Objectives: The main purpose of the second essay this term is to demonstrate your understanding of the political and economic contexts of the mass media from the course readings, mini-lecture materials, and current media news. The optional video resources you should try to use (e.g., The Myth of the Liberal Media; see: www.onthemedia.org for current Public Radio coverage) complement the readings. Discussing the ideas with other students is encouraged. Your written essay is yours alone, however, and you should give a lot of thought to your choice of concepts to emphasize and demonstrate your understanding of this material.
Format:
Essay Style: (3 typed pages or about 1,000 words) with an introduction to your essay, paragraphs that develop your theme, using the major concepts regarding media system, the contexts of the media system, the technological contexts, the social user & production perspective, politics, economics, and corporate ownership and control, regulations, and a concluding paragraph. Be sure to apply each concept but avoid merely defining terms.
Essay Theme:
Read and review the technological changes and economics of the media industry, to discuss how the media industry is changed by users, and the trend toward conglomeration. What are the effects of ownership concentration, yielding greater diversity or less and why?
Review th20 on media, so that competing interests like markets and democracy movements continue to produce competing interests and regulation debates. Review the changes in media systems and landscapes: consider one of the professions in media (e.g., photographers and/or news reporters) to describe changes in work norms. See how the current controversies over "fake news" is managed by media professionals. Add to the review your ideas about what advantages or disadvantages for the public social media and conglomeration have on the media landscape - is in favor of the public interest?
Sample Solution