Conglomerate- A large business corporation that is comprised of a range of different parts or smaller businesses
Horizontal integration- When a media company owns different businesses in the same chain of production and distribution.
Convergence- Where one form of media product "cross sells" another form of media product to their mutual advantage of increasing sales/audiences.
Plurality- Where there are a diversity of viewpoints available and consumed across and within the media industries and prevents any one media owner or voice having too much influence over public and political opinion.
Monopoly- When a sector of media industry such as newspapers is dominated by one or a small number of large organisations.
Merger- Where two or more companies, usually of similar size, combine to form a larger single company.
Takeover- Where a larger company buys a smaller company.
Distribution- The process of how the media product gets to its audience after production.
Synergy- The combination of different areas of the media coming together to maximise profit.
Vertical integration-
Consolidation- basically monopoly
. Trinity Mirror plc is the largest British newspaper, magazine and digital publisher after purchasing rival Local World for £220 million, in October 2015. It is Britain's biggest newspaper group, publishing 240 regional papers as well as the national Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and People, and the Scottish Sunday Mail and Daily Record. Since purchasing Local World, it has gained 83 print publications.
Monopoly, horizontal integration, merger, takeover, consolidation
News UK is a British newspaper publisher, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the American mass media conglomerate News Corp, owned by Rupert Murdoch. It is the current publisher of The Times, The Sunday Times, The Sun and The Sun on Sunday newspapers as well as the Times Literary Supplement and Times Educational Supplement. Until June 2002, it was called News International plc.
Monopoly, horizontal integration, consolidation, conglomerate
Trinity Mirror, the UK’s largest local newspaper group and publisher of the Daily Mirror, is eyeing further consolidation, as the industry races to tackle the long-term decline of print publishing. “We see ourselves as a consolidator in the newspaper industry and will continue to do so subject to tight financial returns,” said chief executive Simon Fox, as the group reported like-for-like print advertising revenues fell 18 per cent in 2016. Trinity is in early stage talks with Northern & Shell, the parent company of the Express newspaper titles and OK Magazine, which could lead to it taking a stake in some of the Richard Desmond-owned assets. The move is part of a wider shake-up in the UK newspaper industry, as media owners face steep drops in print advertising combined with the existential threat from digital groups like Google and Facebook, who are taking the vast majority of new digital advertising revenues.
consolidation, merger, monopoly
Ownership effects media products as the more media products owned by one person or company, the less variety of viewpoints are accessible to the public. Multiple pieces of media with the same ownership are going to present the same political bias and if the audience is surrounded solely by products owned by the same company, their viewpoints will likely reflect that political bias. For example, Rupert Murdoch is involved in the ownership of The Sun, The Times, Sky, and Fox News. Ownership will effect things such as political bias, how certain news stories are presented and what audiences are told and not told. In the case of Sky, if Rupert Murdoch were revealed to be involved in some sort of crime or conspiracy, Sky's coverage of it would have a very different tone to a news outlet with no connection to Rupert Murdoch.
Newspapers have been one of the worst effected mediums by technological advances. Many people nowadays get their information from social media and other online sources. Paying for a newspaper seems arbitrary when you can find the same information online for free. Many newspaper outlets also release their information online, but this can lose them money. In the case of The Times website, their way of keeping a profit is to require people to pay a subscription fee in order to have access to the news stories.
With different political biases come different types of audiences. Depending on the newspapers leanings, the audience will come to expect certain things. For example, The Sun's audience would expect it to be more opposed to the Labour Party and less accepting of diversity, whereas a left leaning newspapers audience may be appalled to read the same content. Also, The Sun, like 95% of tabloids, is heavily anti-Labour. If The Sun audience were to read an article praising and hailing the Labour party, it would go completely against the image they have made for themselves and would almost definitely lead to complaints. This ties into Halls theory of representation, where stereotyping is used to assert power over communities. In the case of The Sun, it relies on heavy stereotyping of racial minorities and LGBTQ people in order to keep them something the audience should fear and hate. Often times, newspapers will play into the audience's prejudices and fears and feed into them. This is not unique solely to The Sun or just right-wing newspapers. All sides of the political leanings will rely on some level of audience fear and bias.
