The Business of Media; Corporate Media and the Public Interest

by David Croteau

• ISBN13: 9781412913157
• ISBN10: 1412913152
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-08-18
• Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc

Summary

The Second Edition of The Business of Media: Corporate Media and the Public Interest provides students with the critical, yet careful, analysis of the rapidly changing media industry that they need in order to get behind the headlines and understand our increasingly media-saturated society. Authors David Croteau and William Hoynes examine the possible influence media changes are having on society-paying particular attention to the tension between the media industry's insatiable quest for profits and a democratic society's need for a media system that serves the public interest. The Second Edition has been revised and updated to include analysis of the media business in the early years of the 21st century!

Table of Contents

List of Exhibits	xi
Preface	xiii
Acknowledgments	xvii
Introduction: The New Media Industry and an Old Dilemma	1	(12)
21st-Century Media	2	(2)
The Lessons of Failure?	4	(2)
Media in a Democratic Society	6	(3)
Plan for the Book	9	(4)
PART I: PROFITS AND THE PUBLIC INTEREST: THEORETICAL AND HISTORICAL CONTEXT	13	(60)
1. Media, Markets, and the Public Sphere	15	(26)
The Market Model	17	(4)
The Advantages of Markets	17	(2)
Market Structures and Types of Competition	19	(2)
The Public Sphere Model	21	(5)
The Concept of the Public Sphere	22	(1)
The Limits of Markets	23	(3)
Why Media Are Different From Other Industries	26	(6)
Advertising and the Media	28	(1)
Media as Citizen Resources	29	(1)
The Unique Legal Status of Media	30	(2)
The Tradition of Civic Responsibility	32	(1)
The Public Interest	33	(5)
Promoting Diversity, Avoiding Homogeneity	34	(2)
Substance and Innovation Without Elitism	36	(2)
Conflicting Logics	38	(3)
2. The Rise and (De)Regulation of the Media Industry	41	(32)
The Changing Business of Media and Regulation: The Case of ABC and Disney	41	(6)
The Rise and Assimilation of ABC	43	(4)
The Growth of Media	47	(3)
The Evolution of Media	50	(15)
Newspapers and Press Barons	50	(3)
Radio and the Rise of Corporate Media	53	(3)
The Television Era	56	(1)
Coexisting with Television	57	(6)
Beyond the Broadcast Model	63	(2)
Setting the Stage for the Contemporary Media Industry	65	(1)
Media Policy and the Public Interest	65	(10)
In Whose Interest?	66	(1)
Antitrust Law	67	(2)
Serving the Public Interest	69	(2)
Deregulation and the Market	71	(2)
PART II: INDUSTRY STRUCTURE AND CORPORATE STRATEGY: EXPLAINING THE RISE OF MEDIA CONGLOMERATES	73	(80)
3. The New Media Giants: Changing Industry Structure	75	(42)
Making Sense of Mergers	76	(1)
Structural Trends in the Media Industry	77	(33)
Growth	78	(18)
Integration	96	(6)
Globalization	102	(5)
Concentration of Ownership	107	(3)
Interpreting Structural Changes	110	(7)
The Market Perspective	111	(2)
Questioning the Market: Revisiting the Public Sphere Approach	113	(4)
4. Strategies of the New Media Giants	117	(36)
The Case of Titanic	118	(3)
Strategies of the New Media Giants	121	(22)
Size Matters: Cost and Economies of Scale	121	(3)
Synergy: Cross-Development and Cross-Promotion	124	(3)
Branding	127	(3)
Segmentation and Specialization	130	(7)
Diversification	137	(1)
Globalization	138	(3)
Joint Ventures	141	(2)
Beyond Market Strategies: The Specter of Monopolies	143	(8)
The Role of Competition and the Threat of Monopolies	144	(3)
Reducing Risk by Reducing Competition	147	(3)
Monopolies in Perspective	150	(1)
Conclusion	151	(2)
PART III: NEGLECTING THE PUBLIC INTEREST: MEDIA CONGLOMERATES AND THE PUBLIC SPHERE	153	(106)
5. How Business Strategy Shapes Media Content	155	(36)
Considering the Public Interest	156	(2)
A Note on Elitism	157	(1)
Homogenization and Imitation	158	(6)
Imitation and Formulas	159	(3)
Declining Localism	162	(2)
Trivialization and Sensationalism	164	(5)
Fluff and Stuff Just Short of Snuff	164	(2)
News Lite: Scandal and Entertainment	166	(3)
Media Constraint I: Commercial Interests	169	(8)
The Disappearing Line Between Journalism and Commerce	170	(7)
Media Constraint II: Censorship and Conflicts of Interest	177	(12)
Self-Censorship	178	(2)
Corporate Censorship and the Pursuit of Organizational Interests	180	(4)
Conflicts of Interest	184	(3)
Advertiser Influence	187	(2)
Conclusion	189	(2)
6. How the Media Business Influences Society	191	(32)
Social Influences	192	(16)
Ubiquity of Commercial Media: All the World's a Sale	192	(12)
Promos and Brand Names and Ads, Oh My!	204	(2)
Audience Fragmentation	206	(2)
A Media-Saturated Society: Fish in Water	208	(1)
Political Influence	208	(8)
Media Corporations and the Political System	208	(6)
The Politics of Content: Antidrug and Promilitary	214	(2)
The Special Role of News Media	216	(5)
Conclusion	221	(2)
7. Choosing the Future: Citizens, Policy, and the Public Interest	223	(36)
Regulatory Policy and the Public Interest	225	(2)
Media and Public Policy	227	(19)
Content-Based Regulations	227	(8)
Access-Oriented Media Policy	235	(8)
Ensuring Diversity: The Problem of Money	243	(1)
Antitrust and the Media Monopoly	244	(2)
Public Policy and Public Broadcasting	246	(3)
Journalism as a Profession	249	(1)
Citizen Activism and Alternative Media	250	(8)
Exercising Choice	254	(4)
The Limits of Media, the Importance of Media	258	(1)
Appendix: Select Online Resources for Studying the Media Industry, Media Policy, and Media Education	259	(12)
Notes	271	(10)
References	281	(14)
Index	295	(20)
About the Authors	315