Blog # 11

1.The basic structures of mass media organizations: monopoly, oligopoly, and limited competition is different from one another in many ways. Monopoly is when a single firm dominates production and distribution in a particular industry, either nationally or locally. Oligopoly is when a few firms dominate an industry. Limited competition is a media market with many producers and sellers but only a few products within a particular category.

2. Some of society’s key expectations of media organizations involve placing new technologies into the marketplace, allowing products and services to be available to all economic classes, have a positive aspect in education, manage the conditions of culture, oversee society when crisis is present, acting as public watchdogs over wrongdoing, facilitating free expression and robust political discussion.

3.  The reason why federal government emphasized deregulation at a time when many media companies were growing very big is to decrease monopoly. It also led to an easier union and joined diversities together. It also regulated how many stations radio and TV stations could own.

4. Global and specialized markets factor into the new media economy by moving work to countries who are struggling with their economy and that need jobs but have poor health and safety regulations for workers. Regular workers are affected because now they can afford to buy things they couldn’t before.

5. Synergy is a promotion and sale of different versions of a media product across various subsidiaries of an assortment of media’s.  Disney represented synergistic possibilities of media. They allowed to show their movies though DVD and at theaters. They also promoted Disney movies on TV programs when they bought the ABC network.

6. Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft have emerged as the leading corporations of the digital era for many reasons. Amazon changed their ways from delivering physical books to customers to distributing digital products on their digital devices like the Kindle. Apple created an invention where they can bring media content to users’ fingertips for example, the iPod and iPhone. Facebook  became the main social media communication. They also allow users to access Facebook though their phones. Google draws in their users through their search engine and by allowing them to access Google on their phones as well. Microsoft became big with their Bing search engine and other devices like the Xbox game console and its new Surface tablet.

7. Cultural imperialism is the dominance of the global market. The U.S. is related to cultural imperialism because America has more power over in many areas of mass media such as TV and goods like soap. Other countries would try to make similar products as the US. For example, the US makes Dove soap and in India they make “Fair & Lovely” products for poor women.

8. Critics and activists mostly fear political fallout in that ads and products would raise the hopes of poor people but not keep pace with their actual living conditions. What they do to respond to these fears is that they would keep raising the prices on goods.