IS40860: Highly concentrated media ownership is the single largest threat to press freedom”. Critically explore forms of media ownership: Media and Society Essay, UCD, Ireland

1. “Highly concentrated media ownership is the single largest threat to press freedom”. Critically explore forms of media ownership in light of this statement, exploring the implications of media ownership on one or more of the following: market structure, content produced and/or ideology.
2. “Concentration of media markets at national, regional and global levels threatens media pluralism”. Using a case study or a national context of your own choosing, critically reflect on the variables that influence the levels of pluralism in a media market.
3. “RTÉ shall show no editorial or programming bias in terms of identity or membership of a minority community”. While outlining the guiding principles of public service broadcasting in Ireland, critically explore the ways in which RTÉ aligns with its public service broadcasting remit.
4. In what ways has media work transformed in the digital age? Use a specific case study or examples to explore your argument.
5. Critically explore the political economy of social media influencers, specifically the new forms of media work they have developed. Use a specific case study or examples to explore your argument.
6. How might the political economy of streaming services like Amazon Prime, Netflix and Now TV shape particular cultures of production?
7. How might the political economy of mass media inform and shape the nature of the ways in which media are produced, distributed and consumed? Use a specific case study or example to critically explore your argument.
8. “A stereotype is an over-generalized belief about a particular category of people”. Critically explore the function of stereotypes in relation to an archetype or minority group of your choice. In your answer, focus on a specific text or specific group across a series and focus on representational strategies deployed to represent them.
9. “Representation is a signifying practice in a rich diversity of contexts and institutional sites”. Critically explore representation in relation to one of the following: the use of film/television in the construction of national identity and culture; the politics of exhibiting other cultures or minority identities in television programs; the gendering of narrative on television genres. You are not limited to just these three, however, you must run your choice by me.
10.  Using a text of your own choosing, critically explore its narrative and generic conventions.

Question

How might the political economy of mass media inform and shape the nature of the ways in which media are produced, distributed, and consumed? Use a specific case study or examples to critically explore your argument.