CREATIVE INDUSTRIES AND MEDIA REGULATIONToby Miller & John McMurria

By: Shana Vose

APPROACHES TO MEDIA REGULATION AND THE LAWLegal Studies

Institutional analysis

Political economy

Critical cultural citizenship

LEGAL LIBERALISM Individuals as “autonomous and selfish

rather than social and collective” Separates individuals values from known

facts Rule-based, ignores theoretical or socially

constructed ideas Universal rights instead of group rights Quantitative vs. historical or political Arguments made against

“individuals cannot be separated from social contexts or subjective values from objective facts”

INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS Regards politics and everyday decision

making within legal and regulatory institutions

Involves competing interest groups

Social science-based communication research directed toward influencing institutional decision making

POLITICAL ECONOMY Ownership structures and capitalist ideologies Telecommunications Act of 1996

Free-marketGrowth of integrated media conglomeratesConglomerates favor “free-market

viewpoints”Allows them to growGain profitMass entertainment culture

Exploitationo Advocate public-funded alternatives to

corporate control

CRITICAL CULTURAL CITIZENSHIP Believes in regulation to produce cultural

self-governing citizens

Commercial and public media offering Series of rationales for a particular type of

conduct

Free-market economy to meet social needs

Combines institutional, political and cultural approaches

FCC AND OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES Created by congress to guide corporate

development

Protect public interest and free speech

Entrusted administrative experts to protect these rights

“Fordist” approach Prioritized rising consumer demand to keep mass

produced goods coming

HISTORY OF FCC REGULATIONS

Broadcast reform movement 1927-1934 Leads society to analyze advertising supported

broadcasting Created standards for TV

Frustration and failure Radio audience surveys

Disputes in those being polled Congress gave cities the right to require

regulations Public, government, and leased access channels

CABLE Neoliberal order

After privatization of cable in 1970’s Treat TV like any other free-market commodity

TV critics and educators thought of TV as representing “the degraded tastes of a mass audience”

“Blue Skies” More channels Cater to more viewers Communication within marginalized communities

FCC deregulation

CREATIVE COMMONS

Free software Physical components beyond “code layer”

Wires, airwaves, reception

Allows creators to decide “dimension of individual freedom” “better democratic participation” Minimize government regulations

“CAN NATURAL LUDDITES MAKE THINGS EXPLODE OR TRAVEL

FASTER?”

“Great Society” Liberalism End poverty and discrimination through state

intervention “Creative Society”

Technology unlocking creativity “happy and productive in ways that elude corporate

and governmental dominance -- and discourage collective organization”

Creative industries came from cultural policy studies as a result of the political economy Finance capital and ideology

Not agriculture and manufacture

CHANGING THE INDUSTRY

World exchange of electronic culture $95 billion - $388 billion from 1980 to 1998 Copyright and patents worth $360 billion Dominant global industries

communication, information, entertainment and leisure

“Now sell feelings, ideas, money, health, insurance and laws.” Changing job market Focus on comparative advantage and

competition Consumers producers

Links people across cultures

CRITICAL ISSUES IN THE INDUSTRY

High tech pollution Labor issues “cultural imperialism”

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

Which of the four approaches do you think would work best for the industry today?

Would Fordism still be effective today?

How far should the FCC go in terms of “protecting” society and the things they view?

How do you balance the 1st amendment rights of cable operators and the rights of viewers?