Monday, 30 September 2019
Monday, 23 September 2019
The Mirror vs The Times
The main image takes up most of the front cover and is unavoidable if you are looking at the newspaper. The use of black and red clouds, both violent and ominous colours as well as the Statue of Liberty, a symbol of enlightenment, covering her face in shame holds very obvious connotations of travesty and despair. The top strapline "it's President Trump..." ending in an ellipsis creates a tone of sorrow and remorse. The headline "What have they done?" continues the desperate theme of the whole front cover. It points the finger at an outside force for what happened, which would resonate with many UK residents who would be in disbelief at the time of this newspaper publish. The biggest part of the front page is the masthead, Daily Mirror, who are a left-wing newspaper. This means much of their target audience would likely be against Trump and for them, an upset and horrified reaction to him becoming president would be the. one thy want to see and read about. The Daily Mirror are owned by Reach plc. It meets all of the News Values except for personalisation and continuity, as at the time of this newspaper's publish it was a very recent event. It takes place in America, which is an elite nation. The front cover also fills proximity, as in the top right corner it has a blurb about the tram accident in Croydon.
The Times' cover has drastically different tones from the Daily Mirror's. Unlike the other, this cover actually has an image of Donald Trump alongside Vice President Mike "hates the gays" Pence. Trump has his fist held up in a symbol of victory while Pence applauds him from the left, clearly framing the election in a more positive light.Monday, 16 September 2019
Radio Industry
Broadcasting is when TV or radio is shown at the same time everywhere, e.g. the same show is on every Tuesday at 8pm. Podcasting is digital and available to listen to at any time. A podcast will usually also have a set time it comes out, e.g. mid day on a Saturday, but the difference is that you do not have to listen to it at that exact time. Also, you are able to listen to part of a podcast and then leave the rest for later, compared to broadcast radio that requires you to listen to it for the time slot it is in and if you leave midway through you will miss part of it. Podcasting give the audience more listening freedom, as they can still listen to it even if they are busy at the time it releases, whereas broadcasting requires the audience to plan around the showing times. On the other hand, broadcasting offers a more social experience, as people can watch the same thing on different TVs and message each other about it as it happens. Many people also gather together to watch some shows, creating a community. Podcasts have lost this social element as one person could get further along than another and they have to wait to talk about it for fear of spoilers.
Content is also affected. For a broadcast program, if it is played after 10pm it has a lot of freedom in what it can show and say. For a podcast, because it is accessible at any time, it is more limited. If it wants to have the same contents as the post-10pm broadcasts, it must put restrictions in place to avoid children finding it. Broadcasts have the shield that if a child is watching a show past 10pm, that is on the individual as they should not be up that late. Podcasts could get into a lot more trouble if they didn't put the proper restrictions in place. this usually involves making an account to listen to it and verifying age.
The most basic difference between commercial and public service radio is that commercial radio is payed for by advertisement, while public service radio is payed for by the people. For example, the BBC is payed for by people's TV licenses. Public service radios are more restricted in what they can play, as they are required to fill a quota for the public. In the case of the BBC this is to educate, inform, entertain. Failure to meet these results in backlash. Commercial radio is more free in what it plays as there is no requirement for what they must play. Commercial programming can also buy out public service programming, such as ITV buying The Great British Bake Off from the BBC. However, commercial radio has more adverts, whereas public service radios can only advertise themselves.
The BBC was formed on 18 October 1922 by a group of leading wireless manufacturers. In the beginning it played the news, music drama, and talk radio for a few hours a day. Very soon after creation it was being broadcast across the nation, and its list of programs appeared in the first edition of The Radio Times. In the 1930s it began on TV, and was the first broadcaster to have regularly scheduled TV services, in 1936. Over the course of it 97 years, it has been the first to bring in many new ideas to radio and television, such as adding the weather to the news and being the first radio station to have a monarch on it. The BBC, as a public service, is funded by TV licence's that the public pay. Over the years it has created an identity as one of the most popular and well-known radio companies in the UK. While in recent years commercial radio has overtaken it in terms of popularity, it still holds ground and BBC2 is currently the second most popular station in the UK, only beaten by Heart Radio.
