Media industries

In this section students will develop their knowledge and understanding of:

  • processes of production, distribution and circulation by organisations, groups and individuals in a global context
  • the specialised and institutionalised nature of media production, distribution and circulation
  • the relationship of recent technological change and media production, distribution and circulation
  • the significance of patterns of ownership and control, including conglomerate ownership, vertical integration and diversification
  • the significance of economic factors, including commercial and not-for-profit public funding, to media industries and their products
  • how media organisations maintain, including through marketing, varieties of audiences nationally and globally
  • the regulatory framework of contemporary media in the UK
  • the impact of 'new' digital technologies on media regulation, including the role of individual producers
  • how processes of production, distribution and circulation shape media products
  • the impact of digitally convergent media platforms on media production, distribution and circulation, including individual producers
  • the role of regulation in global production, distribution and circulation
  • the effect of individual producers on media industries.

Enabling ideas to support the study of media industries

The content below identifies the enabling theories, key ideas and terms that constitute key theoretical aspects of media industries. Students will develop knowledge and understanding of the following theoretical aspects.

Power and media industries as summarised by Curran and Seaton

  • Regulation
  • Deregulation
  • Free market
  • Media concentration
  • Public Service Broadcasting (PSB)
  • Globalisation
  • Conglomerates
  • Neo-liberalism
  • Surveillance
  • Privacy
  • Security.

Regulation as summarised by Livingstone and Lunt

  • Public sphere
  • Governance
  • Regulation
  • Public interest/PSB
  • Media literacy
  • Power
  • Value
  • Transnational culture
  • Globalisation.

Cultural industries as summarised by Hesmondhalgh

Cultural industries:
  • Cultural industries
  • Commodification
  • Convergence
  • Diversity
  • Innovation
  • Conglomeration
  • Vertical integration
  • Cultural imperialism.