Week 3: Economic Systems and the Organization of Media Industries
The media in my home country functions within the general capitalist setting influenced by free market features. This market is highly oligopolistic with a few large firms that are mainly motivated by advertising and subscription income bearing significant impacts on both creation and delivery of content. Nevertheless, the outlined picture does not exclude state interference in the industry’s work. In a way, due to legal regulations especially in the broadcasting field, public accountability is absolute, thus a blend of capitalistic economy and governments norms. An example of state influence is a requirement that a certain amount of the content to be broadcasted be originated from within the state. This regulation helps to evaluate and to state the importance of local tradition and orientation together with globalization tendencies in media industries. However, this cross-over between public and private influence naturally creates questions about the divide of power. Hyping free market intensity, competition, and innovation at the same time results in oligopoly, wherein only several large companies dominate the market.
An interesting example is Li Xin of Caixin, which is an organisation that operates primarily for the public good and not for the benefit of editors’ or owners’ pockets. Through democratized media the general public is able to become an opposing force the corporate colonization of media ownership. While reporting the incidents independently, some of the media houses perform the critical role of giving diverse views to the society. Nevertheless, their sustainability is often under pressure in such a context, mainly related to the financial business models most dependent on advertising revenues. The transition from “Fordist” to “post-Fordist” modes of production has most further divided media audiences. Flexibility, niche targeting as major features of post-Fordism therefore has led to emergence of digital media service such as Weibo. These are contained in specific demographic targets and deliver content based on the client’s preference. This can be seen as the globalization process of media “culturalization” where economic structures become oriented to the production of meaning instead of commodities.
However, there are limitations to the developments. Este include reduces the range of information sources, therefore primarily focused on business development instead of serving the public interest. However, this has also been translated to fears on ideological consolidation and the sovereignty of journalism. In order to overcome these problems, the government needs to rethink methods to finance independent media, for instance, subsidies or grants to diversify and develop them. Interestedly, the media industry in my home country is a perfect example of the tension between Capitalism and public interest. If left unregulated the free market encourages innovation and development however it must be monitored and controlled to allow access to fair amounts of diversity. It can only then facilitate what Becker starts to bring out: Media as a democratic space.