The BBC purpose is made clear in it's mission, which includes such requirements as:
-To educate, inform, entertain
-To provide impartial news and information
-To support learning for people of all ages
-To show the most creative, highest quality and distinctive output and services
-To reflect and represent the diverse communities around the UK
-To reflect the UK, its culture and values to the world
While many would argue they fail to fulfil this, this is the BBC's target and intended purpose.
The BBC has both national and local broadcasts. National BBC radio stations include BBC Radio 1 through to BBC radio 5. Any news told on these stations will cover the biggest stories from around the whole UK, rather than region specific news. Local stations, on the other hand, would be able to stick solely to the news of the area as the only people listening to it are people from the area. There are 40 local BBC stations across England, each covering a different county. For example, BBC Radio Newcastle would have news specific to Newcastle and, unless something massive had happened, would have little to no overlap with the news on BBC Radio Kent. The BBC also has a global Radio Station, BBC Radio News, that is broadcast in English in over 200 countries worldwide.
Radio 4 has 6.4 million listeners a week. The average age of a Radio 4 listener is 56 years old.
Content is also affected. For a broadcast program, if it is played after 10pm it has a lot of freedom in what it can show and say. For a podcast, because it is accessible at any time, it is more limited. If it wants to have the same contents as the post-10pm broadcasts, it must put restrictions in place to avoid children finding it. Broadcasts have the shield that if a child is watching a show past 10pm, that is on the individual as they should not be up that late. Podcasts could get into a lot more trouble if they didn't put the proper restrictions in place. this usually involves making an account to listen to it and verifying age.
The most basic difference between commercial and public service radio is that commercial radio is payed for by advertisement, while public service radio is payed for by the people. For example, the BBC is payed for by people's TV licenses. Public service radios are more restricted in what they can play, as they are required to fill a quota for the public. In the case of the BBC this is to educate, inform, entertain. Failure to meet these results in backlash. Commercial radio is more free in what it plays as there is no requirement for what they must play. Commercial programming can also buy out public service programming, such as ITV buying The Great British Bake Off from the BBC. However, commercial radio has more adverts, whereas public service radios can only advertise themselves.
The BBC was formed on 18 October 1922 by a group of leading wireless manufacturers. In the beginning it played the news, music drama, and talk radio for a few hours a day. Very soon after creation it was being broadcast across the nation, and its list of programs appeared in the first edition of The Radio Times. In the 1930s it began on TV, and was the first broadcaster to have regularly scheduled TV services, in 1936. Over the course of it 97 years, it has been the first to bring in many new ideas to radio and television, such as adding the weather to the news and being the first radio station to have a monarch on it. The BBC, as a public service, is funded by TV licence's that the public pay. Over the years it has created an identity as one of the most popular and well-known radio companies in the UK. While in recent years commercial radio has overtaken it in terms of popularity, it still holds ground and BBC2 is currently the second most popular station in the UK, only beaten by Heart Radio.
The BBC purpose is made clear in it's mission, which includes such requirements as:
-To educate, inform, entertain
-To provide impartial news and information
-To support learning for people of all ages
-To show the most creative, highest quality and distinctive output and services
-To reflect and represent the diverse communities around the UK
-To reflect the UK, its culture and values to the world
While many would argue they fail to fulfil this, this is the BBC's target and intended purpose.
The BBC has both national and local broadcasts. National BBC radio stations include BBC Radio 1 through to BBC radio 5. Any news told on these stations will cover the biggest stories from around the whole UK, rather than region specific news. Local stations, on the other hand, would be able to stick solely to the news of the area as the only people listening to it are people from the area. There are 40 local BBC stations across England, each covering a different county. For example, BBC Radio Newcastle would have news specific to Newcastle and, unless something massive had happened, would have little to no overlap with the news on BBC Radio Kent. The BBC also has a global Radio Station, BBC Radio News, that is broadcast in English in over 200 countries worldwide.
Radio 4 has 6.4 million listeners a week. The average age of a Radio 4 listener is 56 years old.
