the ties that bind: all media is owned and beholden

THE TIES THAT BIND: All Media is Owned and Beholden

Content is based upon W. James Potter’s book, Media Literacy, SAGE Publications: 1998 as well as the following sources:

http://www.ci.appstate.edu/programs/edmedia/medialit/ml_adolescents2.html

http://cehd.ewu.edu/faculty/ntodd/EDUC538Julie.html

http://www.medialit.org/ReadingRoom/keyarticles/skillsandstrat.htm

Essential Questions:

Who is communicating this message or why? What purpose does it serve?

Overview of Concepts Covered

All Media are Owned

Depending upon the media type, mass media is in competition to get good talent and sell ads (or get distributed, depending on the media) – which ultimately makes it beholden to:

Itself

Advertisers (or distributors), and

Audiences

Media exists in a balanced “ecosystem-type” world in which all of society plays a part in its existence, creation and state – including YOU.

Media is Owned and Beholden

"The real purpose of the programs we watch on commercial TV, whether news or entertainment, is not to entertain us but rather to create an audience [for watching] commercials."


Media are Owned

All media are owned by individuals or institutions that have historical and social contexts that may be concealed from the general public. Institutional elements from production to distribution influence the content as well as audience perceptions of the content. It is important to call attention to the idea that commercial institutions are owned and ultimately operated according to the principles that will generate the highest profit.

Financial goals shape the content, quality and diversity of media messages we receive for both entertainment and information.

Media are primarily businesses driven by a profit motive.


Selling Time

To media producers the real purpose of programs we watch on commercial TV, video, magazines or the news is not just to entertain us but rather to create an audience (and put them in a receptive mood) so that the network or local station can sell time to sponsors to advertise their products in commercials.

Every second counts! Sponsors pay for the time based on the number of people the station predicts will be watching. Sponsors also target their advertising message to specific kinds of viewers. Women 20-35 who spend money on the advertised products are targeted for specific products, just as children as young as ages 2-7 who influence their parent's spending.


Products

Most people are aware that the creators of movies, television, music, advertising, computer games and other media are trying to make money. Young people may not necessarily however, actively process this when they make purchasing decisions or when they are watching a program.

Media education can make them more conscious of this by drawing their attention to the plots and storylines producers assume they are interested in and by having them concentrate on products sold during these programs.

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Mass media are provided to us, as researcher George Gerbner says, by private, global corporations with something to sell rather than by the family, church, school or even one's native country, with something to tell.*

Nearly all of the books, films, TV and software that we use have been selected and designed with the goal of producing profit for the relatively few people who own and distribute them. The range of voices and visions available in most media is thus narrower than the diversity of opinions and styles in society.

A media literate person habitually asks who owns, controls and influences the images we see, and how the meanings expressed might be serving particular interests.

What Interests are Served?

* While these groups may not be selling a product they are still “selling” an opinion, idea or perspective that they want you to “buy-into.”

The “Mecosystem:”(The Media Ecosystem)

It is obvious that media does not exist in a vacuum. But when people with low media literacy skills don’t like a TV show or any other media product, they tend to blame “the entertainment industry”, a specific network or business, or the media’s producer.

But as we learned no media product is EVER simply the creation of one person. Its intricate economics including other media companies, advertisers and audience members prohibit that.

Media exists in a balanced “ecosystem-type” world in which alll of society plays a part in its existence, creation and state.


The Balance of the “Mecosystem”

The “Mecosystem” works very much like our own natural environment. Every action gets a reaction. Nothing exists completely independently.

For example, in our world’s ecosystem, when there is a drought and water is scarce, animals are impacted by the situation and may become dehydrated and die.

In the Mecosystem, stations and programming are all connected as well. When one station has a strong hold on an audience and then another network creates a popular program and puts it on at that time – it’s a virtual showdown for dominance. If the new programming slot gets huge ratings, viewership for the first program will suffer.


Consider in the Spring of 2002 the “late night” fight over David Letterman. Can you think of recent examples?

How YOU participate in the “Mecosystem” too

Individuals play an important roll in the development of media. We pay media both directly and indirectly.

Direct media payment is when you pay money directly to a media company – such as when you pay a cable bill or an Internet service provider.

Indirect media payment is when you buy an advertised product. Every time one of us buys something advertised, a portion of what we buy goes to the advertising budget of that product -- which eventually supports the media outlets that advertise it.


The Economics behind the Media

Media businesses are all competing to acquire limited talent and reach audiences so they can generate as much revenue as possible selling ads…

It should be noted that books, video games, cell phones, etc. are all media. And though they may not compete directly to get advertisers they do compete for distribution. Simply substitute advertisers for distributors in this equation. Advertiser is to TV network as book store is to publisher or electronic store is to video games/cell phones.


Media is Beholden

It is beholden to itself. Most of the “big player” media companies are parts of a

conglomerate and they need to play the media game as a strategic team; working synergistically as a rule.

It is also beholden to it’s advertisers. They are the the primary source of revenue for a media

company. And it is beholden to its audience.

With cable and digital channels, the media playing field is bigger than ever, and people can be picky about programming. If a network is under-serving their audience, the audience will change the channel. It’s that simple.


