"Only a critical political economy approach can adequately explain how the media work today

Through the use of the critical political economy approach we can clearly construct a picture of what role the media is playing today.  “It is interested in seeing how the making and taking meaning is shaped at every level by the structural asymmetries in social relations.  These range from the way news is constructed by the prevailing relations between press proprietors and editors or journalists.”  From local to global levels, the mass media has an enormous influence on many aspects of peoples’ lives.  From television, newspapers, magazines and other mediums, people gain their own point of view of society.  This point of view varies from person to person as they interpret the media differently.  Many people take the media at face value “they [the media] are constantly blamed for all kind of social ills, political problems and cultural degeneracy”  This clearly illustrates the great power of the media but also its great obligation to fulfill its role as the fourth estate.  In terms of the critical political economy approach, this role cannot be achieved as the media and its owners are more worried about making financial profit.

In terms of fulfilling the role of informing society, it can be said that of all mediums, newspapers have the most room to move in terms of presenting the public with what they want to present.  “Unlike broadcasters who have a legal obligation to be impartial , newspapers are free to campaign on behalf of political parties, but they tend to do this in an indirect fashion and so are usually only open about their support during elections.”  Within the context of presenting society with the news, newspapers are usually “tailored to particular interests and major social groupings while few others have no voice.”  This characteristic has the potential to maximize the influence of newspapers on their readers and in turn society.  But this influence is a far reaching one as “given the large majority of right-wing newspapers, that their collective effect within the media can be very large when they act in unison.”  As there is a majority of right-wing newspapers, it shows not only that they are not being impartial, but are not also providing society with the whole information which it deserves and is reliant on.

In contrast, newspapers can also change their social, political and cultural alignments.  For example when there is a change in ownership “Changes in ownership can also alter political allegiance.  Up until the late 1990’s, The Express was a conservative – supporting newspaper, however it shifted toward Labor when Lord Hollick (a labor peer) bought the newspaper.”  The Lord Hollick and The Express example is clear reminder and in many ways a warning of how much power and influence the owners of the mass media can have over not only the media as a whole but our own perception of society.  This example furthers the critical political economy that the mass media is used as a form of capitalist enterprise.  But also shows how today’s media is affecting political, social and cultural aspects of life instead of its traditional role as a watchdog and impartial source of information.

In terms of the critical political economy approach, it can be strongly argued that it is

the most appropriate theory to analyse the function and motives of the media and

in turn newspapers.  Newspapers like nearly all “commercial mediums make their profit

through advertising.”  Therefore, despite society being presented with news, sporting

teams, and articles of interest, they are also being blanketed with advertising.  This is a

clear reminder that commercial newspapers are a profit making organisations.  “As an

advertising medium, the local press is second only to television in the amount of revenue it generates.”  Newspapers in most cases can be considered as “in the business of delivering audiences to advertisers.”  This audience is gained by reporting local, regional and global news in areas such as sport, economics, business and various others.  In this light we can see that newspapers are predominantly dominated by making a profit than being a reliable and good source of information for society.  This example clearly compliments the argument that ‘only a critical political economy approach can adequately explain how the media work today.’

In a similar way, it can also be shown that television supports the argument that the critical political economy approach is the best way to describe how the media works today.  Television and other media’s role is an extremely influential and important one.  The “role in linking citizens and the state, and their performance is thus vital to democratic health, to enforcing government accountability and giving citizens scope for informed participation and choice.”  But along with this important role comes the great power and influence of television, a power that in many cases like other mediums such as newspapers is misused.  

Despite the apparent differences between television and newspapers, they contain very similar motives in terms of not only the information and entertainment they produce but also why they produce it.  “Media rules on capturing an audience’s attention and thus eventually market shares dominate the business to the exclusion of all other principles.”  Similarly to newspapers, television is dominated by the business of accessing and maintaining an audience.  If this means sensationalising, altering and or putting a bias spin upon news and the types of programs aired, they will happily do it.  

A great example of this audience capturing behavior by television is the way crime is reported in the news.  “Crime is an important news topic…  News Media provide prominent space for violent, sexy and sensational crimes to entertain and attract as many consumers as possible.”  It is common practice of television especially to focus on crimes that are both violent and sensational, but also crimes that are least likely to occur and in effect distort the public perception of crime.  This example clearly shows that television like other mediums continue to be obsessed with not informing the people but rather gaining the greatest audience.  Television has a further advantage over other media’s such as the print press as it can provide moving pictures, for example of a violent crime to not only report a story, but to also entertain or frighten their audience.

In terms of the critical political economy approach being the most appropriate theory in explaining the media, television provides a great example in support of this.  Television is clearly the most used media and is increasingly undermining the use and importance of newspapers.  In this role hopefully it would not be affected by the capitalist enterprise or political and social alignment of its owners.  Unfortunately, there is great evidence to support that this is not the case.  Television is dominated by profits and gaining ratings.  “The estimated cost of buying a slot in the nation’s most popular soap opera, Coronation Street, stands at a staggering ₤100,000.”  With this sort of money being spent on advertising, we are seeing television greatly sculpted and changed as it replaces its job as a watchdog and provider of information to being dominated by the quest for ratings. In this light, it is clear that television may have lost its own purpose of entertaining and informing and replaced it by its quest for the social, political and cultural domination of public information.

 

In terms of the question, it can be concluded that the critical political economy approach can adequately explain how the media works today.  It is shown through the examples of newspapers and television that the media is simply a business, based around consumers.  A big business that “has been transformed into one of society’s most important institutions, exercising influence in virtually all aspects of social and political life, assuming a central role in the shaping of culture…”  It is therefore clear that in the world today the best way to adequately explain how the media work today is through the critical political economy approach.

References

Bazalgette, G. “Why Media Studies is Worthwhile” in D. Fleming (ed.) Formations. A 21st Century Media Studies Textbook, Manchester University Press, Manchester, (2000)

Chermak, S. (1998) “Police, Courts and Corrections in the Media”, in F.Bailey & D. Hale Popular Culture, Crime and Justice, Belmont, CA: Wadsworth

Cunningham, S & Turner, G (eds) (2002) The Media and Communications in Australia: Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, NSW

Darns, T “Money’s Too Tight to Mention” in M. Lacey ) Media Institutions and Audiences: Key concepts in media studies, Palgrave, Basingstoke, Hampshire, (2002)

Golding, P & Murdock, G. “Culture, Communications, and Political Economy” in

J. Curran and M. Gurevitch (eds), Mass Media and Society, Edward Arnold, London,

(1991)

Lacey, C & Longman D (1997) The Press as Public Educator, Cultures of understanding,

cultures of ignorance, John Libbey Media, University of Luton, Bedfordshire, United

Kingdom

Lacey, M (2002) Media Institutions and Audiences: Key concepts in media studies,

Palgrave, Basingstoke, Hampshire

Meyer, T with Hinchman, L (2002) Media Democracy, How the media colonize politics;

Polity Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom

O Siochru, S, Girard, B & Mahan, A. (2002) Global Media Governance, A beginners

Guide, Rowman and Littlefield Publishers INC, Lanham, Maryland

Wheelright, T & Buckley, K (1987); Communications and the Media in Australia: Allen

and Unwin, Crows Nest, NSW, Australia

---