Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • BBarrettPoliticaleconomy PDF

    Uploaded by

    wamma
    24 views4 pages

    Original Title

    BBarrettPoliticaleconomy.pdf

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Report this Document

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    24 views4 pages

    BBarrettPoliticaleconomy PDF

    Uploaded by

    wamma

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    of 4
    22. The political economy approach Oliver Boyd-Barrett The term ‘political economy’ in media research has a broadly ‘critical’ signification, often associated with macro-questions of media ownership and Shuck imereckngalvctorhipsan the tacos tot bang egeter eda snus with ther media an with other induc, aed tah pote ‘nomic and sal ete tcommorty lke processes of consoldation GicelRcatoncommercateatonntenstonateston, the worn of he froke motive inthe hunt for audlences an for asversaings ond ts Popnequences for media proctces and media ontene ine stry of the ola economy adn Masco (1995) argues that dite tis eaial siento cassal economies belonged o precely this tradition, whereas Ihe fater development of ‘orthodox’ or ‘neo-classical’ ce higwed areductonst tajerory of emtyangecenomc Ine? Srformuise to copa the reationtup bobceenindeteas and markets in isolation from broader historical and socio-political contexts. 7 Mes beth narrow anda more ambatous dcfeion of pois econ Inte narrow sen, pia! economy the sty of he sci feiaons particularly the poor relations, that mutually conse the Prono" dinbunon, and consimpion” f oure lis Eommuniation resources. But nts more ambitous For ste of centr and survival in social life’. is the study oo iets tee ese features of poi economy, Fist of it foregrounds the ud of socal change ad Rstoncaltansfornution. It in the sence parca tht some ofthe foun fathers of seonomies who studied the transition from agricultural to industrial society, such as Smith, Ricardo and Mill as well as Marx, may be regarded as political economists. Tolle economy theodes encompass coneratives coulis, Mut femurs aed envonmentate seceding to whether hey give ental place to tradition, community, labour, gender or the organic environment. Scconaly politcal conor sss hasan interest examisingthe socal whe or the totality of social relations that constitute the economic, political, social shal cultural elds, Thirdly it iscommnted to moral phlosophy, having on intra in soil ius and onl prnipes To these aay be eda ost ature anges Colngand Murdek (99) whe in cecrbng ena prtcal cena ielutea cel concern th thebatance betwee cpt Eee an pteinterventonathough aptly ths bud thn social praxis as a way of addressing issues of value. Fullfeal economy explanations distust reductionism and near 186 riteal 4 te, that they assess relation to values (such as participation and equality), and they focus on processes more than on institutions. Mosco offers three ‘entry’ ‘concepts for the application of political economy to communication: ‘Gommodification’ (the process of taking goods and services which are valued for their use, and transforming them into commodities which are valued for what they can earn in the market place); ‘spatialization’ (the process of vercoming the constraints of space and time in social life) ‘structuration’, which incorporates the ideas of agency, socal process and social practice into the analysis of structures, Even though the most powerful contributions of politcal economy to communication studies have been the analyses of media estitutions and their contexts, Mosco’s concepts are relevant to enquiries across the entire range of media activity, and have the potential to address {none holistic mode! the entire cycle from production (and its contexts) to reception (and its contexts). They provide a basis onto which can be mapped the identification by Golding and Murdock (1991) of four historical processes that are central to a cntical political economy of culture: the growth bf the media; the extension of corporate reach; commodification; and the hanging role of state and government intervention, each of which also lends Stself to analysis in terms of commodification, spatialization and structuration. ‘The late-1960s was a period in which radical thinkers increasingly {questioned the extent of intellectual specialization inthe social sciences and, shore specifically, the narrowing of research questions to phenomena which could be interrogated through the empirical methods and ‘truth’ criteria Of the natural sciences. Criteria of ‘reliability’ were privileged above criteria Of ‘validity’, often at the expense of marginalizing, power(ul explanatory forces. The supremacy of ‘administrative research’ and of survey and experimental method in media studies in the 1950s illustrated these dangers. The rediscovery of ‘critical’ traditions during the 1960s, and the influence of radical economics (e.g, Baran and Sweezy, 1966) helped to introduce the concept of ‘political economy” to media study. This was not the first time that a media theory located media within broader social and historical contexts ~ this had already been attempted, for example, by the Frankfurt School and in the media histories of Harold Innis (1972) and MeLuhan (1964), Dating from 1969 the Schiller extract in this section illustrates, the radicalizing potential of political economy, in this case applied to international communication at a time when much of the work in this particular ficld was addressed to the ‘modernizing’ potential of the media In Third World’ countries with litle or no reference to questions of media ownership, control, nor even to content, and stil less to