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Institution, Theory

david hesmondhalgh

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David wrote a book called ‘The Cultural Studies’, and has a fourth edition out.

-David essentially says that unless you have a direct root to a specific creative career (family owning a company), your chances to get to work in the creative industries is quite low.

-“If you are poor, you won’t get as far”

–“more people seem to have wanted to work professionally in the cultural industries than have succeeded in do so“

-People always expect that working in the Creative Industry is easy and you will be very successful, which is not true, actually quite the opposite. Even if you have all the talent and qualifications needed, you are still not guaranteed a job. It is purely a coincidence. Money plays a massive part as well as popular culture.

–“As if ‘determination’ and ‘commitment’ were in themselves enough to secure success?”

“Creative Industry is a risky business”

Davis splits the Culture Industry into three categories: Production, Distribution and Consumption. Production is the product your have created- for example an artist or band creating a song. Distribution is the way in which you promote it, how you get the product to reach audiences- for example a PR major or someone in a job with advertising, where they can successfully get the song promoted. The last one, Consumption, is the people who listen to the product created, the audience.

It can be risky because without the consumption and distribution, the production isn’t that impressive. If an artist were to create a bad song, or the distribution wasn’t successful, the consumption wouldn’t thrive. Many people are involved in the consumption, for example, an artist brings out an album and it is distributed well, they decide to go on tour. You have people who go on tour with them looking after the lighting and instruments, you also have the staff at the venues looking after the place and making sure it is okay. The consumption heavily relies on the production, so if it doesn’t turn out successful, people with other jobs in distribution and consumption will be out of a job.

It is also heavily based off audience’s opinions. If people don’t like the song created, other people further down the chain will suffer more than the millionaire artist.

The Culture Industry is also risky because media products have limited consumption capacity. You wouldnt watch a movie multiple tiems

Institution, Theory

David Hesmondhalgh

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David Hesmondhalgh is a British Sociologist who is currently a professor of media, music and culture at the University of Leeds. He wrote a book called ‘Cultural Industries‘ published in 2002. He is acknowledged as a key figure in developing the “cultural industries” approach to media, which emphasises the complex and contradictory nature of cultural production under capitalism. A critical reflection highlights that there is a ‘myth‘ about how the creative industry really is and how much work they require. Leaving people vulnerable to the illusion that they will be a ‘star‘ if they have some sort of creative talent.

David states networking is also incredibly important in the industry, its all about who you know and who you have ties to. Without this it is much harder to achieve the spotlight, even if you are better or a hard worker.

‘for every individual who succeeds, there are many who do not. For many, it will be the result of a perfectly reasonable personal decision that the commitment and determination required is not for them’ (p. 20)

David also states that its a risky business. It is competitive as those are fighting for the spotlight but its also determined on the opinions of the audience or the producers. This means creative people are competing for the majority in order to be liked and successful.

The creative industry is divided into 3 groups:

Production– people who create thing e.g write a song, make a movie, make a painting.

Distribution– people who promote and market things to reach the target audience using advertisements.

Consumption– The audience consuming the information e.g by going to the cinema, going to a concert; to consume the product.

Key Quotes:

“the distinctive organisational form of the cultural industries has considerable implications for the conditions under which symbolic creativity is carried out“

“in its utopian presentation, creative work is now imagined only as a self-actualising pleasure, rather than a potentially arduous or problematic obligation undertaken through material necessity” (2009, p. 417)

Media buisnesses are reliant upon changing audience consumption patterns”– The media and creative industry is based off of audience preference, taste, and how audiences will react to productions.

Risk is minimized by many different things:

  • ‘Fan culture’, if productions develop a strong, reliable and loyal fan base, producers can almost rely on a positive reaction from these consumers towards future productions.
  • Marketing and advertising, the use of advertisement allows creative/ media products to gain the attention of their target audience
  • Trying not to create a ‘monopoly’, often, large, worldwide companies such as ‘Disney’ and ‘Apple’ leave one aspect of production, distribution or consumption to a third party company in order to create a legal monopoly.
  • Repetition; Producers stick to their strengths and create similar products time and time again to create a loyal fan base so that they don’t have to continue finding new target audience.
Institution, Theory

david hesmondhalgh

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David Hesmondhalgh (British sociologist and Professor of Media, Music and Culture at the University of Leeds ) is among a range of academics who critically analyse the relationship between media work and the media industry. In his seminal book- The Culture Industries.

