Synopsis of Ch 3

Chapter 3 of Understanding the Media by Eoin Devereux goes into an explanation of how the media is organized. There are many different ways that media-based companies are structured, and how it is organized has an effect on what comes out of it. In order to best understand the products of media companies, it is important to have a concept of how they are organized and run.
The types of owners of the company often determine what their content is like, mostly due to the differences in editorial freedom. Different types of ownership include private, public, and non-profit. Public ownership of media producers often try to please a very large audience, with a broad range of interests. These companies are often funded by commercial activities, but sometimes work with privately owned operators. In the past, when a company was privately owned, it was controlled by a small group of people. These days, however, they are controlled by conglomerates. Non-profit companies often cater to a very small, specialized audience on a much smaller scale.
As companies merge, fewer people become in charge of larger number of media sources, and not just on a national level, but a global one. As ownership becomes more concentrated and globalized, media content appears to become more and more “dumbed down”. In addition, if the owners of a conglomeration choose to go in a certain direction, all of their subunits follow suit, leading to a decline in diversity.
Another way to describe the organization of media ownership is vertical versus horizontal integration. When an owner controls both the production and distribution of a single product entirely, it is considered vertical integration. When a single company owns a variety of smaller units of media, it is called horizontal integration. These two types of organization also impact the outcome of the media. In horizontal integration, there is a higher chance of attaining greater profits, as certain areas of the ownership may excel. In vertical integration, however, all of the company’s efforts go into one product and become reliant on its success.
The chapter continues by discussing the concept of the public sphere. The public sphere, developed by Jürgen Habermas, emphasizes the importance of public discourse in order to maintain a civic and democratic society. Since mass media is such a large factor of how people think, it is important to implement the public sphere into it. However, this becomes difficult when trying to appease a number of different audiences and ideas. One media source that overcomes this challenge is the internet. The possibilities of the internet are nearly infinite, as a user can search for literally anything in the world. While this may sound great, many internet users often overlook the “important” things and instead go for entertainment over information. The internet has the potential to be a great public sphere, but not until it can be equally accessed by anyone.
Overall, media depends on two things, who produces it, and what the consumers do with it. The organization of ownership often determines the audience being sought and the message being sent. The audience, in turn, determines how the messages affect them.