broader issues of dominance and dependency, tied aid, super-power conflict, and media Commercialization. ‘There had previously been much interest in the relationship between different indices of ‘modernization’, including industralization and urbanization, It was not that there was no interest at all in broader social contexts or in Social change; but questions about who jas setting this research agenda, to whose benefit, informed by which ideologies and discourses, were neglected. ‘Schiller’ analysis was and continues to be endorsed by subsequent events. [Acceleration of media privatization and commercialization which in 1971 he predicted for Wes tor Westord Ei nad Aske were thraughout the (8 and 3 hae ae noe hans rence ‘eds of capital fo on beyond dee inorder oom then expansion beycmnd domestic hart pt ae advertiser lobbies wetseas markets, reflected in or aiittver lobbies through subversion where rece ee he Poe of ia prt nt hae yin ce (direct or inditect) on gen QPPortunites for advertising and i sven mre ci reflaedin prere ment Sch changes ae {he export of medi products that sigficant imine eae at nk influence Bota sconomy analysis Neto dea a Ao ase to Gee ations. Theres alo cognton of pe he aty fthuably there sutton ntenet ea ebro lous helped iden the fre development aoe ere Of copa which aoraaae ater he fracrocecon ero tends ‘to assume a One-to-one relationshi, betwe ducrrssonomicsedsand media canlent and horace a ee a ral studies of the scope for and influence: a momen ‘hegemony among rival social lites, The Merdock and Cy in socks "4 Golding contribution to the 1973. Socialist Registe mai study ge a erm othe patel ct mec tady tt In their introduction aul efer enenPOrary discussions of the reproduction and heen noe, eS abeantein erence education (em Bean, or pen eS o median such discussions The ata elo ote te theoryinthe OK with the recognition and foremost industria and cone oy ities. The diferent (hough corporate conta and ther acts can oye ean refervnce to the broad econontic context. Analysis must extend also to the ideological work of the media, in their dissemination of ideas about economic and political structures. A political economy of the media cannot focus only ‘on the production and distribution of commodities but must also take full account ofthe peculiar nature ofthese commodities and the ideological work that they do. ‘The extract chosen here discusses the dynamics of change in media industries, with particular reference to processes of concentration in the comtrot of media by a few large companies. Concentration occurs both internally among the media themselves, and externally, between media and ron-media companies. Concentration results from processes of integration horizontal and vertical) diversification of interests, and internationalization ~ providing further illustration of processes identified by Schiller. The economic concepts which are used to marshall the data collated here have proven powerful tooks of analysis. As in the case of the Schiller article, they bring to light processes that have only accelerated over the intervening, 20-25 ‘years evenif the details oftheir manifestation have changed in surprising, ways. ‘Murdock and Golding discussed the implications of this evidence with reference to questions of reduced choice in leisure and entertainment, use of non-work time, and the ideological work of media in consolidating the ‘consensus. Media contribution 80 ‘consensus’ (a central but problematic term throughout radical left-wing debates of the 1970s) occurs in a variety of ways: representation of opposition to the status quo as ether illegitimate and punishable or alternatively, as ephemeral and therefore not threatening; constant invocation ofa ‘national interest’ as more important than ‘sectional’ interests; representation of public debate as about the means towards ends ‘which are assumed to be agreed; the claim that any residual dissent can be successfully articulated through existing channels; the representation of society as open to widspread social mobility; and through the assertion of we-ness’ between audience and medium, reinforcement of the notion of 2 wnifoect moral community. A significant problem of this approach was the relative absence of research to show that audiences did indeed respond to media content in the way that the theory suggested they woulk and research, wher it came, was less supportive of the thesis than had been assumed ~ a problematic which has shaped the course of political economy into the 1990s. Political economy was one response to the prevailing directions of eazhes media effects studies. These shared a psychologistic Concentration on the individual, were often financed by the industry, and yielded inconclusive findings, Political economy theorists argued that the significance of media went much further than questions of individual effects, uses and gratifications, and had to do with the relationship of media to other social institutions, to the economy, to the formation of social ideologies. The {mportance of media could not be reduced to linear, causal, stimuli-response theories, There was a tension between this position and the classic Marxist formulation of a base/superstructure model of society wherein the ruling ideas are the ideas of the ruling élite and whose purpose is to reproduce, through the formulation of ‘alse consciousness’ of the proletariat, existing inequalities between the social classes. The classic Marxist. position, therefore, did assume a very direct process of ‘media effect. aye yn ee armnier or « ackaapletexplanation tor all aspects of sch Poston sone SZ thinking aru th very tee A he neat, bute dees st