Functions, Trends and Nature of Ownership and Control in the British Mass Media Essay

In this piece of writing I will get to explain the functions, trends and nature of testifyership and control in the British vision Media. At the end I will describe the features of a chain reactor Media conglomerate.The Mass media is basically any style of text or photo that is viewed by a lot of people. For ex adeninele T.V, radio, news cover, books, magazines, billboards, etc ar all forms of survey media. Some of these commode reach millions of people like T.V, where as news cover normally reach hundreds of thousands and so on. The media gives us things like, news, entertainment, advertising etc.TELEVISION tv set is the biggest form of media in the UK and in nearly countries in the human beings. There argon cardinal principal(prenominal) types of T.V in the UK, public funded and independent.The BBC is publicly funded by T.V licence fees of around 100 that cover all BBC related audio & visual air. The government does non start out any direct ferment over what i s shown on T.V although there ar regulators who decide what is accept adapted and what is not.The BBC is controlled by their board of governors of which there atomic number 18 twelve who be appointed by the Crown to en sure that the BBC fulfils its obligations. Among them are internal Governors for Scotland, Wales and N. Ireland. One Governor has spare responsibility for the English vicinitys. alone are collapse time non-executives. They insure monthly and hold the BBCs managers to account for their performance against the agreed system and objectives.The BBC is led by the director-general, who is both chief executive and editor-in-chief. The Governors appoint the Director-General and (with the Director-General) the most senior management. BBC operations are splinter by the directors of nine programing and broadcasting divisions and six professional services, and by the caput executives of the BBCs twain commercial businesses. They report to the director-general and t ogether nurse up the Executive Committee. A less formal Leadership congregation meets to discuss and develop a clear vision for the BBC.The independents are controlled by themselves. nevertheless thy whitethorn be part of a bigger conglomerate.The ITV is a federation of television companies re cristaltivity licences from the Independent telly Commission (ITC) to broadcast in 14 regions top the whole of the United Kingdom. Each licence is awarded for a minimum of ten-spot years.The ITV network has 15 independent regional television licences in 14 regional theatre of operationss (there are 2 licences for capital of the United Kingdom, a weekday and a weekend licence). All programmes are designed for topical anesthetic audiences in each region.The ITV is controlled by the ITV Council, comprising the Chief Executives of each licensee. Each ITV licensee has rights over the programme schedule, and is responsible for the production and broadcasting of its own local programme and n ews services.The ITV and its independent companies are adjust and licensed by the ITC. The ITC is independent of the Government and of the broadcasters. They are funded from fees that the licensees shake up to pay.The ITC makes sure that the independent and commercial licensees provide quality programs and a high step of competition among other things.They excessively set reli suitable standards for the time allocated to plastered styles of programmes.There are five categories of channel 3 programmes for which the ITC sets minimum requirements. These are,* National and Inter content newsThree programmes each day of 20 proceeding (lunch), 15 minutes (early evening) and half an hour in peak time.* received affairsOne and a half hours weekly average* Children cristal hours weekly average* ReligionTwo hours weekly average* regionalVaries from franchise to franchiseAlthough the ITC is involved in licensing and regulating all forms of digital television, the Broadcasting Act 1996 m akes it specifically responsible for establishing Digital Terrestrial television set (DTT) in the UK. DTT is especially important be fount it carries existing free-to-air services provided by the BBC, ITV, lineage 4 (S4C in Wales) and Channel 5.At present, T.V broadcasting is mainly analogue, further within the next five years it will all be digital.Digital T.V will bring a bigger choice of programmes to watch, as it will pee-pee on average 200 stations.You undersurface already do shopping and go on the internet with digital T.V, alone by the time it takes over analogue completely it will pass on many to a greater extent options and facilities.NEWSPAPERSThere are many distinguishing features in the British shift. Some of these are things like the differences between tabloid and broadsheet document or the differences between national, local and regional written document.There are ten morning unremarkable document and ten Sunday papers which make up the national press. Fleet Street in London utilize to be the centre of the newspaper industry, but all the national papers have moved their editorial and printing facilities to other parts of London or away from the capital all together.National papers are often described as quality,mid-market or touristedpapers because of their differences in style and content. Five dailies and four Sundays are usualy described as qualitie papers. These papers are directed at people who want replete(p) in coiffureion on a wide range of public maters. touristed newspapers are for the more than light hearted reader. Mid-market publications cover the intermediate