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The critical political economy approach, identified by Tiffen as “one of the strongest and longest traditions in media and communications studies” (Tiffen, 2002: 35), seems to adequately explain some aspects of how the media work today with regard to news and current affairs, as the word “adequately” is not a solid word and does not imply completeness of explanation. This is noteworthy because the theory does fail to explain the entire picture of how the media work today, as it focuses predominately on the economics of the media, overlooking some key elements for example content and audience interpretation.
The media perform a fundamental and democratic function in our society and the issues of ownership and power compromise this role (Strangio, 2003). The media should offer a diverse range of information to allow individuals to participate in society and this is unable to occur if the concentrations of ownership and control remain at the levels they are presently at.
The political economy theory perceives the concentration of power and control as hindering this role the media plays as the fourth estate (Strangio, 2003). ...
As political economy focuses on the production and distribution of media content, it would be wise to look towards the “media mogul” – an individual who “owns and operates major media companies, who takes entrepreneurial risks, and who conducts these media businesses in personal or eccentric style” (Tunstall and Palmer, 1999: 105). Most large media-owning companies are family-owned rather than by a range of diverse individuals and the company remains in the family. In Australia, the main media moguls include Rupert Murdoch, Kerry Packer and to a smaller extent John Fairfax. Each of these individuals is closely scrutinised by the political economy approach in the way their companies deal with news and current affairs, as they each fall under ownership and control and production and distribution of media content.
Although political economy possesses Marxist roots, unlike the Marxist theorists, the political economy approach places its emphasis on the “production and distribution of media content, with scant regard to its meaning” (Sinclair, 2002: 27).
Approximate Word count = 1687
Approximate Pages = 6.7
(250 words per page double spaced)
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