Curran and Seaton argue that the media is controlled by a small number of large companies that are primarily driven by profit and gaining power for their owners. This concentration of ownership limits diversity in media productions. While making money is understandable for businesses, the concern is when profit is prioritized over other responsibilities. Newspapers in particular have become more focused on promoting certain political views that benefit their owners' business interests, even when the papers themselves operate at a loss, allowing owners to gain influence beyond financial returns.

1. Media Industry
James Curran and Jean Seaton: Industry and Ownership

2. Back ground: James Curran
Prof James Curran
• Professor of
Communications
• Department
• Media, Communications
and Cultural Studies
• Goldsmiths University of
London
A pioneer of media studies, James Curran taught on the first
media studies degree established in Britain, and became the
first Professor of Communications at the University of London in
1989.
Written / edited over 20 books about the media and media
history, some in collaboration with others.
Interests broadened to include the study of contemporary
journalism and the Internet.
Co-Director of the Goldsmiths Leverhulme Media Research
Centre, supported by a £1.25 million grant, and the joint author
of Misunderstanding the Internet, whose second edition
appeared in 2016.
Full bio: https://www.gold.ac.uk/media-
communications/staff/curran/

3. Back ground: Jean Seaton
Professor of Media History at the University of Westminster and the Official
Historian of the BBC
She has written widely on the history and role of the media in politics, wars,
atrocities, the Holocaust, revolutions, security issues and religion as well as
news and journalism and is particularly interested in the impact of the media
on children.
In 2007 she became Chair of the Orwell Prize, Britain’s premier prize for
political writing.
She broadcasts regularly on historical, political and cultural matters.
She supervises PhD students across a wide range of political and cultural
topics.
Full Bio: https://camri.ac.uk/blog/staff/professor-jean-seaton/
Jean Seaton
• Professor of Media History
(and the Official Historian of
the BBC
• The Communication and
Media Research Institute
(CAMRI)
• University of Westminster

4. Power Without Responsibility
Most famous among Curran and Seaton’s publications is their joint work “Power Without
Responsibility”
First published in 1981, it has since been revised and updated numerous times and in 2018
published it’s 8th edition.
”This book attacks the conventional history of the press as a story of progress; offers a critical
defence and history of public service broadcasting; provides a myth-busting account of the
internet; a subtle account of the impact of social media and explores key debates about the role
and politics of the media.”

7. Curran and Seaton: Key Ideas
• The media is controlled by a small number of companies primarily driven by the logic of profit and
power
• Media Concentration generally limits or inhibits variety, creativity and quality
• More socially diverse patterns of ownership help to create the conditions for more varied and
adventurous media productions

8. Curran and Seaton: Key Ideas - 1
The media is controlled by a small number of companies primarily driven by the logic of profit and power

9. Curran and Seaton: Key Ideas - 1
The media is controlled by a small number of companies primarily driven by the logic of profit and power
What evidence is there that the media is controlled by only a small number of companies?

10. Curran and Seaton: Key Ideas - 1
The media is controlled by a small number of companies primarily driven by the logic of profit and power
What evidence is there that the media is controlled by only a small number of companies?
Visit the website: https://www.mediareform.org.uk/media-ownership/who-owns-the-uk-media

11. Media Reform Coalition
James Curran has written numerous
articles advocating media reform and is
a supporter of the media reform
coalition

12. Media Reform Coalition
The Media Reform Coalition is a campaign group set up in
September 2011 to coordinate the most effective contribution
by civil society groups, academics and media campaigners to
debates over media regulation, ownership and democracy in
the context of the phone hacking crisis and proposed
communications legislation.
The Media Reform Coalition is committed to:
• Supporting media pluralism
• Defending ethical journalism
• Protecting investigative and local journalism.

13. Media Reform Coalition
The hacking scandal and its aftermath demonstrated how that power has been used nationally,
whilst at local level community after community is losing the means to publicly hold power to
account.
The Media Reform Coalition believe that urgent reform is needed to reclaim the media in the
interest of the public.
http://www.mediareform.org.uk

22. Media Concentration:
Disney
Complete the puzzle to view how many media
companies Disney owns today

23. Media Reform Coalition
Today (2019) Britain has one of the most concentrated media environments in the world;
• Just three companies dominate 83% of national newspaper circulation;
• five companies account for 80% of national newspaper newsbrand reach;
• five companies command 80% of local newspaper titles;
• and two companies own nearly half of all commercial analogue radio stations..
http://www.mediareform.org.uk

24. Media Ownership: Key Terms Homework
Research online to find definitions for the following media ownership terms:
• Conglomerate
• (Media) Convergence
• Corporation
• Cross-Media
• Horizontal Integration
• Media Pluralism
• Monopoly
• Oligopoly
• Public Service Broadcasting
• Subsidiary
• Synergy
• Vertical Integration

