By far and away the "single entity" which plays the greatest role in shaping our broad understanding of the geo-political world and the forces which shape it is the media. Everyone is aware of the ideal, often claimed as fact by media practitioners that the "press" is independent and unbiased,is this really the case? Is the media truly a source of pure uncorrupted information? If not who controls that information? Let us begin by looking at the Australian Media.Who controls the news?
In Australia there are to all intents and purposes only three main players in the market. Rupert Murdoch and his company News Limited, Kerry Packer and his company and the Fairfax Group. Between them they control virtually the entire market for daily newspapers (both Broadsheet and Tabloid) and magazines. In addition Murdoch through News Limited produces a great deal of the content on the Electronic Media and Packer controls the leading Australian Network (Nine Network). Furthermore if you wish to move into the realms of Cyber Space you will come up against Bill Gates who controls Microsoft and in turn the Microsoft Network, Hotmail and so on. The implications are obvious, a small number of extremely powerful men have control of the flow of information that you and I rely upon in large part to make choices governing our lives. What if these players have a personal agenda? What if they are "hands on" and seek to influence their media output for personal gain?
Has it always been this way?
Not really. In 1923 their were 26 Metropolitan Newspaper in Australia. These were owned by 21 companies. By 1950 there were 15 papers owned by 10 companies. By 1972 every metropolitan newspaper was owned by the Herald and Weekly Times Group (HWT), Fairfax or Murdoch. The Majority of the Magazines published in Australia were owned by Kerry Packer's PBL ltd. By 1986-7 the HWT group which owned 50% of Australia's papers was split between a group of new and old players. Murdoch made the most gains.The Stockmarket Crash of that year had an impact on media ownership.
By 1991 the Seven and Ten Networks were in receivership. By 1993 Murdoch owned 15% of the Seven Network. Packer had regained the Nine Network (Previously sold to Alan Bond). Fairfax had crashed, their newspaper holdings are now largely limited to South Eastern Australia. In the Year 2000 Adelaide has one locally printed daily newspaper, a weekly freesheet and a nationally printed newspaper, all owned by News Limited. Has any attempt been made to prevent this consolidation? A short answer is yes and no.. Fearful of imagined consequences governments have been wary of making restrictive ownership laws. Prior to 1987 no restrictions existed on the number papers that could be owned by Australian companies. TV Owners could only own two metropolitan stations. Radio Station owners could own no more than one metro station in each state, four stations in one state or 8 stations nationally. There were no laws preventing cross ownership (Ownership of Radio, Television and Newspapers) The Broadcasting (Ownership and Control ) Act of 1987 limited this. No one who owned more than 18% of shares in a paper, or who owned a radio station with a commercial monopoly in a metropolitan area can own more than 5% of a c.v. Station covering the same area. But ownership expanded to a possible coverage of 60% of the Australian population. In 1993 the Keating Government relaxed foreign ownership laws, allowing for example the Canadian Conrad Black to increase his shareholding in the Fairfax Group to 25%. The Keating Government also passed the Broadcasting Services Act and the Broadcasting (Subscription Television Broadcasting) Amendment Act, which govern pay television.
Given that News Limited, PBL, Microsoft, and all of the other media multinationals exist primarily to make a profit. What potential conflicts can you see arising between the ideals of the "Free Press" and the commercial thrust of a Media Conglomerate?
What consequences might these have in the wider sphere?
Research this question and write up your answers, use paragraph format to discuss each point. This is due By the end of this week.
The Economics of Media Ownership
Speech on Media Laws by Richard Alston
Consolidating and Fragmenting of Media Ownership
Overview of Australia's Media Ownership Rules