‘the distinctive organisational form of the cultural industries has considerable implications for the conditions under which symbolic creativity is carried out’

 in an article he wrote with Banks (Banks, M., & Hesmondhalgh, D. (2009). Looking for work in creative industries policy. International Journal of Cultural Policy. Saying…’there must be serious concerns about the extent to which this business-driven, economic agenda is compatible with the quality of working life and of human well-being in the creative industries.‘

Institution, Notes, Theory

HESMONDHALGH

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David Hesmondhalgh critically analyse the relationship between media work and the media industry. In his seminal book, The Culture Industries (Sage, 2019) he suggested that:

“the distinctive organisational form of the cultural industries has considerable implications for the conditions under which symbolic creativity is carried out“

Often, this ‘myth-like’ narrative young people aspire to is unachievable. They are seduced easily into wanting to work within creative industries and fail to see the counter side, the reality, to what is on the surface.

“in its utopian presentation, creative work is now imagined only as a self-actualising pleasure, rather than a potentially arduous or problematic obligation undertaken through material necessity” (2009, p. 417) 

The creative industry is stereotypically presented as a ‘utopian’ career choice in which, workers have fun at all times whereas it is risky and involves many aspects such as business and money as well. Success in creative industries is largely based off of contacts, connections and luck rather than pure talent and effort.

David Hesmondhalgh says; “All business is risky, but the cultural industries constitute a particularly risky business”

The media and creative industry is based off of audience preference, taste, and how audiences will react to productions. For example, if a production gets a unexpected, negative reaction, money is lost without being made back and jobs are lost, making it a risky venture. Artists and producers take a risk when creating a product as they don’t have any idea how it will be received by the consumers.

“Media buisnesses are reliant upon changing audience consumption patterns”

As audience taste changes, it has a knock on effect to the productions being made.

Risk is minimized by many different things:

  • ‘Fan culture’, if productions develop a strong, reliable and loyal fan base, producers can almost rely on a positive reaction from these consumers towards future productions.
  • Marketing and advertising, the use of advertisement allows creative/ media products to gain the attention of their target audience
  • Trying not to create a ‘monopoly’, often, large, worldwide companies such as ‘Disney’ and ‘Apple’ leave one aspect of production, distribution or consumption to a third party company in order to create a legal monopoly.
  • Repetition; Producers stick to their strengths and create similar products time and time again to create a loyal fan base so that they don’t have to continue finding new target audience.

The Media and creative industries are categorized into sub sectors;

  • Production = Artists, designers, actors etc who create the product.
  • Distribution = Marketers, publicists, advertisers etc who promote the product to the audience.
  • Consumption = Workers who allow the product to be brought to the audience and consumers who consume the products.
Institution

Murdoch: 25 facts

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  1.  he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including in the UK (The Sun and The Times)
  2. Murdoch turned failing newspaper, The Adelaide news, into a huge success. After he started the ‘Australian’ which was the first national paper in the country
  3. 1952 – Murdoch’s newspaper publisher father dies, leaving him control of the News Ltd. company in Adelaide, Australia
  4. 1973 – Expands to the United States by purchasing the San Antonio Express and the San Antonio News.
  5. 1985 –Purchases Twentieth Century Fox from oilman Marvin Davis for $600 million
  6. Purchases US publishing house Harper & Row for $300 million in 1987
  7. By 2000, Murdoch’s News Corporation owned over 800 companies in more than 50 countries
  8. Has a net worth of over $5 billion
  9. 2005 saw ‘News Corporation’ buy ‘Intermix Media’ which owned ‘MySpace’
  10. Tries to cover-up of abuses at News of the World but later admits this
  11. In 2011, evidence indicated that newspaper staffers had engaged in illegal and unethical behaviour, notably the hacking of mobile phone mailboxes belonging to celebrities, murder victims, and British soldiers killed in the Afghanistan War.
  12. Murdoch issues an apology for the phone hacking via full page ads in seven national newspapers
  13. This investigation was later known as the Levenson inquiry
  14. In June 2013 News Corporation split its print and television and media holdings
  15. The months long FBI investigation into allegations of bribery by officials of a Russian subsidiary of News Corp., News Outdoor Russia (NOR), in 2011
  16. News Corp. confirms that it plans to split into two publicly traded companies which are News corp and 21st century fox
  17. 2019, Murdoch sold the majority of 21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets to the Walt Disney Company for $71.3 billion.
  18. Roger Ailes resigned from his ownership of ‘Fox News’ due to allegations of sexual harassment against him. Rupert Murdoch, acting CEO of Fox News from 2016-2019, was given ownership over the company.
  19. Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox strikes a deal to take full control of Sky but there are some concerns about him purchasing it
  20. In 2020, 21st century fox’s annual revenue was about $35 million
  21. Murdoch made his biggest purchase when he bought Wall Street Journal in 2007
  22. the Journal has shifted away from focusing exclusively on business and now has become more of a general-interest publication. 
  23. In May 2012, a parliamentary panel tasked with investigating the scandal released a highly critical report, which stated that Rupert “is not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company”
  24. News UK recording an overall loss of £33.6m loss on the business
  25. News Corporation is the second biggest media conglomerate of the world
Institution

