Reflection of Economy and Media Regulation

Reflection of Economy and Media Regulation

The mass media platforms have undergone a lot of changes that have had varying impacts on the economy. In the modern world, the emergence of the internet has altered mergers and consolidation of major media houses. The focus has shifted from companies such as Comcast and Time Warner to platforms such as Apple, Facebook, Google, Netflix, and WhatsApp. This has forced several media houses to rethink on the content they provide to the public and find out appropriate ways of delivering such content. The ultimate result is that the economic structures of these companies have been altered to the extent that has led to the dissolvent of some of the companies. However, although it is true that the emergence of new social platforms such as Facebook and Google has economically affected media houses, the new platforms have created a more convenient way of not only carrying out business activities but also socializing and freely expressing one’s views.

As outlined in the class learning material, most media houses generate revenue in two main ways. The first one is through direct payment where customers directly pay for a book, music download, or internet service. The second way is through advertisements where media houses earn by advertising a firm’s product to a specific audience. Most media houses make a profit through a combination of two ways. Since there are numerous business activities in the country, these media houses would be in a position to make substantial profits, were it not for the existence of other platforms that can perform similar functions at a lowered, almost ignorable cost. Facebook, Netflix, and YouTube have made it easier for one to reach a wider audience at a lower price. Therefore, although the class text highlights some of the negative economic impacts on the rise of new social media platforms, it fails to consider the fact that these platforms have provided an alternative that is cheaper and more convenient.

Although the emergence of the internet led to the loss of jobs due to a decline in the performance of some companies, there has, over time, increased employment opportunities due to the emergent of new companies such as Amazon, Google, and Apple. Immediately after the emergence of the internet, some of the legacy media powerhouses such as Disney and Time Warner declined in their performance. This was mainly due to the diversion of public attention to internet-based information. As a result, many journalists and other people were affected. However, after some time, companies such as Google and Amazon emerged to cater to the ever-increasing needs of internet users. Many people have been employed either directly or indirectly by these companies.  There has, therefore, been an economic balance as a result of the numerous business opportunities that the internet has created.

The democracy that the modern media platforms offer is another crucial aspect that the class material has highlighted. The existence of various media platforms, both contemporary and traditional, gives consumers a wide range of choices on what to use to obtain the best information regarding a particular product.  Consumers do not care who gives out the data as long as it is quality information. Therefore there have been multiple voices in the market which have helped consumers to make better decisions (Alalwan, 2018). To add to this aspect, modern media platforms have also given freedom of expression to many consumers. People from any part of the world can critique a product in using any of the social media platforms. This, to some extent, has contributed to the increase in the production of quality goods across the globe. The modern media platforms have, therefore, provided economic freedom that has seen improvement in the quality of products and services across the world.

The statistics outlined under the topic, “Thinking Critically about Mass Media: Economics,” support the idea that modern media platforms have been more effective than traditional media platforms. For instance, in 2017, the American Music industry made more profits from YouTube streaming while the sale of CDs and DVDs declined. The sales revenue of newspapers also declined by 45% between 2006 and 2016 (Liebowitz, 2016). The TV broadcast and viewership has declined by approximately 50 % over the past fifteen years (Liebowitz, 2016). The decline in the above aspects of the traditional media suggests two main things. One is that the public has shifted its interest from the conventional to modern media. Perhaps, this could be due to the easier and more convenient way of the use of these new platforms. The second thing is that there has been advancement in technology which has made most of the traditional media to be outdated. For example, one would instead download a music video from numerous websites than carry the burden of buying a CD, which is not only more costly but also time-consuming to acquire one.

The only perceived limitation of the new social media platforms is that they mostly do not conform to societal and government regulation. Economist thinks that these media provide a platform where one could even advertise illicit business such as porn videos (Goel, Miesing & Chandra, 2010). Besides, most of these platforms are unmonitored, which means that one can use them at any frequency. Moreover, these platforms may interfere with one’s privacy since they require a lot of personal details before accessing them. As such, it is easy for hackers to misuse this information for personal gain. These claims, however, do not significantly affect the quality and effectiveness of these platforms. It is only in rare cases that the platforms are used misused. Besides, unlike TVs and Radios which can be watched and listened to by all people, including children, platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Netflix are mostly accessible to adults. This prevents children from accessing unnecessary information such as adverts on abusive drugs. This makes the platforms more economical in that the information quickly reaches its target audience.

In conclusion, although the rise of the internet, as outlined in the class materials, affected the economy of several media houses such as Disney and Time Warner, it created more opportunities that are economically better. For instance, the internet provides a cheaper and more convenient way of advertising goods and services. Besides, statistics have shown that public interest has shifted from traditional media platforms to modern ones. For instance, more people prefer downloading a song from the internet to buying a CD for watching on the television. Therefore, although the class materials highlight the changes that the media industry has undergone and the negative impacts on the economy, it has left out some essential information about the economic opportunities that have been presented by these changes.

References

Alalwan, A. A. (2018). Investigating the impact of social media advertising features on customer purchase intention. International Journal of Information Management, 42(1), 65-77.

Goel, S., Miesing, P., & Chandra, U. (2010). The impact of illegal peer-to-peer file sharing on the media industry. California Management Review, 52(3), 6-33.

Liebowitz, S. J. (2016). How much of the decline in sound recording sales is due to file-sharing?. Journal of Cultural Economics, 40(1), 13-28.