Economics of the Media
Terms:
FAIR
Conflict of interest
Spin
Commercialism
Public radio/television: PBS/NPR/VOA
Quid pro quo
According to FAIR the major role of the media should be to inform the public.
Unfortunately a serious conflict of interest exists between the media:
the corporations that own them
the advertisers that support those corporations
firms that distribute their product
the government which has its own agenda.
How can the news be manipulated:
A blurring of the line btw news and advertising has occurred.
Ex: relationship between Starbucks and NYTimes – is it a coincidence that the NYTimes has run a series of positive stories about Starbucks?
Even PBS which is supposed to be public broadcasting, now takes considerable corporate donations.
Ex: Charlie Rose, a talk show host whose show is hosted by Coke and who also hosts Coke’s shareholder meetings.
Journalists are often put in a difficult situation – they may uncover a story that the corporation for which they work does not want uncovered. Numerous journalists have been fired for refusing to censor themselves.
Example: Kathy Finn who was fired for pointing that commercialism was increasingly encroaching on news.
David Burgin who was fired from being editor of SF Examiner, because he wouldn’t agree that the newspaper should promote interests of parent corporation.
On the other hand, other journalists have serious conflicts of interest themselves.
Another troubling pattern – journalists as ‘experts.’ Journalists often interview each other, rather than relying on scholars who specialize in a particular area of study.
Organizations that complain that they don’t receive sufficient news coverage may be told to ‘buy an ad,’ while those that pay for ads often receive positive news coverage.
Ownership of various businesses also creates conflict of interest.
Is it a coincidence that Time magazine gave Two Towers such a positive movie review, since AOL owns both.
AOL also promotes their products in their movies.
Companies such as Walmart may put pressure on print media, threatening not to carry a particular issue if they don’t like the way the news is covered.
Ex: Time’s choice of Bin Laden as man of the year.
What is the government’s involvement in the
media?
Contributes to NPR/VOA.
Government power:
Right to give some reporters exclusive access
Pressure news organizations to suppress certain stories or cover them in a particular way.
Ex: Journalists ‘embedded’ in Iraq.
Media seems less and less willing to question ‘official story’ released by government in many cases.
Questions:
How has increased market power (both in media and in general) worsened the problem of conflict of interest?
How can balanced media coverage be assured?
Should firms be forced to disclose conflict of interest?
Is disclosure even enough?