With advancements in technology, the world has shrunk. Technology has given every person the opportunity to voice their opinion, and possibly start a revolution. Traditional Media conglomerates are struggling to keep up, losing revenue as people move to more modern techniques to ascertain information. At the same time, media outlets face the constant struggle of presenting stories with upsetting any political figures. It is these political and economic pressures that have always shaped media content, but in the modern continue to do so even more. This essay will look at these in depth, and discuss the concerns around these pressures.
From a political point of view, media content can be shaped by these pressures. In many situations globally, …show more content…
This model looks at ‘this inequality of wealth and power and its multilevel effects on mass media interests and choices’ (Herman and Chomsky, 1988) and looks at five factors that shape media content: Ownership, Dependence on Advertising Revenue, News Sourcing, Flak and Dominant Ideology. Herman and Chomsky (1995) mention that “among other functions, the media serve and propagandize on behalf of the powerful societal interests that control and finance them”.
Ownership is a factor of the propaganda model that can affect content greatly. Large conglomerates such as hedge fund investors only choose to invest in media organisations to return a profit. The side effect of this financialisation of media organisations is that the content that is created becomes a money maker, rather than content that is beneficial to society. Mediaworks is owned by hedge fund Oaktree Capital and is a parent company for a large portion of Radio Stations and two television channels in New Zealand, has recently come under fire for this. In 2015, it dropped Campbell Live and 3D, both investigative journalism shows citing “Long form current affairs is challenging to make commercially viable”. This was after dropping another show, 60 minutes in 2014. To replace the axing of these shows, more reality TV series were produced, with commercial sponsors. These actions promote consumerist values, at the expense of content that could be beneficial to communities and society. It is these influences and pressures put in place by ‘wealthy people or by managers who are subject to sharp constraints by owners and other market-profit oriented forces’ (Herman and Chomsky,
From a political point of view, media content can be shaped by these pressures. In many situations globally, …show more content…
This model looks at ‘this inequality of wealth and power and its multilevel effects on mass media interests and choices’ (Herman and Chomsky, 1988) and looks at five factors that shape media content: Ownership, Dependence on Advertising Revenue, News Sourcing, Flak and Dominant Ideology. Herman and Chomsky (1995) mention that “among other functions, the media serve and propagandize on behalf of the powerful societal interests that control and finance them”.
Ownership is a factor of the propaganda model that can affect content greatly. Large conglomerates such as hedge fund investors only choose to invest in media organisations to return a profit. The side effect of this financialisation of media organisations is that the content that is created becomes a money maker, rather than content that is beneficial to society. Mediaworks is owned by hedge fund Oaktree Capital and is a parent company for a large portion of Radio Stations and two television channels in New Zealand, has recently come under fire for this. In 2015, it dropped Campbell Live and 3D, both investigative journalism shows citing “Long form current affairs is challenging to make commercially viable”. This was after dropping another show, 60 minutes in 2014. To replace the axing of these shows, more reality TV series were produced, with commercial sponsors. These actions promote consumerist values, at the expense of content that could be beneficial to communities and society. It is these influences and pressures put in place by ‘wealthy people or by managers who are subject to sharp constraints by owners and other market-profit oriented forces’ (Herman and Chomsky,