market. Quality papers are normally broadsheet (large-sheet) in format and mid-market and popular papers are tabloid (small-sheet) in size. sparing editions of national papers commonly only change things like the sports page and the T.V listings.Most places in the UK have their own regional or local newspaper. These croupe be anything from daily papers to even ing ones, Sundays or weeklies. These papers concentrate mainly on local or regional stories although the dailies do print national and external news from a local viewpoint.Newspapers from the Irish Republic and the British national press are widely read in Northern Ireland. some(prenominal) hundred free distribution papers, mostly weekly and financed by advertising, are published in the UK. They have enjoyed rapid sprainth in late(a) years.Ownership of the national, London and many regional daily newspapers lies in the hand of large corporations, most of which are involved in the whole welkin of publishing and communications (media conglomerates). Local papers however are possess by different companies altogether. Newspapers are also controlled by their boards of management. It is possible for two national papers to be owned by the like smart set and they can even be owned by broadcasting companies as a separate division, however influence between the two types of media is not recommended.There are local weekly papers for every territory in Greater London these are often different local editions of one centrally published paper.This does not just happen in London. A prime example of this in our area would be the Press and Journal. It covers the North of Scotland as well as some southern areas as far down as Perth and Stirling, but it produces different editions for every area of which there are eleven. These editions are classed as local editions.All newspapers are answerable to the press complaints commission, which responds to public complaints about printed items.RADIOThere are basically two types of radio in the UK. There is Commercial intercommunicate and The BBC Radio.The Radio Authority governs commercial radio stations such as Moray Firth radio and XFM. The radio authority is basically the ITC of the radio. Like the ITC it also has no powers over the BBC. The BBC is fully independent.Although there are far more Commercial radio stations than BB C ones, the BBC is still forth in ratings.The violate between BBC Radio and its commercial rivals has widened recently to show BBC Radio to have a conduct of 51.4% compared with 46.79% for Commercial Radio. In the neck-and-neck race for reach, the BBC edged ahead with 31.2 million listeners compared with their rivals 31.1 million. The figures released by RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research Limited) cover the hitch from June 26 to September 17 2000.Radio can change on a daily basis because the control of its output is not restricted.The format usually stays the same although major changes in presentation can happen from time to time.Independent radio station change depending on their income and audience. The break down the audience the better the sponsorships and advertisers.Things like audience talk shows on radio where members of the audience can phone in and participate are very successful.The BBC and large independent radio companies are controlled in the same way as they a re on T.V.Although the majority are part of larger classifys, local radio is controlled by local management. These groups use their own style in the local stations but adapt it to oblige the area of broadcast.VOLENTARY & IN-VOLENTARY CODES OF PRACTICEIndependent T.V and radio are kinda strictly controlled by the ITC and Radio Authority, but magazines and newspapers have more freedom. These, along with the BBC, ITV, Press Complaints Commission and the Broadcasting Standards all enforce their own codes of exercising throughout the media. However, the law has the final say in control of the media in the following areasDefamationA statement which damages the reputation of an several(prenominal) or accompany, i.e. false accusations, libel, innuendos, etc.ObscenityThe publication or broadcasting of material which will tend to deprave or corrupt.Incitement of racial hatred1986 public order act forbids material which is likely to nudge racial hatred.BlasphemyTo pass the limits of decency and controversy and outrage Christian feelings. solitary(prenominal) applies to Christians.SedationForbids the publication of material that incites hatred towards parliament or the monarch. ex officio secrets actForbids the publication of official secrets.Contempt of courtForbids you from pre judging a court case or to assume someone is guilty.MASS MEDIA CONGLOERATECarlton Media GroupThe Carlton Media Group runs the following sixteen companiesCarlton London RegionThe London Region is one of three areas for which Carlton TV is the ITV broadcaster. Visit the site for regional company news.Carlton Central RegionThe Central Region is one of three areas for which Carlton TV is the ITV broadcaster. Visit the site for regional company news.Carlton InternationalCarlton International is the largest distributer of classic British films and the biggest sales family line for British TV away(p) the BBC.ITNITN is one of the most respected independent news organisations in the world ca tering for news, sport, business and entertainments.Carlton West domain RegionThe West Country Region is one of three areas for which Carlton TV is the ITV broadcaster. Visit the site for regional company news.ITVCarries information about programmes on the ITV network.Action TimeTelevision production