Dennis and Defleur Ch. 13

This multi-media product and its content are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law:
Any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network;
Any preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or in part, of any images;
Any rental, lease or lending of the program
Understanding Media in
the Digital Age, 1/e
Everette E. Dennis
Melvin L. DeFleur
Prepared by Todd
Chambers, Ph.D.
Texas Tech
University
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

SOCIAL FORCES:
ECONOMICS, TECHNOLOGY,
AND POLICY
Chapter 13

An Interplay of Forces
 Communication Policy
 government
 cultural values and traditions
 economic trends and patterns
 new technologies

Searching for the Public Interest
 Defining the Public Interest
 individual or institutional right?

Question to think about
 In your opinion, is the First
Amendment for individuals or
institutions or both?

Searching for the Public Interest
 Defining the Public Interest
 Print media: receive greater freedoms
 Electronic media: fewer First Amendment
freedoms; licensing
 Diversity of voices
 Marketplace of ideas

Denying the Business of Media
 Audiences as consumers?
 Concentration of ownership
 Monopoly power =/≠ diversity of ideas?

Enter Media Economics
 Who owns the media?
 Who supports the media?
 How are media companies financed?
 What are the financial drivers of media firms?
 What accounts for profits/losses?
 What inspires innovation?
 What is the role of technology?

 Media and the Digital Economy
 e-commerce
 Big media
 Little media
 Niche strategies
 The Long Tail: value in small audiences

 Corporate Cultures and Revenue Models
 Law of Large Numbers: large audiences
 Law of Right Numbers: large, attractive audiences
 attractive to advertisers
 ‘right’ demographic or psychographic

 New Business Models for Media
 Philanthropic Funding
 Foundation Model
 Membership Model
 Employee Ownership Model
 Government Subsidy Model

 Free Markets and Regulatory Controls
 U.S. media market
 “free market”
 limited control and oversight
 Internet changing the media economy

Independence with Controls
 Communication policy
is variously described as government interface
with media institutions on behalf of the public, to
a more complex formulation that involves the
private sector, other social institutions, and
interests.

 Controlling
Objectionable
Content
 American colonies –
did not want the crown
to control content
 Pornography
 Censorship v. Self-
Censorship
 Controlling Political
Communication
 government and media
are separate
 move into a global
system
 piracy
 government
standards

 Protecting the Public Interest
 News media = public trustees
 News media = Fourth Estate

 Covering Electoral Politics
 Commonality of interest
 Advocates and intermediaries for citizens

Political Protections: The
Constitutional Framework
 The Free Press – A Historical Legacy
 Prior Restraint
 English Law allowed prior restraint
 against the Crown? Punishable.
 John Zenger
 seditious libel
 separation of press and government

 The First Amendment
“Congress shall make no law abridging the
freedom of speech, or of the press…”

 Technology’s Place in Regulation: From
Printing to Cyberspace
 Broadcasters and the license
 Cable and the franchise
 Telecommunications Act 1996: allowed technology
to advance
 Indecency
 Communications Decency Act, struck down

Linchpins of Communication Law
 The Libel Conundrum
 False, defamatory statements about someone
 Ancient roots – Ten Commandments
 Today: protects individuals and corporations

Linchpins of Communication Law
 Libel Laws and the
Media
 Public figures and
public officials
 New York Times v.
Sullivan (1964)
 set precedent for free
press v. public officials
 US Supreme Court in
favor of press criticism
of public officials
 Multi-million Dollar
Libel Suits
 Legal costs for defense
 Chilling effect

Trial by Media
 1930s Lindbergh case
 Reardon rules related to prejudicial
information
 Cameras in the courtroom
 OJ Simpson trial
 Court TV

Moral Values: Obscenity and
Pornography
 Obscenity: government censorship or
provide freedom?
 Roth (1957): not protected under the
constitution
 Miller (1973): community standards
 Codes of ethics

The Government’s Secrets During
National Crises
 Direct Censorship During War
 1898, Spanish-American War
 1917, WWI Espionage Act
 fines and prison for interfering with war effort
 1918, WWI Sedition Act
 crime to publish anything that abused, scorned or
showed contempt for US

Political Constraints: The Agents of
Control
 Regulatory Agencies
 Federal Communications Commission
 radio, television, cable, telephone, satellites, mobile
phones
 licensing, political content, children’s
programming
 public interest, convenience and necessity

Control
 Federal Trade Commission
 established in 1914
 advertising, concentration of ownership, deceptive
advertising

Control
 Deregulation and Outside Pressures
 intermedia ownership
 intramedia ownership
 Media concentration = public interest?

Dennis and Defleur Ch. 13

More Related Content

What's hot

Similar to Dennis and Defleur Ch. 13

More from Aimee Kendall Roundtree

Dennis and Defleur Ch. 13

Editor's Notes