Monday, 9 September 2019
Late Night Woman's Hour
Late Night Woman's Hour began in 2016. It acted to a spin off of 'Woman's Hour', a very conservative talk radio that has run since the 40s. It is on later at night and allows for swearing. It is seen as the "edgier" and more progressive version of Woman's hour.
Topics range from wage gap to transgender. Primarily the issues revolve around those of white, middle-class and middle-aged women, as this is their target audience. This fits with it being on Radio 4, as the channel's main demographic is white conservatives. However they also talk about more pop culture topics as well, such as Love Island, to try and appeal to a younger audience.
It began with Lauren Laverne as the presenter, who already worked for the BBC, and was therefore cheaper to hire. She is the former singer of rock band Kenickie. She is a supporter of the labour party and once referred to the spice girls as "tory scum". She was known to have held left-wing views and had made controversial comments in the past. In 2018, the role was taken over by Emma Barnett, who has an Orthodox Jewish background. She is a great supporter of women's rights and is a member of the Women's Equality Party. She has worked for the BBC since 2014. She is known for being a skilled interviewer with a no-nonsense approach.
Late Night Woman's hour consists of at least one guest holding a discussion with the presenter. Sometimes there are multiple guests holding varying opinions on the same subject and are each given a space to voice these opinions, but when it is one person it will be them talking about their chosen subject and the presenter interjects with questions occasionally. The presenter holds a neutral view, and references to specific people or media is not allowed.
Topics range from wage gap to transgender. Primarily the issues revolve around those of white, middle-class and middle-aged women, as this is their target audience. This fits with it being on Radio 4, as the channel's main demographic is white conservatives. However they also talk about more pop culture topics as well, such as Love Island, to try and appeal to a younger audience.
It began with Lauren Laverne as the presenter, who already worked for the BBC, and was therefore cheaper to hire. She is the former singer of rock band Kenickie. She is a supporter of the labour party and once referred to the spice girls as "tory scum". She was known to have held left-wing views and had made controversial comments in the past. In 2018, the role was taken over by Emma Barnett, who has an Orthodox Jewish background. She is a great supporter of women's rights and is a member of the Women's Equality Party. She has worked for the BBC since 2014. She is known for being a skilled interviewer with a no-nonsense approach.
Late Night Woman's hour consists of at least one guest holding a discussion with the presenter. Sometimes there are multiple guests holding varying opinions on the same subject and are each given a space to voice these opinions, but when it is one person it will be them talking about their chosen subject and the presenter interjects with questions occasionally. The presenter holds a neutral view, and references to specific people or media is not allowed.
Monday, 24 June 2019
dvd blurb
Tom and Shawn are part of a conspiracy theorist group. When a fellow member starts acting strange, the group is shook to its core. Red eyes, zoned out, always checking his phone. It is clear that their friend has been probed by aliens! Watch as a camera crew follow Tom and Shawn through their investigation and (possible) solution.
"a fascinating look into the lives of conspiracy enthusiasts" -the daily mail
"an interesting watch. My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed it" - frank skinner
"the characters are endearing enough that you can overlook their stupidity" - Idris Elba
"a fascinating look into the lives of conspiracy enthusiasts" -the daily mail
"an interesting watch. My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed it" - frank skinner
"the characters are endearing enough that you can overlook their stupidity" - Idris Elba
Friday, 7 June 2019
script
Establishing shot of front of house. camera moves towards door and rings doorbell. The door is opened by character #1.
#1: ah, you're here. Come in.
Camera follows #1 into the house. Mid shot of back of his head throughout this, though maybe turning away sometimes to look at things around the house that imply how they live.
#1: we're glad you could make it. I think it's important to document this for future reference and we're really onto something now-
#1 abruptly stops once they step into a room. Camera swings round to show character #2 rolling dice on the floor. camera swings back to a close up of #1's face.
#1:(shouting) What are you doing?!
camera swings back to a mid shot of #2.
#2:(also shouting) I'm playing Dungeons and Dragons!
#1:(exasperated) Why are you playing Dungeons and Dragons?!
#2: you said you'd play with me!
camera turns to close up of #1 who's staring at camera.