company Action Time is a leading electrical distributor of entertainments formats, including an extensive home video clip library.London News engagementLNN is a TV and production company working for joint shareholders Carlton and LWT.Carlton movie houseCarlton cinema is a film channel available exclusively on On digital. Visit the website for comprehensive movie listings.Media SalesFor information on rates, screen advertising, pitch time, sponsorship and career opportunities at Carlton.Carlton Communications PlcCarlton Communications Plc is the publicly quoted parent company of Carlton Media and other related media companies. Click here for the share price, financial and other inves tor information.ONdigitalONdigital was the first company in the world to institute a digital terrestrial television service delivering multi-channel TV and synergistic services into homes through an ordinary TV aerial.Visit the website for listings.Simply victualsSimplyFood.co.uk is the UKs No.1 food and drink website and home to the Carlton Food Network. It has a searchable UK eatery guide and a database of thousands of recipes, plus features and reviews.Carlton VideoOn the Carlton Video website you can buy videos and DVDs of many of Carltons programmes and films, including classics like examiner Morse, Soldier Soldier, and Britain at War.PeopleBankPeopleBank is the UKs leading provider of internet enlisting services, bringing together quality candidates and employers. Online since 1995, PeopleBank has extensive experience in providing cost-efficient e-recruitment solutions.HTVHTV, the ITV broadcaster for Wales, was recently bought by Carlton TV. Visit the site of the most popu lar channel in Wales.They also have Carlton Books.This shows that Carlton cover broadcasting, publishing, the internet, advertising, and marketing. This means that if Carlton have a successful income level from one of there companies it can arrive at all of them and in turn make them more desirable to the public. Because of this they can use control there revenue a lot better without having to pay other companies to do things like marketing.They sell advertising piazza to make the initial money to fund projects such as a new drama series. They can then market and publish their own material and because they own all the copyright they can expand by using the internet.Although there is a national guideline concerning who owns what and the amount of palm you can spread into to prevent companies from becoming all powerful and swallowing up smaller companies, Carlton still has its eye on Direct. This is a group who run insurance and holiday companies.At present, Carlton are biding for the stinting Media Group who have two radio stations, a newspaper group, Scottish and Grampian television.If they are successful in their bid, they will be able to grow to new heights and spread into both radio and print forms of media quite a successfully in Scotland.Functions of the Mass MediaThere are five main functions in the mass media.Entertainment functionsThis provides healthy amusement and inspection and repairs to divert the forethought of the audience from serious kind issues and inequalities.Information functionsThis helps to structure a concomitant view of the world and to cheek at it in geographical, political and social terms.Cultural functionsThis helps to develop mass culture at the expense of more diverse subcultures. That helps to maintain the status quo in cultural terms, but may also discourage change and growth.Social functionsThese socialize us into beliefs and relationships which help us operate successfully in order. This naturalizes one view of soci ety and stops us thinking, obtaining and acting on alternative views.Political functionsThis helps us to understand the operation of politics in our society. However, it gives us the illusion of alive(p) in the political process, but actually endorses the authority of those who continue to run our lives unquestioned.The media are also capable of shaping opinions about political events and issues. ongoing Trends in the Mass MediaWhen you think of current trends in the media at the effect two things come to mind, digital and conglomerates. A lot of companies are trying to branch out into other fields of the media at the moment. The Scottish media group for one are trying to expand their interests in radio although this could cause problems with its T.V. franchises. There are regulations set up to prevent certain big companies from taking over the media by branching ever wider into it. However there are discussions about these regulations which could result in big firms having comm odious ownership or control over certain areas of the mass media.The main trend of the moment has to be the evolution from analogue to digital. T.V. and radio are all a part of the growing trend and it doesnt look like its going to stop there. Already you can variant in to the radio through digital T.V. as well as go on the internet, shop, play games, the opportunities are endless. The future however lies with a fully digital T.V. without the aid of ugly dishes on the side of your house or cumbersome boxes on top of you tele. With this you will be able to access anything you want. There will be no set programs, no times, just you, your T.V. and the whole media world at your fingertips. You will be able to pick anything to watch, read, here, play, buy, or do from your tele.This astonishing development is proving very overpriced to produce, run, and buy if it is ever released.If it is released it will be the main media related scientific break through in history.