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Media Lessons Index Page: Production

Production: Questions to ask

 

Key idea:

Entertainment, information, and artistic expression are side-effects of the primary purpose of media texts, which is to produce revenue. The messages conveyed and the values promoted by the media text are affected by the legal, organizational, and economic factors involved in production.

 

A major issue for media studies is ownership and control. A relatively small number of corporations control what we watch, read, and hear in the media. The smaller the number of owners and producers, the fewer the number of alternative voices constructing the "real" for us. A narrower range of voices limits the variety of possible definitions of the nature of the good life, the value of consumerism, the role of women and of men, the acceptance of authority, and other cultural values.

 

Access

1. How can individuals, community groups or other interested groups take advantage of the power of the media to communicate points of view?

1. What voiceless groups in society could benefit from use of the power of media?

Commodification

1. To what extent has artistic expression been transformed into just another commodity?

1. What effect does commodification have on the oppositional voices often found in art?

1. What other non-commercial goods or values are treated as commodities through mainstream media images?

Distribution/ Marketing

1. How is the product distributed?

1. Who controls distribution?

1. Is advertising essential to the success of the product?

1. Is public relations essential to the success of the product?

Financing

1. Is the income created by the media text devoted primarily to covering expenses, or does it generate revenue for shareholders and other investors?

1. What sources provide financing? To what extent do sources of financing have a voice in the content or form of the text?

1. In what kind of economic environment (free-market, public domain)is the text produced ?

Ownership and Control

1. Who owns or controls the organization that makes this text?

1. >Is information about ownership easily available?

1. What are the priorities, needs, or values of the organization and how are they expressed in this text?

1. Is foreign ownership or monopoly ownership an issue?

Technology

1. What technology is used in making this text? (cameras, printing press, computer program, internet text)

1. Is it new or old technology? Is it expensive or cheap?

1. Which technologies are available to anyone who wants to create or distribute a media text?

1. What is the impact of the "digital divide" (differences in usage of electronic communications relative to gender, wealth, and geography)

Production Practices

1. Are there codes of conduct or ethics governing the workers, location, or manufacturing of the product? Are they followed?

1. What are the roles of those involved in production? How do we find out?

1. Has production been moved offshore to avoid monitoring of industry practices (corporate responsibility for clean technology, human rights, etc)?

Institutions

1. What institutions are involved in the production or regulation of the industry? (e.g. unions, employer groups, industry councils, citizens' groups, government agencies)

1. What roles do they play?

1. Are equity issues monitored?

1. Are community standards at issue?

Regulations/Legality

1. Are there any legal constraints on the materials or content of the product?

1. Are censorship issues involved?

1. Are copyright issues involved?

document revised 20 Nov 2005
Lessons created by Nancy Faraday and posted on this site are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.