murdoch: news uk

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25 Facts about Rupert Murdoch’s Media Empire.

  1. Founder of the News Corporation Ltd. which has holdings in cable, film, television, internet, direct broadcast satellite television, sports, publishing and other fields,
  2. His company (News Corporation) is the second biggest media conglomerate of the world
  3. The focus of his company was publishing after it was reorganised due to its media and television holdings were spun off in 2013 as 21st Century Fox and mainly sold in 2019.
  4. The former sale resulted in Fox Corporation being created, which included Fox Tv as well as other TV channels.
  5. In 1955 he inherited the tiny Adelaide News from his father and created an international communications empire which over time published more than 80 papers and magazines on three continents
  6. In 1956 Murdoch bought and built up the Perth Sunday Times
  7. In 1960 he bought the significantly declining Sydney Daily and Sunday Paper which he turned into the largest selling newspaper in Australia by employing aggressive promotion and a racy tabloid style
  8. In 1964 he started The Australian, a national paper targeted at a more serious audience
  9. In early 1969 Murdoch debuted as a London publisher when he gained control of the Sunday paper News of the World, the largest-circulation English-language paper in the world. 
  10. Later in 1969 he bought cheaply a tired liberal paper, the Sun, which he radically transformed into a sensationalistic tabloid featuring daily displays of a topless girl on page three.
  11. The Sun became the most profitable paper in his empire. 
  12. . In 1983, it had circulation around four million, it earned $50 million, more than 40 percent of News Corp.’s annual profits. 
  13. In 1981 Murdoch purchased the failing but prestigious London Times.
  14. Murdoch expanded into the American market in 1973 when he acquired the San Antonio (Texas) Express and News. 
  15. In early 1974 he began the weekly tabloid the National Star (later renamed Star) to compete with the popular Enquirer. It started as a weak imitation of the Sun, however it used a format based on celebrity gossip, health tips, and self-help advice which increased its circulation to almost four million.
  16. In his endeavours to gain a big-city audience, Murdoch surprised the publishing world in 1976 when he bought the New York Post, a highly regarded liberal paper. By transforming its image he nearly doubled the circulation.
  17. In 1977 he took control from Clay Felker of the New York Magazine Corp., which included the trendy New York magazine, New West, and the radical weekly the Village Voice. 
  18. Focusing on the struggling paper in competitive urban markets, Murdoch extended his holdings by buying the ailing Boston Herald in 1982 and the modestly-profitable Chicago Sun-Times in 1983.
  19. From his first involvement in publishing, Murdoch applied a recognizable formula to most of his papers. His trademark operations included rigid cost controls, circulation gimmicks, flashy headlines, and a steady emphasis on sex, crime, and scandal stories. Reminiscent of the personalized style of the fictional Citizen Kane.
  20. Murdoch’s uninhibited sensationalism was scorned as vulgar and irresponsible by his peers.Murdoch’s uninhibited sensationalism was scorned as vulgar and irresponsible by his peers. Murdoch’s uninhibited sensationalism was scorned as vulgar and irresponsible by his peers. Murdoch’s uninhibited sensationalism was scorned as vulgar and irresponsible by his peers.
  21. In 1983 Murdoch purchased a controlling interest in Satellite Television, a London company supplying entertainment programming to cable-television operators in Europe.
  22. His plan for beaming programs from satellites directly to homes equipped with small receivers did not progress, and his attempt to gain control of Warner Communications and its extensive film library did not succeed. 
  23. However, in 1985 he did purchase the film company Twentieth Century Fox. 
  24. Murdoch’s business interests included two television stations in Australia, half ownership in the country’s largest private airlines, book publishing, records, films (he co-produced Gallipoli), ranching, gas and oil exploration, and a share in the British wire service Reuters News Corp. Ltd. which earned almost $70 million in 1983. 
  25. His holdings rivaled such U.S. giants as Time, Inc. and the Times Mirror (now Time Warner) Company. In 1988, in connection with his television network, he bought Triangle publications—with holdings that included TV Guide, the leading television program listing publication— from Walter Annenberg for $3 billion.
Institution

