Chapter 7: "Media Economics: The Deadline Meets the Bottom Line

To think that the media has now joined the ranks of the "power elite" is astounding. No longer are they necessarily below the political officials they interview, but they are on the same level. In essence, the media has a very similar caliber of power to these political officials; among other things, both the media and political officials can portray a representation of constituent groups in society and influence the goals and values of society greatly - two powers that hold innate value. To say that the mass media has become "a ruling class within a democratic society" (162), is not an understatement. They control what news we hear, how we hear it, and how we respond to it. News creates dialogue, dialogue gives way to opinions, and opinions shape our beliefs and sometimes, or eventually, our values. When it comes down to it, is it safe to say that the media shapes our personal values?? This would be a great question to discuss in class. Furthermore, not only has the media joined the high ranks, but it has entered into a state of what the authors call "hyper-competition". (Sounds like what our entire society as come to: fast-paced, dog eats dog, and never simple!) In economic terms, hyper-competition is when supply substantially exceeds demand so that producers operate at a financial loss. In terms of communication, the media has created much of this effect by the availability of information through the Web. It was crazy for me to read how when competition among sources reaches hyper-competition, many media organizations lose almost all of their profits, if not entirely. Who knew such an essential, sought-after, buzzing industry could go bankrupt just to stay afloat and keep feeding its' absorbers (us) the information. When so many people depend on the media, you'd think it wouldn't be struggling. What represents an even more slippery slope is that with such hyper-competition, ethics starts to be called into question. If this is what the economics of media look like now, what will be its fate? Will there be reforms, policies, reorganizations? One of my biggest concerns is, if print publications become completely taboo, then will the information on the Web be harder to obtain (aka, not free, must have a subscription, etc)? The quote that opened up the beginning of the chapter says it all, "I think the biggest challenge my generation is going to face is to convince people my own age that news is worth paying for. We've never done it." Definitely a lot of food for thought as always...