Gina Rinehart 's Accumulation Of Fairfax Shares Essay

Consequently, the political sphere is now being colonised by the media, and politics has begun re-orientating itself to satisfy the logic of media organisations (Meyer, 2002, p. 71). Therefore, the media are active participants in the policymaking process and the ability to stimulate change or maintain the status quo depends on their choice of subject or policy issue and how they frame it. Active investigative reporting attempts to shape policy outcomes, but this does not necessarily mean that it always represents the most successful approach for gaining policy changes (Spitzer, 1993, p. 7). In fact, sometimes passive, straight reporting can have a greater influence on policy choices. When this occurs, media independence is largely bypassed, as the news generated depends solely on the information released (as public relations material) from legitimate news sources. For example, in the United States, White House staff routinely make ‘leaks’ - expressively to influence policy decisions (Davis, 1992, p. 143; Robinson, 2001, p. 948). Robinson noted that journalists regard “leaks… as indispensable to their work” and that they are aware of their use by officials in return for scoops (2001, p. 949).

Fairfax media, originally John Fairfax and Sons, was founded by John Fairfax in 1941 and for over 170 years has grown to become one of Australia’s largest media companies. The company’s operations include the distribution of newspapers, magazines, radio as well as operating digital media throughout Australia and New Zealand. Some notable figures from Fairfax Media’s current Board of Directors include company chairman Roger Corbett, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Greg Hywood and Chief Financial Officer, David Housego. This report provides a situational analysis regarding the current stage the business’s lifecycle and the internal and external influences on the business. This is followed by an

It is through depicting an understanding of all sides of a story that essay writers are able to convey their points and opinions successfully. This can be essential in creating an essay that holds up to professional standards. Without this element of essay writing opinions can become or seem jaded and bias to a certain point being made that is the opinion of the writer. This is evident in issue 43 of the ‘Quarterly Essay’ titled ‘Bad News: Murdoch’s Australian and the shaping of the nation’, by Robert Manne. Although raising many convincing points and issues, Manne’s essay displays a potentially bias look into Rupert Murdoch’s magazine ‘The Australian’ and the effect it has had on Australia as a society.

Geoffrey Barker’s opinion piece, titled “Switch off the TV babes for some real news” (Sydney Morning Herald, May 2013), argues that the news of commercial networks focuses more on beauty rather than delivering quality news. In his piece, Barker aims to persuade Australian news-watchers to make the switch to networks with credible journalists over the conventionally attractive women chasing fame on commercial television.

The source comments on why the market in Australia is so concentrated which include, favourable monopolistic laws and few safeguard regulations, decreases in funding for public broadcasting, restrictions preventing new companies from starting in media due to onerous licencing and regulations preventing new entrants and short term outlook biased toward profits rather than national interest. (McCutcheon and Pusey 2011). Media concentration also causes only certain views and information to enter the public sphere, and may be biased instead of impartially examining both sides, as large corporations follow their own views or agenda. This is why the role of a public broadcasting service is crucial, which will be discussed later.

Today’s media is far too consolidated. In 1983, fifty companies owned 90% of the media, but in 2011, that same 90% was owned by just 5 (1). This is why I propose that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) lower the limit on the amount of market share that an organization can own; moving us closer to an ‘ideal democracy’. I also add the stipulation that if media was struggling to find a foot hold in the market, the FCC could grant all media outlets non-profit status; however, this stipulation is simply a clause in case breaking up outlets had unintended consequences and this will not be explored through this paper.

Six corporations, managed by 232 individuals, now own and run 90% of U.S. mass media news outlets, in a 14%, America the illiterate, voting population.

Although the presence of competition between the various media providers is good, America’s media industry is faced with a major concern of oligopoly. There are special interest groups that have a grip on the country’s media companies such as major television channels and broadcasting. Statistics show that a large part of what Americans view, hear, or read is controlled by a few corporations that own major television and radio stations, as well as newspapers (Bennett, 2004). For instance, there are six big corporations that dominate the American media industry. First, News Corp, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch, an Australian-born media tycoon, owns the wall Street Journal, DirecTV, and Fox Television, among others (London, 2015). Second, General electric owns Universal Vivendi and the National Broadcasting Corporation (London, 2015). Third, the Cable News Network is owned by Time

