Media conglomerates

2. There are three types of media ownership:
 Public owned: Owned by a large amount of
the public.
 Private owned: Owned by a private
company.
 State owned: Owned by the government.

3. Advantages Disadvantages
Public
owned
• Public Broadcast Service
(inform, educate, entertain)
• Variety of programs to suit
plural tastes and opinions
(BBC1, BBC2, BBC3, BBC4).
• Does not need to include
advertisement.
• Paid by the licence fees (The licence fee is
classified as a tax).
Private
owned
• Business for profit (Makes
money for the shareholders)
• It can be free for the audience
as it is paid by the advertisers
and companies who use it.
• Because it needs to make money, it needs
to include publicity and advertisement.
• Because it needs to make money, it needs
to appeal to a mainstream (mass) audience
leaving out the minorities and niche
audiences.
• Could be bought by any conglomerate.
• It certainly may be biased (one sided story)
depending on who owns it.
State
owned
• Far reaching and all the same
news everywhere.
• Has the resources to be
everywhere.
• Paid by the taxpayer.
• It certainly may be biased (there is only one
side to the story, the one that favours the
current government policies)

4.  Write as many examples of each type of media ownership as you can think
of. You can use internet to research on this topic.
Examples
Public owned • BBC
Private owned • Yahoo, Northern and Shell, Facebook, ITV, MTV,Virgin, Al-
Jazeera, News Co., Google,YouTube,…
State owned • Australian Broadcasting Co., SpanishTVE, any gov.uk website,
ChineseTV, etc…
• Is Channel 4 publicly or privately owned?
• Which is the biggest media conglomerate operating in the UK at this moment?
• Provide as many examples of media platforms owned by the UK government as
you can find.

7. 2011

8. http://www.freepress.net/ownership/chart/main
July 2015

10. Can you think of one example of a
conglomerate?
 A conglomerate is a large international
organisation that owns many different
companies in different media industries
(TV channels, newspapers, film studios,
radio stations and/or internet companies)

11.  This occurs when one company buys a
similar company.
e.g. aTV station buys anotherTV station.This
happens commonly through mergers and
buyouts.
Can you think of one example of a
Horizontal Integration?

12. This involves a company taking over another
company which provides a service at one or
more stages of the production process.
e.g. a record company might buy a chain of CD
retail stores or a movie studio might buy cinemas
to exhibit their own films.
Can you think of one example of
Vertical Integration?

13.  http://www.slideshare.net/LiamDonnelly/vertica
l-horizontal-integration
 http://disneycompanyprofile.weebly.com/studio
-entertainment.html
 http://www.slideshare.net/HeworthMedia1/sony
s-development-and-vertical-integration
 https://prezi.com/mlknmb8j5pfl/sony-music-
entertainment/

34.  Whoever owns the media
has a big influence on our
lives. Rupert Murdoch is
ranked in the list of the most
powerful men in the world.
 Why do you think is that?

35. One person owning so
much of the media is a
good thing!
 Do you agree or
disagree with this
statement? Give
reasons for this answer.

36.  Who owns The Daily Mail?
 Who owns The Guardian?
 What other companies are owned by these?
 Make a spider diagram like those shown in the
previous lessons. Use a one slide PowerPoint.
 You should use reliable internet sources to
research on this topic. Reference your sources.

37. Watch this
documentary film.
After watching it, you
will have to write an
essay on the subject,
so take notes!
Good image resolution, not very good sound:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlvLr7DSbog&list=PLvE
VadvMqJSobVahvpCl9Du62zSKOaQAd
Better sound, not very good image resolution:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5QROudsojA&t=1066s

38. The following two articles are related
to relevant aspects of the film.
Read them to find out more about the
transcendence and implications of the
aspects exposed in the film:
The Guardian (14 October 2009, few days
before the premiere of the film)
https://www.theguardian.com/media/200
9/oct/14/starsuckers-tabloids-hoax-
celebrities
Indexoncensorship.org (08 April 2010)
http://www.indexoncensorship.org/2010/0
4/starsucker-uk-media-culture