25. Research Task: Media Ownership
For your assigned media company, research online to find out what other media
companies, subsidiaries and related assets it owns. Answer the following questions:
 When was the company established?
 Who is it owned by? (people/another company?
 Where is it based?
 Do they have a “mission statement”
 What media assets does it own? (COMPANIES, IP, ETC)
 Annual turnover/revenue?
 Audience reach/sales/ % market share
 Number of employees
 An interesting/controversial fact
Use photoshop to create a collage of logos, images and text
on an A3 poster to display the information.
• News Corp
• Bauer
• Trinity Mirror
• DMG
• Northern Shell
• Universal
• BBC
• ITV plc
• Viacom
• NBCUniversal
• SONY

26. Research Task: Media Ownership/example
 Global Radio

27. 25.2 million listeners each week (Source: RAJAR)

28. https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/top-stories/viral-anti-tory-campaign-
criticises-right-wing-press-1-6386691
Discuss

29. Curran and Seaton: Key Ideas - 1
The media is controlled by a small number of companies primarily driven by the logic of profit and power
Beside making money and gaining power for their owners/producers, what other purposes could media
productions fulfil?

30. Curran and Seaton: Key Ideas - 1
The media is controlled by a small number of companies primarily driven by the logic of profit and power
Beside making money and gaining power for their owners/producers, what other purposes could media
productions fulfil?
To entertain?
To inform?
To contribute to society?
Increase social cohesion and a sense of community?

31. The Logic of Profit and Power
Disney CEO
1984-20095

32. The Logic of Profit and Power

33. Curran and Seaton: Key Ideas - 1
The media is controlled by a small number of companies primarily driven by the logic of profit and power
It is not surprising to think that media companies are primarily driven by profit, this is true of most
businesses in a capitalist economy.
The concern comes when a company’s desire for profit is put before the well being of others.

34. Curran and Seaton: Key Ideas - 1
The media is controlled by a small number of companies primarily driven by the logic of profit and power
Today, newspaper sales are in decline and most actually often operate at a loss.
In 2016, Murdoch’s tabloids reported a £253m loss
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/03/23/murdochs-tabloids-report-253m-loss/

35. Curran and Seaton: Key Ideas - 1
The media is controlled by a small number of companies primarily driven by the logic of profit and power
Today, newspaper sales are in decline and most actually often operate at a loss.
In 2016, Murdoch’s tabloids reported a £253m loss
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/03/23/murdochs-tabloids-report-253m-loss/
So if they are not making a profit for their owners through sales, what other benefits can they offer?

36. Curran and Seaton: Key Ideas - 1
The media is controlled by a small number of companies primarily driven by the logic of profit and power
Today, newspaper sales are in decline and most actually often operate at a loss.
In 2016, Murdoch’s tabloids reported a £253m loss
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/03/23/murdochs-tabloids-report-253m-loss/
So if they are not making a profit for their owners through sales, what other benefits can they offer?
Newspaper owners are able to use their publications to promote policies and politicians that suit their
business interests. – i.e. for power

37. As a rule, right-wing
parties are seen as
‘pro-business’.
They support lower
taxes and less
regulation.
This gives business
owners (such as
newspapers) greater
freedom to make
money, grow their
business and keep
more of the money
they make.

38. Most UK newspapers support Right-wing parties
Left wing: (Labour/Lib Dem/Green)
 The Daily Mirror (508,705)
 The Guardian (141,160)
 The i (233,868)
Right Wing: Conservatives/Brexit Party/UKIP
 The Sun (1,410,896)
 The Daily Mail (1,246,568)
 The Daily Express (321,146)
 The Telegraph (360,345)
 The Times (417,298)

39. Newspapers and political bias
Support for politicians and their policies can vary from the obvious to the more subtle.
 It may be through positive or negative representations of them in news articles, or endorsing
them at an election.
http://www.lse.ac.uk/media-and-
communications/research/research-
projects/representations-of-jeremy-corbyn

40. Newspapers and political bias
Or it can be how they cover a seemingly unrelated
article.
 For instance, if you are in support of lower taxes, then
you may be more likely to run articles discrediting
things that taxes are then spent on such as welfare
benefits, foreign aid or support for asylum seekers.

41. Newspapers setting the ‘news agenda’
With such a ride readership, newspapers are often able to set the news agenda.
In other words, they lead and control what things people are talking about.
Even if Newspapers don’t necessarily tell you what to think, they do tell you what to think about.

