroiled in controversy in recent months
  • what the big issues are facing it in the near future (mergers!)
  • what strategies employs to maintain its position as one of the 'Media Giants' (other than mergers, ARE there any discernible strategies?)

Where to Find Information

You will, of course, find information on the official sites, listed below

However, you also need to assign someone in your group to trawl for information (which is likely to be more objective, but do bear in mind who owns these sites) in the news. Try:

You also need to be aware of political opposition to the mulitmedia corporations, as practised by anti-globalisation activists, First Amendmentists and culture jammers. You will find pointers at the following sites (which are, naturally, independently owned and produced):

You should also read this article from Robert Chesney - The Global Media Giants. it was written in 1997; note how things have changed since then in the perpetual merry go round of sales and mergers.

 

 

 

 

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