International

Communications
Introduction and Lecture One

Introduction to IC
The aim is to develop an analytical

perspective on mass media with a

focus on the international media
environment.

Assessment

There one two-hour written exam in this module.

Exam November 28th November = Media Systems

and Globalisation, Nations, Marketing and

International PR

Core Readings
Curtin P. A. & Gaither T. K., (2007). International public

relations. Negotiating culture, identity and power. USA:

Sage.
John Egan (2007) Marketing Communications.
Routledge.
Giddens, A. (2007) A Runaway World?
Held, D. (2011) A Globalizing World? Culture,
Economics, Politics. London: Routledge.
Smith, P.R., & Taylor, J. (2004) Marketing

Communications: An Integrated Approach, London:

Kogan Page
Daya Thussu (2012) International Communications.
Routledge. London

Lecture One: Media

Organisations

Aims and Learning Outcomes

The purpose of this section is to consider some basic

questions about media organisations, their key

characteristics, and ways of thinking about and
analysing them.

Before we can analyse any particular media organisation

or media firm, we need to consider the socio-political

framework which shapes the organisation of media
industries and media institutions.

These frameworks, in turn, reflect fundamental attitudes

towards the media which are present to greater or lesser

extent in all countries with mass media.

Approaches To Media Systems

To simplify the vast range of media systems that

exist around the world, we need to try and broadly

group systems within a straightforward framework.

One of the seminal works attempting to model media

systems is Siebert, Peterson & Schramm's Four

Theories of The Press (1956).

Its worldview approach was deliberately designed to

try and identify key characteristics of the media in

society.

Approaches To Media Systems

(2)
Adapting Siebert et al somewhat, it is

possible to place media systems within

one of three main attitudinal and
structural approaches to the media:
the social responsibility approach, within

which the extremely important concept of

public service broadcasting emerges;
the state controlled, or authoritarian
approach;
and the free market or libertarian approach.

Approaches (3)
It is worth stressing the

extent to which any

particular country's media
are likely to display a
mixture of these different
approaches, for a range of
social, political and cultural
reasons.

The Social Responsibility

Approach
The social responsibility approach views the

media as central institutions within democracy.

The media are seen as having significant
political influence, in terms of a potential
influence on government policy, public opinion
and citizens' voting behaviour.
As such concerns about the potential abuse of
the media by vested interests (whether political
or commercial) saw the emergence of media
systems in many countries which arguably
reflect this attitude towards the media.

Social Responsibility (2)

In many countries regulatory attitudes

towards the press, incorporating the

idea of the social responsibility of the
media, stem from the historical
relationship between newspapers and
political change.
In some countries newspapers played a
significant role in the transition from
feudal monarchies to representative
democracies, such as during the
American war of Independence or the
French Revolution in the 18th Century.

Social Responsibility (3)

In Germany, for example, current media

regulation dates back to the post-War period

when occupying Allied forces reorganised the
media in an effort to prevent the use of the
media for propaganda purposes as had been
done under the Nazi administration.
What is significant, despite these major historical
and cultural differences between nations, is the
extent to which a common perception of the
media as having political as well as economic
dimensions is apparent, as is the perceived need
to ensure that the media operate with freedom
and responsibility in the public interest.

Social Responsibility (4)

The central features of a social

responsibility system lie in the

regulatory environment in which
the media operate, particularly
around issues of ownership and
control.
There are, for example, concerns
both about state control of the
media, and also of excessive
market influence.

Social Responsibility (5)

Another feature of this approach is

the extent to which there is an

attempt to strike a balance
between the rights of media
professionals, such as freedom of
expression, and their
responsibilities regarding other
citizens' rights, such as privacy.

Social Responsibility (6)

The issue of state or self

regulation is a thorny one,

reflecting very much concerns
about the need to maintain
ethical standards in journalism,
but also concerns about the
level of state influence on
journalists.

Social Responsibility (7)

To summarise, the social responsibility

approach's key attitudes are:The Media have political and social

dimensions, therefore
The Media should be free from state
control, but regulated to ensure fair
representation, diversity and
balance, and
The Media should follow agreed
professional standards and ethical
codes

Public Service Broadcasting (1)

Public Service Broadcasting (or PSB) has been a

dominant feature of broadcasting organisations

across much of Western Europe, and in other
countries around the globe.
Again, this is not to say that in each nation exactly
the same approach to broadcasting has been evident,
and as Negrine states similarities between nations
cannot be taken for granted (Negrine, 1998: 224).
Broadcasting emerged in the 1920s, at a time in
which many nations already had well established
newspaper industries, often reflecting to greater or
lesser extent the tenets of the social responsibility
approach.

