If there is anyone thinks that media is about aiming for its audience to enjoy a virtual fantasy world like I used to do, it’s time to wake up from the Disney Land! It’s just about the mighty dollars and advertising! Within this lecture, Dr Redman discloses the vivid cover over the commercial media for us as he revealed the features of commercial media, Australian’s media landscape, the challenges and future for commercial media.
Ÿ What is commercial media?
It is a profit-driven production whereas no or less government funding is involved; its survival is dependent on the business’s success. Commercial media offers context that would attracts audience in order to create a platform for advertisings to sell things to those audiences. This business creates audiences to generate profit through selling advertising to them.
Ÿ The form and function of commercial media
n Form-Commercial-Subscription/ Sponsored/ Subsidized (government funding)
n Function- commercial – making profit for the business
Propaganda– political persuasion
Social–public trust, access to knowledge and information, forum for ideas exchange
w There is supposed to be an ‘ethical wall’ between the commercial function (Advertising sales) and the social function (editorial). This means that the news that goes on the commercial media shouldn’t be effected by the interests of the company that is advertising on the media.
w In terms of social function, there should be a room for the ‘public sphere’, which is a space between commerce and government where people can debate freely (and form public opinion).
w Control on the functions of commercial media:
Ø Formal state requirement
Ø Legal prescription
Ø State oversight (statutory (ACMA)government agency regulating content/ voluntary(Australian Press Council)
Ø State press subsidies
Ø Licensed Journalism (Indonesia, East Timor)
Style- profit focused, thus over-rides social responsibility
Results of style:
w Dumbing-down
w Tabloidisaton
w The desire to ‘please’
w “Mickey Mouse” news
Ÿ The Australian Media landscape : The Major Players
Ÿ Challenge & future for commercial media
w Lost in profit & quality
Advertising revenue for broadcast media is down and continues to slide; this is influenced by the rise of new media/social networks
Loss of revenue = Less investment =Less money for quality production =More bought-in content (Less original) =More repeats of US sitcoms, more reality TV.
Possible Solution
w Quality- better, bigger, greater content
w greater competition- competition generates more competitive production; this improve the overall production quality
w moving existing customer to digital- not working at the moment but is a possible destination
w Paywalls on internet site-many news websites are owned by newspaper company and may be a possible destination for the style reform of newspaper
w More subsidies-possible political control over commercial media
u My thoughts
Commercial media makes the full freedom in journalism impossible
From my point of view, as long as there is commercial or government power involved in the media production, it is very hard for journalism and public communication to have the full freedom to expose any news and every facts as it like. At least, at the very bottom line, any news to be exposed cannot be damaging to the companies or the government in a serious way, otherwise if the funder is crushed or the sources that keep the production running is gone, the whole commercial media will crushed as well. I think the only way to achieve full freedom in term journalism, is to have a platform whereas anyone can post anything on it. Nonetheless, this may cause the society in a state of chaos, whereas good and evil are both in a mix.
l Extra Materials
UQ Library ( LOGIN with your UQ ID No, please =)
Blasco, Andrea (01.06.2012). "Competition and commercial media bias". Telecommunications policy (0308-5961), 36 (5), p. 434.
Sandev, Miro (14.12.2011). "Commercial media outlets losing trust of consumers". B & T weekly (1325-9210)
Eagle, Lynne (01.07.2007). "COMMERCIAL MEDIA LITERACY: What Does It Do, to Whom-and Does It Matter?". Journal of advertising (0091-3367), 36 (2), p. 101.
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