Media is Beholden to Itself Media conglomerates like Viacom, AOL/Time Warner, Disney, GE, News Corp,

etc. are all playing the same game – and the goal is to make as much money as possible.

The only way to do that is to reach as many people as possible. So conglomerate’s subsidiary companies have to play as a team. They work together and use all of their available media outlets creatively and synergistically to reach maximum numbers of people all the time.

Example: If MTV launches a clothing line, it would make sense to run advertisements for the clothes on MTV as well as VH1 and possibly Nickelodeon and Country Music Television. Why? Because these shows are owned by MTV Networks.


Media is Beholden to Itself Media is beholden to the sister

companies within it’s conglomerate. Like a team they work best when they work together and they need to support each other to broaden the reach of their messages.

For example, GE owns NBC and NBCi (an Internet search engine). On GE’s website, they directly connect users to NBCi. This is a great example of a synergistic venture among company holdings and how various forms of media are inter-related. www.ge.com

Another example was the summer 2001 ratings fiasco on Nick-at-Nite called Pop-Up Brady. Borrowing from the success of sister company’s, VH1’s, Pop-Up Video, Nick-at-Nite used the format as a ratings booster.


Media is Beholden to Advertisers Media constantly rides the line between edgy but acceptable.

Media wants to stay edgy to stay ahead of trends and compete with other companies. But it also wants to remain within the realm of socially acceptable. The moment media crosses the line and becomes unacceptable (too violent, too stupid, etc.) it alienates and loses viewers.

Calculations on ratings will immediately show the drop-off of viewers or readers, and advertisers will choose to buy their next advertising package from a competitor.

Media is constantly calibrating and re-calibrating it’s content to stay precariously balanced on society’s tightrope.


Media is Beholden to Advertisers

A media company without a relationship with advertisers is like an alien stranded on a planet. Depending on the goals and needs of a project, media companies will sometimes seek sponsorship to cover some of the cost of the endeavor.

Example: a big budget film with notable talent, will sometimes accept the cash of advertisers in exchange for use of their product within the movie. This is a win-win situation since the studio gains revenue and the advertisers reach an attentive audience. This is called product placement.

A memorable example is in E.T. when Reese’s Pieces were used and millions of kids bought them for the rest of the summer.



Media is Beholden to Advertisers

Being media literate about advertising requires critical thinking and viewing skills.

There are primary and secondary messages in most advertisements:

Consider the amount of “sexual” messages we see every day in billboards for shoes, TV commercials for cars or magazine covers. For instance, a billboard advertisement for Pony sneakers on Times Square directly in front of MTV, shows an almost-naked Pamela Anderson superimposed over a giant Pony sneaker. How can you teach kids to examine the primary and secondary messages inherent in these kinds of ads?

What primary and secondary messages are in the photo to the right?

Recall the outrage when Camel cigarettes used the cartoon Joe the Camel

Media is Beholden to its Audience

Balancing between advertisers and audience If a media company gets too caught up with their goal

to make money via advertising and makes a decision to offer more minutes during an hour programming of ad time, viewers, users and/or listeners will notice. They will get annoyed and switch to another media outlet leaving the media company in the position of fighting to get them back. Media must balance the needs of the advertisers and the contentment of their audience.

Quality content and customer service is paramount Most people, by the time they are 30 have fully formed

their product loyalties. In this age of literally hundreds of channels on a TV, millions of websites, CDs, cell phones, etc. it is imperative for companies to serve customers well and do it consistently so they can keep those who their loyal audience base as well as woo new members.


Product Placements

The art of placing products is relatively new (it only really took off after E.T.) but there have been some very memorable moments over the last 20 years. The business week article below outlines some examples of product placement that many will remember. Some may be noteworthy to examine in the classroom.http://www.businessweek.com/1998/25/b3583062.htm

Some more up-to-date examples include: Fed-Ex and Wilson Volleyballs in the film Cast Away Target supplies in the TV show Survivor Cereal and other food products on Seinfeld


Relevant Articles This article is from an educational site called Media Awareness Network. More

than just an article about product placement in films, it is a site that gives great ideas for classroom use of media concepts.http://www.media-awareness.ca/eng/med/class/teamedia/bond2.htm

The article examines whether the Sesame Street Muppet, Elmo, may be fronting for commercial underwriter AOL. The article questions whether a spring 2001 episode thatfocused on computers was product placement or just coincidence. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/24/opinion/24COLL.html

*This article may or may not appear when you go to the site. If it doesn’t appear, search for “Elmo Gets Wired” run on April 24, 2001 and if you’re interested in reading it, you may need to pay 80 cents to view it.

This Columbia Journalism Review shows how media conglomerates (specifically Murdoch’s in this article) can utilize the resources within themselves to promote their products. It puts a fairly negative spin on Murdoch and his business decisions but is worth reading for its illustration of corporate synergies. http://www.cjr.org/year/98/3/murdoch.asp


What’s Next?

A media literate person habitually asks who owns, controls and influences the images we see, and how the meanings expressed might be serving particular interests


Refer to your toolkit for the weekly assignment, and be prepared to answer the weekly questions posted by your instructor.

the ties that bind: all media is owned and beholden

Documents

media producers

media type

media literacy

media education

beholden mass media

diversity of media messages

specific products

real purpose of programs