Croteau, Media/Society, 6e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
Chapter Outlines
Chapter 4: Political Influence on Media
Purpose and Goals of the Chapter
It is impossible to understand the workings of the media without knowing
something about the broader social environment in which they operate. For commercial
media, especially, the government represents a major structural constraint that limits (but
in some ways also enables) the actions of the media industry. This chapter looks at how
the political world—especially the government—influences the media industry. This
chapter considers the influence of political forces on the media and explores questions
about the appropriate role of government in regulating media. Our concern is not with the
details of media legislation but rather with the general dynamics that characterize the
relationship between government and media. We also address the more informal political
pressure brought to bear on the media by media advocacy groups, public interest
organizations, religious groups, and media critics.
The specific content of the chapter covers territory that has often been in the
center of public debate: regulation of the media. Most students have an awareness of
censorship and the regulation of content, but will not be familiar with the regulation of
ownership and technology.
Finally, all the regulation debates touch upon most, if not all, of the elements in the
“media and the digital social world” model. Regulating violence, for example, involves
government (social world element), the media industry, media content, (possible impact on)
audiences, and even technology
Outline of Key Chapter Themes
• All parties involved support some form of government regulation of the media. The
major debates are over what kinds of regulation should exist.
• Explore how different media are regulated differently by various government agencies.
• One key dynamic in media regulation is the debate between “free market” advocates
versus those who advocate regulating in the “public interest.”
• Regulation of media applies to ownership, technology, content, and distribution.
• Explore regulation in various national, international, and developing contexts.
• There are numerous areas of debate about regulation, including ownership of media
outlets, ownership of programming, ownership of technology, media content (promoting
diversity vs. property rights), the Fairness Doctrine, rating systems and warning labels,
outlawing and controlling distribution, violence and sexual material, advertising, and
censorship during wartime.
• Explore how digital media has affected the Internet landscape, its policies and framed the
net neutrality debate.
Croteau, Media/Society, 6e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
Chapter Outline
• Media and Democracy
• Free Speech to Free Markets: The Evolution of U.S. Regulatory Policy
o Regulate or Deregulate?
o The FCC’s Variable Role
• Regulation in International Perspective
o Regulation in Western Democracies
o Regulation in Developing Nations
• Competing Interests and the Regulation Debate
o Industry Influence: Elections and Lobbying
o Citizen Action: The Case of Low-Power Radio
o Left and Right: Diversity versus Property Rights
• Regulating Ownership
o Media Outlets
o Copyright and Intellectual Property
• Regulating Content
o Accuracy: Advertising
o Diversity: The Fairness Doctrine
o Morality: Obscene Materials
o Self-Regulation: Censorship and Ratings
▪ Movie Censorship and the Ratings System
▪ Television Ratings
▪ Music Parental Advisory Labels and Video Games
o The “National Interest”: Military Censorship
• Regulating Access and Distribution
o Net Neutrality
▪ The Concept of Net Neutrality
▪ The Policy Battle
▪ The Implications
o Vertical Integration: Movies, TV, and Streaming
▪ The Hollywood Studio System
▪ Television’s Fyn-Syn Regulations
▪ Netflix and the Streaming Wars
o Social Media Platforms
▪ What Are Platforms?
▪ Social Media Regulation
▪ Self-Policing
• Informal Political, Social, and Economic Pressure
• Conclusion