42. Newspapers setting the ‘news agenda’
For instance, the great ’pacific garbage patch’ has recently become widely recognized as a symbol of
the plastic problem in the ocean. To a large extent, this was after it was highlighted in the Blue Plant 2
documentary in 2015
But the problem was actually
identified by NOAA scientists in
1988. But it received minimal
coverage in the news, so people
did not give it much thought.

43. Newspapers setting the ‘news agenda’
Sometimes, the link between government policy and the news agenda is even more explicit
In this extract, veteran journalist Peter Oborn explains how the then
Labour government colluded with The Sun Newspaper to run anti-
asylum seeker articles months in advance of announcing their new
policy to clamp down on asylum seekers.
This made it look like The Sun had ‘won’ by getting the government
to react and that the government had done a good thing by listening
to public opinion.
In fact, tit was all orchestrated. The government had always planned
to introduce the policy, but needed to get public support for it first.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-L6U0ZQE32E

46. Rupert Murdoch & Brexit
Andrew Hilton, The Evening
Standard
https://www.standard.co.uk/com
ment/comment/anthony-hilton-
stay-or-go-the-lack-of-solid-
facts-means-it-s-all-a-leap-of-
faith-a3189151.html

47. Most UK newspapers support Right-wing parties
Newspaper owners may even make political donations.
 In 2010, Murdoch donated $1m to The Republican Party
 In 2015 Richard Desmond, the owner of The Daily Express, donated £1m to UKIP.

48. What do newspaper owners get in return?
In return, newspaper owners may receive favourable treatment for their business activities.
During the 1980s, Murdoch’s newspapers supported the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher.
In return for this support, Thatcher helped approve Murdoch’s controversial purchase of The Times.
In the 1990s, the papers dropped their support for the Conservative party and Thatcher’s successor John Major,
because Murdoch did not approve of his European policy. The newspapers switched support to Tony Blair’s Labour
premiereship for 3 elections.
Then, in 2010, Murdoch’s papers switched support back to David Cameron’s Conservative party. Once elected,
Cameron ‘froze’ BBC funding for 6 years (effectively a cut).
Murdoch has long been critical of the BBC and reducing their budget would help rival news providers such as his
newspapers and Sky News (which he also had a majority share in)
Andy Coulson was editor at Murdoch’s News of The World before becoming the Conservative Party’s Director of
Communications. (He later resigned and was sentenced in relation to the phone hacking scandal).

49. What do newspaper owners get in return?
Newspaper owners can use their voice to get public and political support for things that support their
business interests, such as:
 Low taxation
 Low media regulation
 Pro capitalist/consumerist ideologies

50. Curran and Seaton: Key Ideas - 2
Media Concentration generally limits or inhibits variety, creativity and quality
• What do you understand by this statement?
• How/why might the media being owned by relatively few people/companies have a negative impact
upon variety, creativity and quality

51. Curran and Seaton: Key Ideas - 2
Media Concentration generally limits or inhibits variety, creativity and quality
We have established that media ownership is concentrated into relatively few companies.
How/why might the media being owned by relatively few people/companies have a negative impact upon
variety, creativity and quality?
What evidence is there to suggest that this is the case?

52. Curran and Seaton: Key Ideas - 3
More socially diverse patterns of ownership help to create the conditions for more varied and adventurous
media productions
What might a more ‘socially diverse pattern of ownership’ look like?

53. Curran and Seaton: Key Ideas - 3
More socially diverse patterns of ownership help to create the conditions for more varied and adventurous
media productions
What might a more ‘socially diverse pattern of ownership’ look like?
Public ownership: BBC, Channel 4
Cooperatives: The Bristol Cable
A Trust – The Guardian – “The Scott Trust forms part of a unique ownership structure for the Guardian that
ensure editorial interests remain free of commercial pressures” https://www.theguardian.com/the-scott-
trust/2015/jul/26/the-scott-trust
Web 2.0, Social media, prosumers and user generated content

54. Curran and Seaton: Key Ideas - 3
More socially diverse patterns of ownership help to create the conditions for more varied and adventurous
media productions
How might this ‘create the conditions for more varied and adventurous media productions’?
BBC and Channel 4 are both ‘not-for-profit’, publicly owned public service broadcasters.
It is part of their licence agreement with Ofcom that they have to make programming that is ‘of a
service to the public
BBC: “To inform, educate and entertain” -
Channel 4: ‘Born Risky’ – alternative voices, innovation

55. Curran and Seaton: Applied to set products
The specification requires that you are able to apply these ideas in relation to the following set products
Component 1 Section B
The Daily Mirror, The Times*, Late Night Women’s Hour, Straight Outta Compton/Black Panther, I Daniel
Blake*, Assassin’s Creed 3 Liberation
Component 2
Humans, The Returned*, Vogue, The Big Issue*
* = A2/Y2 only.