COMM 121 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2-3: Moviefone, Horizontal Integration, Vertical Integration
Document Summary
Chapter 2 - the economics of the media industry (32-54) Most of the media in the united states and other western democracies are for-profit businesses. Media is influenced by: profitability, cost containment, evolving ownership patterns. They work within constraints of an existing organization. We need to understand the forces that affect the media industry. For example: movies are not completed by fully autonomous actors. They do not work in isolation from the social world . Production perspective : media products are the result of a certain social process of production within. Producers create media products under conditions that are always changing in the broader society. an institution. This production process is shaped by a variety of social structural forces. Five dominant companies globally (mid-2000s): time warner, walt disney, viacom, news corporation, bertelsmann. Conglomeration: media companies become part of larger corporations, which own a collection of other companies. Ex: google purchased over 125 companies between 2001 and 2013.