#1:(to camera) I didn't say that.
The two continue bickering as dialogue begins over the top of it.
#1:(in dialogue) My name is Tom, I'm a conspiracy theorist.
Cuts to a mid shot of #1 standing against a wall.
#1: well not professionally. Professionally I work at Tesco.
Cuts to wide shot of #1 in the kitchen doing the dishes.
#1:(in dialogue) I'm a pretty average guy. I live with my roommate Shawn.
cuts to longshot of #2 lying on the grass in the garden, slowly zooming in.
#1: he's uh... he's a free spirit.
cuts to #2 standing against the wall at a midshot.
#2: so currently Tom and I have been working on something different.
cuts to close up of pages with UFO sightings and "evidence" of the moon landing being fake etc. camera slowly moves from left to right across these pages.
#2: we generally do work very typical of conspiracy theorists. UFOs, the moon landing and so on.
Cuts to a mid shot of #1 standing against a wall.
#1: well not professionally. Professionally I work at Tesco.
Cuts to wide shot of #1 in the kitchen doing the dishes.
#1:(in dialogue) I'm a pretty average guy. I live with my roommate Shawn.
cuts to longshot of #2 lying on the grass in the garden, slowly zooming in.
#1: he's uh... he's a free spirit.
cuts to #2 standing against the wall at a midshot.
#2: so currently Tom and I have been working on something different.
cuts to close up of pages with UFO sightings and "evidence" of the moon landing being fake etc. camera slowly moves from left to right across these pages.
#2: we generally do work very typical of conspiracy theorists. UFOs, the moon landing and so on.
Tuesday, 4 June 2019
Statement of Aims
In my work, I will be focusing on a cross-media production, marketing a show for Netflix. I chose Netflix over Channel 4 as I felt Netflix offers more freedom in term of content, and the target audience would be likely to have it, as explorers would try to stay up to date with technology.
When shooting the television show, I will include moving shots, following a character from one location to another to reinforce the idea in the audience's mind that it is an actual cameraman following them. This may be accompanied by a voice over of one of the characters talking about the plot, before cutting to them as they continue their interview. This will help the flow of the video, allowing for a smooth transition between scenes even with sudden cuts. One location will be in a messy house, as this is typical of what an audience would expect to see about conspiracy theorists. This way, without being introduced to the characters yet, they have a good idea of what kind of people they are. I also intend to include clothing reminiscent of the 80s- double denim, oversized blazers, etc- as the target audience is 30-49-year olds and this would help appeal to their sense of nostalgia. The characters will all be played by teenagers but will actually be young adults in their early 20s, despite having an older demographic. This is because the audience are explorers and would therefore be more open to seeing things from different generations perspectives. It would also tie into the 80s clothing, making them reminiscent of when they were teenagers. There will also be a montage with a song, as these were popular in movies from the 80s.
I will also be making a billboard poster, which will have an image of the conspiracy theorists. It will be a wide-shot, with the theorists sitting in their chairs in strange ways and wearing tin foil hats. This then portrays to those that see it with no prior knowledge that these characters are conspiracy theorists, due to the tin foil hat. It also presents them as eccentric characters. Then, at the bottom I will put the title of the show, as well as the release date and reviews.
On the DVD cover, it will be an edited image of a theorist being abducted by aliens. The theorist will be floating up towards an alien spaceship. This will set the tone of it being a comedic, light-hearted story with sci fi references. On the DVD back will be a blurb briefly summarising the plot. This will provide a promise of pleasure for the audience. There will also be some reviews to show it has a mark of quality. There will also be screen caps from the film on it, showing key moments to give the audience a decent grasp of what is to be expected in the show.
On the DVD cover, it will be an edited image of a theorist being abducted by aliens. The theorist will be floating up towards an alien spaceship. This will set the tone of it being a comedic, light-hearted story with sci fi references. On the DVD back will be a blurb briefly summarising the plot. This will provide a promise of pleasure for the audience. There will also be some reviews to show it has a mark of quality. There will also be screen caps from the film on it, showing key moments to give the audience a decent grasp of what is to be expected in the show.
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