MURDOCH: nEWS UK

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  • Rupert Murdoch’s Media Empire Founder of News Corporation, Ltd., which has holdings in cable, film, television, internet, direct broadcast satellite television, sports, publishing and other fields.
  • Murdoch has been compared to William Randolph Hearst, who is often considered the founder of tabloid-style journalism.
  • he went to Oxford university
  • he is worth $17.1 billion
  • for his first job he worked as an editor on Lord Beaverbrooks London daily express
  • he was an Australian newspaper publisher and media entrepreneur
  • He was the son of a famous war correspondent and publisher
  • in 1953, his father dies , leaving him to inherit 2 Adelaide newspapers in 1954
  • He boosted their circulation by emphasising the problems of crime, sex, scandal, sports and human interest stories.
  • Papers were bought in Australia, Britain, and the US by his global media holding company (The news correspondent ltd)
  • By 2000, Murdoch’s News Corporation owned over 800 companies in more than 50 countries
  • Has a net worth of over $5 billion
  • Tries to cover-up of abuses at News of the World but later admits this
  • n 2011, evidence indicated that newspaper staffers had engaged in illegal and unethical behaviour, notably the hacking of mobile phone mailboxes belonging to celebrities, murder victims, and British soldiers killed in the Afghanistan War.
  • Murdoch issues an apology for the phone hacking via full page ads in seven national newspapers.
  • This investigation was later known as the Levenson inquiry.
Institution

Murdoch: News UK

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  • Keith Rupert Murdoch born 11 March 1931
  • founded (1979) the global media  holding company. the News Corporation Ltd.
  • First job- briefly worked as an editor on Lord Beaverbrook’s London Daily Express.
  • His father having died, he returned to Australia in 1954 to take over his inheritance, the Sunday Mail and The News.
  • Worth:  $17.1 billion
  • Murdoch turned failing newspaper, The Adelaide news, into a huge success. After he started the ‘Australian’ which was the first national paper in the country.
  • Murdoch’s media empire includes Fox News, Fox Sports, the Fox Network, The Wall Street Journal, and HarperCollins.
  • In 1968, Murdoch entered the British newspaper market with his acquisition of the populist News of the World, followed in 1969 with the purchase of the struggling daily The Sun from IPC.
  • Murdoch became a US Citizen in 1985 in order to be able to expand his market to US television broadcasting.
  • In 1985 he acquired the Twentieth Century–Fox Film Corporation (later called 20th Century Fox)
  • then consolidated both these ventures into a new company Fox Inc, which has since become a major broadcast television network in the United States.
  •  In Britain in 1989 Murdoch inaugurated Sky Television, 
  • The following year Murdoch sought to expand his presence in American television with the launch of Fox News, a news and political commentary channel that became highly influential.
  • In July 2011, Murdoch, along with his youngest son James, provided testimony before a British parliamentary committee regarding phone hacking. In the UK, his media empire came under fire, as investigators probed reports of 2011 phone hacking. This was later known as ‘Leveson’, which came to the public eye after a young girl who was murdered had her phone hacked by reporters/journalists in order to make a story. claiming that he had been unaware of the hacking. 
  • On 15 July, Murdoch attended a private meeting in London with the family of Milly Dowler, where he personally apologized for the hacking of their murdered daughter’s voicemail by a company he owns. he apologized for the “serious wrongdoing” and titled it “Putting right what’s gone wrong”.
  • May 2012 a parliamentary panel tasked with investigating the scandal released a highly critical report, which stated that Rupert “is not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company” and that he showed “willful blindness” concerning misconduct within his corporation
  • In 2015 Murdoch was succeeded as CEO at 21st Century Fox by James.
  • . In 2017 he agreed to sell most of the holdings of 21st Century Fox to the Disney Company. Two years later the deal closed and was valued at about $71 billion. The hugely profitable Fox News and various other TV channels were excluded from the sale, and they became part of the newly formed Fox Corporation.
Institution, Notes, Research