In a subsequent section, Turner explains the vital role of big corporations and how it can be compared to the vital role of small corporations. These smaller corporations are the ones with the big ideas – such as Turner’s idea with the Atlanta Superstation or CNN – and when the small corporations are not allowed to thrive as they are overshadowed by the big corporations, then the emerging ideas cease to exist. Another factor that contributes to the lack of big/small corporation interaction are the rules set upon by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that sets rules to the amount of smaller business the big corporations can own. It goes back to the loss of the smaller, innovative corporations that are not allowed to thrive because they have no means to do so on their own – even if corporation owners have houses to mortgage, the financial implications are a lot more than what they were in Turner’s earlier times. It is through Turner’s times that we have a seen a major change in media as it became more commercial than about journalism, another threat for the smaller corporations, and another threat to

The content of the media is the fault of the people’s desire. Media publishers such as the New York Times Company, CBS, and Viacom are businesses raking in billions in revenue by meeting public demand. It is public demand for specific stories which dominate media publication and broadcasting. For example, the development of uber-conservative Breitbart and alt-left Slate developed as a result of conservative and liberal yearnings for biased media outlets. Before Breitbart and Slate, and other partisan news sources, established media either leaned center-right, or center-left but surges of conservatism and liberalism were visible in election returns during the turn of the 21st century. It is a result of this surge of liberalism and conservatism

From time to time advertisers might request influence from the news, like when a company told US News & World Report that it would give their entire advertisements to the news source that gave out the most promising reporting to its business. However, most advertising companies aren’t upfront about it. (Jackson, et al. 2003) Not only are big corporations being represented in the media by corporate spokespeople but they are also trying to increase their voice by funding others to speak for them. The focus of corporate involvement has been a comeback to the apparent liberal bias of journalists, to ensure that corporate-funded individuals are the ones that the news media can turn to for a comment, whether they are scientists, front-group individuals or

Until the 1980s, the control of the media was in the hands of the national government. From then, the control shifted to private outlets and by the 1990’s, there were more than fifty multinational companies who controlled it (“Mass Media”). Today, only about six major companies control the larger fraction of media in America (Williams, Par. 1). Norman Solomon wrote in the New Political Science Journal that most reporters and editors work for just a few huge companies. These journalists and editors are on the payroll for “mega-media institutions”, of which, only about six exist (Solomon 297). How much will the public learn if these companies generally control the output of information?

“(Telstra) is waging war on its employees by offering only a pathetic pay rise over three years and refusing to allow its employees to have access to arbitration for fair treatment,” the union's president Len Cooper said [5]. The dispute between Telstra and CEPUO was a result of poor remuneration and employment conditions provided by Telstra for their employees in the EBA (2008) . In 2008, CEPUO made reasonable request aware that the GFC created financial chaos in Australia, however by 2010 CEPUO was not as lenient taking industrial action. “People are angry, because you've got a company with a CEO getting the type of remuneration of ($13.4 million) a year and refusing to give even a cost of living increase for the workers in the company,” Mr Cooper said [6]. As a result, in May 2010, 500 Telstra employees took the streets of Melbourne protesting against Telstra’s refusal to accede to better pay conditions for unionised members.

News Corporation accounted for six popular national newspapers in the UK. This level of ownership impacts the variety of ideas and values that can circulate. Concentration of media ownership threatens democracy in political journalism(Baker, 2007), leading to over-representation of political viewpoints, values that are favoured by media owners. There is a negative correlation between media domination and levels of pluralism which is needed in society, to sustain representation. The concentration of media ownership leads to less competing suppliers, thus leaving a gap in a democratic political system. Due to Rupert Murdoch’s large media empire, it has been said that he has wielded political power through his influence over headlines. It could be interpreted this way when considering the support given by News Corporation owned newspapers, to Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s and Tony Blair in 1997. The impact of Rupert Murdoch can also be shown

In a contemporary society, the role of journalism is a varied one that covers many different aspects of people’s lives. As more and more outlets spring up around the world, many more stories are able to be covered by different outlets, and this means that journalism takes on a more and more important role in a contemporary society. Much of our lives centre on political and social happenings, and journalistic outlets are the public’s way of finding all the information on these event. Journalism also provides us with a way of finding out which of these stories are important and deserve our attention, and which stories can be ignored. The important role of journalism can be well observed in the recent coverage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) in both New Zealand and around the world. This is a ground breaking economic deal, and holds a great deal of importance for the 800 million citizens of the countries involved, as well as the rest of the world. With worldwide coverage of this deal, it is inevitable that different types of reporting occurs, and that different outlets will provide different accounts. With so many different journalism outlets around the world and locally, many have to have a way of standing out from the crowd. This means that some extremely different coverage of very similar stories can occur. However it can also simply be down to different ownership, differing political views, and different socio-economic environments. Two outlets with