Compared to other industries, the Cultural Industries is what effects they way in which we perceive the world

‘plays a pivotal role in organising the images and discourse through which people make sense of the world’ (Golding & Murdock)

David Hesmondhalgh – The Culture Industry

• Wrote  The Culture Industries (2002)
• He highlights concern with the creative industry and it being too business and economically driven which effects the quality of work life and human well being
• He also shines a light on the precarious nature of the creative industry as so many young people are too easily seduced to pursue a career in the creative industries which is an issue because this promise of wealth and fame is highly unlikely
• In fact, the majority of the time, those who gain the most success out of the creative industry are those who previously had connections to those already in the industry

Forbes magazine estimated that in 2018 over 80% of the 700+ films created made no profit, which supports Hesmondhalgh’s view that the creative industry is a ‘RISKY BUSINESS‘ in the sense that:

• An audiences tastes are continuously adapting which makes predicting their needs and wants nearly impossible
• The industry is extremely competitive meaning its extremely difficult to become successful
• The industry heavily relies on its connections and communication of the marketing functions and if communication is not made clearly then controlling the messages delivered by publicity partners of other companies can be very difficult
• Media products such as film and television have a limited consumption capacity meaning the huge sums of money invested in creating media products result in only a one time reward
• It can take considerable marketing efforts to break a potential writer or performer as a new ‘star’, especially without a built initial fanbase

Hesmondhalgh highlights that the risk associated with media creation encourages organisations, most significantly the large-scale organisations, to overproduce media content in the hopes that enough of those projects will succeed and make up for any losses.

These risks are minimised by:

• Star formatting – rather than introducing new ‘stars’ whose path may prove unsuccessful and unprofitable, re-invent old, well-known stars with a ready-made audience
• Genre-based formatting – labelling media content using genre-based categories allows an audience to identify whether or not a product is of interest to them before consuming it.
• Serialisation – the use of sequels, prequels, spin-offs etc… requires less investment in marketing activities to create audience visibility therefore allowing producers to maximise their investments
• Remakes – recycling previously successful archived material requires less time, effort and money when it comes to the production and instantly engages an audience through nostalgia-based appeals, while also rebranding content so that it fits the tastes of contemporary audiences
• independent labelling – whilst the use of ‘independents’ engages more alternative audiences, audiences who are reluctant to consume mainstream media, it also shields companies from the impact of content failure on their brand identity

Curran and Seaton – Ownership Effects

Their novel ‘Power without Responsibility’ (1981), is deeply concerned with narrating the story of how the media landscape has fallen under the control of a handful of global media conglomerates.

Curran’s interest stemmed from his exploration of the radical press in the early 1800s: newspapers where originally engines for social and political change, made by the working class for the working class. However, this was short lived due to rising production costs meaning only upper class, competitive titles dominated the market and drove the radical press out. Ultimately, the process of media concentration – the control of media by larger organisations – began.

They both suggest a second, equally important factor which contributed to mass media concentration which look place in the late 20th Century. When widespread deregulation occurred in the media industry, the number of national press titles in the UK dropped to just 11 publications. This lack of diversity concentrates too much power in the hands of just a few companies.

Essentially, these conglomerates dominate the market through horizontal and vertical integration, leaving no room for smaller business, creating a lack of diversity and limited perspectives. Most commercial, print, film and television based media is situated in America and the UK: CBS, Comcast, Disney, News Corporation, Time Warner, and Viacom.

Benefits of HI	Benefits of VI
Production costs can be minimised Resources can be shared Market can be controlled	Capturing upstream and downstream profits (eg won’t have to pay extra for distributor) Control over all aspects of production chain restricts access to competitors Cross-media ownership synergies (eg Star Wars characters are used to build a plot for the films and into gaming products)

 Curran argues, media owners control the content and flow of news either directly or indirectly:

• Direct Control: Proprietor owners have the power to censor news content that conflicts with their political view and wider interests
• Indirect Control: Installation of editors for example who are sympathetic towards the proprietor’s views and firing those who are not

They suggest that contemporary media ownership places the media in the hands of the few and not the many, touching upon Marx’s idea that culture is deployed to make the working class believe there isnt much alternative to their appaling working conditions:

• Culture is controlled by social elites: media is controlled by a minority of wealthy institutions who only work for the benefit of themselves
• Culture as a distraction: culture provides a temporary escape from people dull working lives and therefore distracts us from the true nature of our exploitation

Livingstone & Lunt – Regulation

They explore how the UK’s approach to to media governance serves the needs of audiences as both consumers and citizens. Most crucially, they believe that media policies implemented by governments over the last 20 years have worked in ways that protects the commercial interests of media producers

The consumer orientated approach:

• Regulation champions consumer choice – regulation designed specifically to ensure a diversity of broadcasters to operate within the media landscape, allowing consumers to access a broad range of content, opinions and ideas
• Relies on consumer-led policing of programme content – content regulation where audiences have to rely on ‘their own judgments of quality, truthfulness and enjoyment’ (2012).
• The state plays a minor role in determining media regulation – this minimises the role of the government in producing media and is determined through quotas making entertainment that is more beneficial (eg factual, educational, content for children)

The citizen orientated approach:

• Constructs a media model based on civic republicanism – provides focused content that directs media makers to ‘contribute to the enrichment of cultural and social life and the potential for self-development of individuals, groups and communities (2012). This serves consumers with not just entertainment, but also knowledge and a range of diverse content.
• Citizen-based regulation foregrounds content issues – maintaining acceptable standards of content, by ensuring accuracy and dealing with the issues portrayed in a fair manner, is they key focus.
• Encourages a media landscape that can critique government power – a central function of the media sector lies in its ability to hold the government and other sources of power accountable.