Murdoch: News Uk

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  1. Murdoch began building his empire in 1952 when he inherited the family newspaper company. Murdoch is credited for creating the modern tabloid encouraging his newspaper to publish human interest stories focused on controversy, crime, and scandals.
  2. Murdoch turned one failing newspaper, The Adelaide news, into a success. He then started the Australian, the first national paper in the country.
  3. Murdoch’s media empire includes Fox News, Fox Sports, the Fox Network, The Wall Street Journal, and HarperCollins.
  4. In 1968, Murdoch entered the British newspaper market with his acquisition of the populist News of the World, followed in 1969 with the purchase of the struggling daily The Sun from IPC
  5. In 1981, Murdoch acquired the struggling Times and Sunday Times from Canadian newspaper publisher Lord Thomson of Fleet.
  6. In the light of success and expansion at The Sun the owners believed that Murdoch could turn the papers around. Harold Evans, editor of the Sunday Times from 1967, was switched to the daily Times, though he stayed only a year amid editorial conflict with Murdoch.
  7. Murdoch bought the newspaper, ‘News of the World of London’, in 1968
  8. Murdoch became a US Citizen in 1985 in order to be able to expand his market to US television broadcasting.
  9. It is owned by the Murdoch family via a family trust with 39.6% ownership share; Rupert Murdoch is chairman, while his son Lachlan Murdoch is executive chairman and CEO. Fox Corp. deals primarily in the television broadcast, news, and sports broadcasting industries.
  10. The Murdoch Family Trust controls around 40 per cent of the parent company’s voting shares (and a smaller proportion of the total shares on issue).
Institution

Murdoch: News UK

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  1. Murdoch turned one failing newspaper, The Adelaide news, into a success. He then started the Australian, the first national paper in the country.
  2. Murdoch began building his empire in 1952 when he inherited the family newspaper company. Murdoch is credited for creating the modern tabloid encouraging his newspaper to publish human interest stories focused on controversy, crime, and scandals.
  3. It is owned by the Murdoch family via a family trust with 39.6% ownership share; Rupert Murdoch is chairman, while his son Lachlan Murdoch is executive chairman and CEO. Fox Corp. deals primarily in the television broadcast, news, and sports broadcasting industries.
  4. As executive chairman of News Corp, home to the Wall Street Journal, the Sun, the Times and the Australian, and co-chairman of Fox Corporation, broadcaster of Fox News and crown jewel NFL games, Murdoch remains firmly in control of a formidably powerful media empire.
  5. The Murdoch Family Trust controls around 40 per cent of the parent company’s voting shares (and a smaller proportion of the total shares on issue).
  6. Until the formation of News Corporation in 1979, News Limited was the principal holding company for the business interests of Rupert Murdoch and his family. Since then, News Limited had been wholly owned by News Corporation.
  7. Certainly, a very small number of corporations own the bulk of media companies. News UK (part of News International owned by Rupert Murdoch), the Daily Mail and General Trust (run by Viscount Rothermere) and Reach PLC (formerly Trinity Mirror, whose CEO is Simon Fox and who have now bought the Express) own over 70%
  8. Fox acquired the Sky stake after Murdoch split his businesses in 2013 in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal that prompted the closure of the News of the World.
  9. While operating profit at Fox for the year to 30 June rose slightly to $6.6bn, the profits at Murdoch’s other company, News Corp, are not quite in the same league.
  10. Rupert Murdoch is the controlling force behind both Sky and 21st Century Fox, the New York-based company that owns a 39.1% stake in the satellite broadcaster. But the true scale of his media empire is even more expansive.