PSB (2)

Raymond Kuhn summarised the common

elements of PSB philosophy as follows:

A universal service available to all
irrespective of income or geographical
location
A commitment to a balanced output and to
balanced scheduling across different
programme genres
A balanced and impartial political output
A degree of financial independence from
both governmental and commercial bodies

PSB (3)
Currently, many public service broadcasting

systems are being challenged by new marketdriven philosophies, and the technological
justification for PSB has been increasingly
undermined by the emergence of new
communication technologies, such as cable,
satellite, and most recently digital television.
Indeed, some argue that the internet is
challenging the whole notion of broadcasting,
in favour of narrowcasting - meeting the needs
of particular audiences rather than serving the
audience as one mass.

The State Controlled Approach

Many media systems began under far more

authoritarian attitudes than the social

responsibility or public service models.
Rather than allowing either commercial
involvement in the media, or trying to regulate
the media without undue state influence, some
media systems have been established with the
media seen as an extension of political
authority.
Two distinct strands of state control have
emerged, however, related to the ideological
nature of the states involved: right wing
authoritarianism and Communism.

State Controlled (2)

During times of conflict or

national crisis, democratic

nations can equally apply
more authoritarian controls
on the media (as the Allied
nations did during WWII).

State Controlled (3)

The emergence of communism presented a new

variation on the notion of state controlled media,

which was not merely authoritarian but also
propagandistic. Seibert et al actually separated
the authoritarian approach from what they
dubbed the Soviet approach (1956).
The founders of the Russian revolution, like
Lenin, did not actually have detailed conceptions
of the role of the media, but a particular attitude
did develop in the Soviet Union, which also
emerged in other communist nations like Cuba
and China.
Essentially in the communist approach the media
are seen not only as an important part of the
state but a means by which the popular
(communist) will of the people can be expressed
to further the causes of the state.

State Control Approach (4)

So rather than simply being a tool of the

government, the media are perceived as

reflecting the people's interests as well as those
of the political authorities.

Authoritarian media systems are often depicted

as simply being systems of extreme censorship,

but denying oppositional viewpoints is not the
only goal of the communist approach.
In contrast to the arguably negative news values
of the Western media, the apparent aim of the
communist media is to focus more on the
achievements of the society- i.e. what's going
right, rather than what's going wrong.

State Controlled (5)

To summarise, the state controlled

approach's key attitudes are:The Media have political and
social dimensions, therefore
The Media should be owned and
controlled by the state, and
The Media should only convey
information deemed suitable by
the state

The Free Market Approach

The current dominant trend in media systems, even

in heavily state controlled systems like in China, is a

move towards greater commercialism and less
restricted media markets.
In a nominal sense the free market approach regards
any state involvement in the media as essentially
restricting personal freedoms, such as freedom of
speech.
In the USA, perhaps the epitome of this approach,
the constitutional right of free speech and a free
press under the 1st Amendment of the Constitution
is interpreted as meaning that freedom of speech, for
both potential media producers and for media
audiences, can only be achieved by a lack of state
involvement in media organisations.

Free Market (2)

Unlike other approaches to the media,

the free market approach also tends to

regard the media as commodities like
other products, downplaying any sociopolitical dimensions that the media may
have.
The audience should be the final arbiter
of what is produced.

Free Market (3)

The problem with this approach, in the

view of many critics is that the notion of

quality and the maintenance of
standards in media output go out of the
window in favour of the maximising of
audience reach and advertising
revenue.

Free Market (4)

Further complicating concerns

about standards in free market

media output, is the concern
that the free market tends
towards monopoly rather
diversity in the media.

Free Market (5)

There is a welter of evidence in many

countries to support the notion of

escalating costs and concentration of
ownership.
A good historical example of the
problems of commercial ownership was
the emergence of the Hollywood studio
system in the 1920s and 1930s, in which
a small number of companies (such as
MGM, Warner Brothers and Paramount)
established control over not only film
production but film distribution and
exhibition as well.

Free Market (6)

Similarly, the dominance of certain satellite television

companies, such as BSkyB in Britain, has led to concern

over these companies' control over access technology,
both for broadcasters and for audiences.
In essence, critics of the free market system argue that
all the market system does is replace one dominant
group, the political elite, with another- the industrial
elite.
To summarise, the free market approach's key attitudes
are: The Media are principally commodities like any other
product, therefore
The Media should be as free as possible from state
influence, and
The media should be free to give audiences what they
want

Conclusion
As stated at the beginning of this section many countries

actually operate complex hybrids of these attitudinal

approaches to media systems.
Finally, it is important to remember that with each of
these conceptual approaches to media systems come
additional problems.
For social responsibility systems comes the constant
tension between the desire for independent media and
the desire for responsible media acting in the public
interest.
For state controlled media the central question is one of
the legitimacy of the control, particularly in the global
media environment.
For the free market approach there are questions about
the effects of the market on quality and diversity in media
output.