provide a camplincerp Positions are outlined: the. classic Marxist base/super ructure dichotomy activity. i SYM eto ctr cia fthe eretowtich aainral aoyapee of the superstructure into the tae a a result of the aise nscontrolled or influenced by large corporations, lamelink (1994) atoncmaion of culture (Adomno and Horkhemesh mide go, I pues that there are four key tends in wordlcommunvealion digestion, 190) media aeRsel apparatuses" in contro of nto codes (Hall, Consolidation, deregulation, and globalization. Schiller, in 1969, had bern Soma, the sale of audiences to adverteer, (Smythe, 1980). ta {chart the course of globalization, Murdock and Golding established the | foramen ate ican both dnt as emai of eo study of media consobidabon in thet 1973 orl. A eelateely new feature ‘of privatization, which is to sty, the processes by since me ten ashame set pat red ei cre aelone arc sete u's; ent rhe pt eae rane provune ncense+as-commadies ae soit te eset vate control of media, processes which were further Porte surplus value for advertisers by devesen theit time (working’) 19 were Ray by the ilspee of the conumaehot Block ie the late tate Sonsumplion of advertising messages ant eet purchase of ther Digitization refers to the extension of the binary language of computer Wy commodities. This thesis has the Serine highlighting the inangulae Conmanication to al elecronle communcasonand ts to isa process | relationship between media, auctiences, da advertisers. But it is, by ‘which began to acquire strong public visblity om the sary es iW impliation, meer ena © the stimulus-response model of med effect, which began to ooo four processes as inter-related Digitization fcitates lectin eae 00 it 50 economizes the role OF he iedia (perha srological integration and insitaional consolidation: these processes that fe mela context of North America evens ee ot baroae) Crane the die to inner and ing conglomeration = Dat undermines the (2effouberstructure dichotomy of Marsst anak, trinche ia order to sestig thelr power and ther rate of agonth through 1 suppor aie ceberats I presumes thot progenies wares a ‘cquistion and market penetation, increase the pressure fr national de- rence an tha advertising works ren eye eee EE ee ee retreat of Statstcaly-predictable “hity) Mone significantly, as noted in the inboreat to facliate the international expansion of domestic medi indus nargice shy StYtHES. somewhat “feducionst hen se to Fes, whe international conglomerates urge upon. gowermments . there ay bean qusstonsaboutthepoial acme a ‘tavantagey of privatization namely: the dismantling of cumbersome i There may be less interest in the loose establishing specific links between oe eeaucratieeaiton Protective of ‘socialist’ ideologues, less Rovern- sapling nODy 2nd pacticutar features of dae pas analysis; but trent eapenditure on subeldy, move tax teen, promotion of bans pplication of political economy analyse rence vigorous and relevant through advert promotion oan entrepreneurial ature. As privat world erento ited by the need understand ie s2ed media pally reduce the proportion oe devoted to nes a pom evens (as illustrated in Row the che wae ae changes in the publi sae they ay ts appear ix hallenging and mote polcaly | raisins, oy Wynaned within parameter not dsm thes Compliant. : be 1, if perhaps not quite Wert ae NE this ay sem nical nthe a “ omy has always been critical, if perhaps not quite as amnaseautcome ofthe renovate any ote eh om tel of he paler of he pray ond ee Caran 9) t (on the operation of monopoly capa thas kdentfed th links between slate aed publi media seven of public media ia aerial economy in the 1980s shows greater awaren of the need to aa entty snonted bomalnen tae Deriaenee and theoppertunities related te enetielY how the politcal-economic ora? of the media fot indireck tate intervention in the control and operation of public media, ) constant cone. an the dacouns a pata med fotindlees nd operation of public meas ret inflenced bythe comp- i examin neh gel iD8 3 Murdock (991, p. 5) butine nee lite tion they face frem private media for talent revenues, and audiences TRe Ph Sima Which focuses on tneinterply berween foe a ‘and etonomae See nak acne neetal bt oa ott thi which major come front ways oh en cemmeaunication” and which sts cut eee how interests exercise considerable power and influence, not least povrer and Sifetent ways offinancing and organizing cata rsa have traceable inisence over he repunton of pie and pate media, Nonthes, at sors or eranot cou eosin nc eee cried Guat ine undermining oi pubc tio by nove domain and for audiences access to th Such analysis gives greater weaghe privatization hes important implications or the quality of pubbe debate and | opporteniedtons within the system tothe conshen ee only the this together with the practi probs whic have cntronted the ey oer mane i luce how powerta interests we tee he dmotate sats of Ete Faropein rerun he media, sea cies 2 more sophisticated undrstang ae ‘meaning is made andl fa contoutet the ily of net with te corsmanaons academy Frome OUBH the Concrete activities OF proc consumers, Intkcapplchon snd edaptaon of Hebornas concentot the pubbe aphors Sonomis may define the key features of commun activity of the to medi analysis (cee Section 4 12 Fonncareconomy” References and further reading ‘Adorno and Horkheime bene Ta Hoi M. 094) Tie Dat of ale Herder a Baran, Pau and Sivezy, Pal M, Moo . jot cal Ok Monty view Pest Newson nti (97), cls, Cols nd Con} Rudge aed Regn al London, Caran James (1991) Mass media and demo ra mes (38) Mas in and demorcy: seppaia pCa, lane pp eel? (eds) Mass Media and Society, Edward Arnold, London,

    You might also like