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SANDRA BAŠI? HRVATIN & LENART J. KUČI?: MONOPOLY. A SOCIAL GAME OF MEDIA TRADE (2005)

03.11.2006 |

 The authors of this book want to show that the issue of ownership in the media is more than a lofty academic topic which has nothing to do with the media practice. The authors discuss several more or less successful models, which of course are not perfect, yet, they can thwart many a contentious endeavour, for a political will and a belief that neither “the state” nor “the market” are the best regulator of the media subtend the passed legislation. These models also show that it is possible to detect even such elusive phenomena as “media pluralism”. Since the consequences of concentration are difficult to predict even in the economic sphere, the issue of ownership in the media has been predominantly a topic for debate among media theorists. The warnings about the dangers of covert ownership as well as about the pitfalls of obvious, often perfectly legal concentration of ownership in the media are soon displaced by the demands for a clear and irrefutable proof of the abuse of ownership, especially if it involves tangible meddling with journalistic work, for instance in the form of censorship. Although difficult to contest, this is a moot point, for it does not take into account the difference between power as a functional potential and power in its actual implementation. The need for “proof” of the abuse of the proprietary power can easily lead to over-simplified approaches, which is why the subjects of media power, often under the guise of a liberal approach to the market, diminish the significance of ownership and displace the responsibility onto the content (the journalists) and the market (the advertisers).

 

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