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Economic Pressures and Social
Responsibility
Economic interests vs. Moral
Obligations
Some suggest that when profit
motives compete against altruistic motives, commercial interests always prevail
Your author suggests that making
a profit is not immoral
The problem occurs when
commercial interests are allowed to dominate social obligations
Economic Interests vs. Moral
Obligations
Must learn to balance
economic pressures against duties to others
Can’t always give way to
noble causes like moral idealists propose
Small newspaper may go under if
it runs negative story about top advertiser
Then paper unable to provide good
service to community (so better not to run story)
Economic Interests vs. Moral
Obligations
Economic pressures in
capitalistic society come from three sources
Financial supporters (investors,
advertisers, clients, subscribers, customers)
Competition
Public at large
These are interdependent
Economic concerns in one area can
impact other areas
Economic Interests vs. Moral
Obligations
Media are special
Constitutional protection given
them that is not afforded to other industries
Viewed as servants of the public
interest
This role goes far beyond
commercial interests
However, media are big business
and economic pressures influence their decision making
Economic Interests vs. Moral
Obligations
Media’s financial interests
and public’s interests are reflected in three areas
Concentration of media ownership
Alliance of mass media and
marketing
Advertising
Concentration of Media Ownership
Many media outlets are owned by a
few big corporations
Newspapers
In 1930, 84% were independent
In 1998, 20% (of 1,500) were
independent
Gannett Company, Newhouse
Newspapers, Tribune Company, Knight-Ridder, and Times-Mirror own most daily papers
Concentration of Media Ownership
Problem with concentrated
ownership
Monopoly of information by
outside corporations that have no commitment to journalism
Ex. ABC is owned by Disney
1996, Good Morning America had 8
minutes of uninterrupted coverage of Disney Institute
ABC ran special called
Armageddon: Target Earth (happened to coincide with opening of Armageddon, a Touchstone
Picture)
Concentration of Media Ownership
The Insider
Is the movie about 60
Minutes and Brown & Williamson tobacco executive Jeffrey Wigand
CBS did interview, but did not
air it
Were under pressure that a suit
against them would make Westinghouse less willing to buy CBS
Alliance of Mass Media and
Marketing
Media are profit centers
Makes sense to adopt marketing
strategies
Problems arise when commercial
pressures jeopardize journalistic standards
Alliance of Mass Media and
Marketing
Lines between editorial and
advertising functions at conventional newspapers have begun to crumble
Marketing committees include
editorial members
Editors’ responsible for
developing ad-driven special sections and target certain demographics
Source: poll by Presstime
magazine (1998)
Alliance of Mass Media and
Marketing
Lines haven’t been
established on the Internet
At end of books reviews on NY
Times on-line edition you can purchase the book
Not something the print version
would likely do
Alliance of Mass Media and
Marketing
Marketing in media requires all
departments, even news, to contribute to making money for the organization
News has to have some
entertainment value to attract viewers
Survey reported editors/news
directors said entertaining comes before educating
Economic concerns is why this
happens
Alliance of Mass Media and
Marketing
Local news makes stations lots of
$$
Problem when local news is
promoting entertainment shows
Ex. Final episodes of Cheers and
Seinfeld
Special reports after ER
Alliance of Mass Media and
Marketing
Advertorials blur line between
editorial and commercial content
Advertisement camouflaged as
editorial content
Resemble feature article, but
deliver advertiser’s message
Infomercial is also blurs lines
Program-length commercial
May lead to editorial
pollution/compromises integrity of media
Alliance of Mass Media and
Marketing
Ethical problems arise when news
makes promo material, celebrity profiles, and soft features appear to be hard news
Shouldn’t package this stuff
in regular news packaging
Also, mixing of entertainment and
journalism hurts the democratic process because relevant issues are passed over for fluff
The Role Advertising
Advertising
Gives mass media financial
independence from government and political interests
Creates media dependence on
commercial sector
The Role Advertising
Economic pressures from
advertising
Quantity of ads determines amount
of space left for news, entertainment
Ripple effects when advertisers
cut budgets
More $$ spent on cable ads means
less $$ spent on network ads
News divisions affected-quality
of content suffers because don’t have resources
The Role Advertising
Direct pressure on media managers
Advertisers don’t want
unflattering stories
They pull ads if they are targets
of negative publicity
Pressure may be subtle
Women’s magazines rely on
cigarette ads
Study revealed less stories about
hazards of smoking in these magazines
The Role Advertising
Smaller organizations may succumb
to pressure
Larger institutions can withstand
advertiser onslaught because they have more money
© B.L. Yates 2000
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