9.1 Traditional Media and the New Media

2026 Syllabus Objectives

  1. Explore trends that are transforming the media today, such as the growth of the internet and digitalisation, and examine the question of who controls the media. Consider the influences on media content, the role of the state in media regulation, and the growth of the new media. The key concepts of Power, control and resistance, and Social change and development are important to these issues.

  2. Understand trends affecting the organisation of the media, including cross-media ownership, digitalisation, media conglomerates and social media.

  3. Analyse debates about who controls the media.

  4. Identify differences between the traditional media and the new media.

  5. Evaluate the debate about whether the traditional media has been undermined by the growth of the new media.

Understanding Media: Basic Concepts 📡

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What is a Medium?

A medium is a channel of communication – a way of sending and receiving information between individuals or groups. The plural term 'media' refers to multiple channels of communication.

The term 'media' usually refers to communication with large numbers of people, conventionally seen as 'one-to-many' communication.

Traditional Characteristics of Media

Dutton et al. (1998) identified several key characteristics that traditionally defined mass media:

  • Impersonal – lacks personal connection between sender and receiver
  • Lacking in immediacy – time delay between production and consumption
  • One-way – communication flows from producer to consumer without feedback
  • Physically and technologically distant – separation between media producers and audiences
  • Organised – structured and professionally managed
  • Large-scale and simultaneous – reaches many people at the same time
  • Commodified – produced as products for profit

These characteristics have been fundamentally challenged by the emergence of new media technologies.

Trends in Media Organisation 🌐

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Concentration of Ownership

Concentration of ownership refers to how the media are increasingly owned by a relatively small number of large corporations and powerful individuals.

🔑 Key Point: The global media market is dominated by giant corporations such as:

  • Comcast
  • Alphabet (Google)
  • Time Warner
  • Walt Disney

This concentration means that fewer voices control the messages, news, and entertainment that reach billions of people worldwide.

Conglomeration

Conglomeration is the process where the same company develops interests across different media through diversification. Companies expand their portfolio to include multiple types of media products.

Example: A media conglomerate might own:

  • Television networks
  • Film studios
  • Publishing houses
  • Music labels
  • Digital streaming platforms

Cross-Media Ownership

Cross-media ownership occurs when a company owns different types of media products simultaneously, such as television channels, books, newspapers, and magazines.

Example: Fininvest, owned by Silvio Berlusconi, has interests in:

  • Television stations
  • Book publishing
  • Newspapers
  • Magazines

This type of ownership creates powerful media empires that can influence public opinion across multiple platforms.

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