Life After the Bubble: Web 2.02 economic advantages:1) because most of their content was created by users, the sites production costs were lower2) the sites could generate page views more efficiently than traditional content sitesHow the Internet has improved News and InformationMore diversity and choiceGreater depth (finding the raw materials rather than just seeing the written article, etc.)More diversity in commentary analysisEnabling citizen engagement (getting more people involved in production process and then many people reacting to content)Speed and easeCheaper and content distributionCheaper content creationHow and Where the Internet Has Fallen Short1) abundance of voices does not necessarily mean abundance of journalism2) disappointing track record for local, online, labor- intensive accountability journalismWhy has the Internet not filled the reporting Gaps Left by Newspapers?1) consumer choice2) free riding3) ad rates down4) advertising less dependent on content***ads today are LESS relevant on content----- ads are based on algorithms (google, other tracking functions)Free speech and the InternetStop online Piracy Act (SOPA): to shutdown sites that supported piracy of internetLimewireCoordinating efforts last year to fight the proposed stop online piracy act changed the face of the internet for a dayLocal legal restrictions are no longer localSpeech ChokepointsSpeech on the internet goes through a series of intermediates to reach its audience, each one vulnerable to pressure from people who want to silence the speaker4 Intermediates Speech goes through to reach its audience1) webhosting services2) search engines3) payment service providers4) third party platformsSearch EnginesMagnets for censorshipSome authoritarian governments block entire search engines or force them to blacklist certain queriesTop 3 search engines: Google, Yahoo!, bingIn 2005 China locked someone up for trying to break Yahoo!** Google and China have set trapserror messaged- “404 not found” when you click on a broken link451 code was intersected by gov; it wasn’t just info not receivedPayment Service ProvidersMake it possible for users to send and receive payments online, bridging the gaps between senders, financial institutions and receiversGovernment and private acts can pressure payment providers to cut off a speaker’s means of financial supportEx: wikileaks and paypalThird Party PlatformsFor many people, these are their principle means of online communicationPeople are storing lots of private data on themParadox of resources and incentivesGoogle transparency reportRight to be forgotten; ex: FacebookLaw enforcements want to track them downDangerous to useWe’re seeing a dramatic increase in use of our stored info onlineRight to be forgotten: would create legal right to go to third party platform and demand them to remove/ take down info of youEurope is trying to get it to where you hold the eraser and can delete pics and info of you online that other people have if you don’t like itYou’re allowed by 1st amendment to videotape police action in publicMedia EconomicsThe Commercial MediaIn the U.S. we’ve developed a market- based approachOne reason: independenceGovernment control of media could threaten independenceGovernment shouldn’t interfere w/ entrepreneurs*** Central tension is between the entertainment (what we want) and the public content (need to know)Who owns the Media?Vast majority of news media in the U.S. are commercially owned, meaning they are for- profit businessesMass communication is conducted by and through businesses that are owned by individuals, families, groups, etc. through stocks and mutual fundsHandful of corporations owns the majority of broadcasting and cable companies, and a few newspaper chains own nearly a majority of the nation’s newspapersMedia Ownership: whether an individual, a corporation that issues stock, or the government- has a big impact on how the media operate, particularly the kind of content an outlet produces as well as expectations about how much profit the outlet is expected to make.Concentration of OwnershipWhen ownership only rests in a few handsMain advantages from the owner’s perspective:Dealing with a relatively small number of competitors, which means they get a larger chunk of profitsDisadvantages for the Consumers:With fewer competition, it gives these companies little reason to keep their prices lowHorizontal and Vertical IntegrationConcentration offers opportunities for horizontal and vertical integrationHorizontal: a media corporation owns a variety of media products or outletsCross- promoting: promoting media products through a corporations owned companiesVertical: a media corporation owns companies involved in different phases of the media- production processes (creating, distributing them, etc.)Owns different types of companiesA media corporation can be horizontally and vertically integrated at the same time**benefits: economy is in scale with efficiencyIntegration: how the many businesses within a media conglomerate work together to create advantages within a market segmentDual- Product ModelMedia companies are really selling 2 productsFirst is content, which is sold to viewersThe second is the viewers attention, which is sold to advertisersEx: McDonalds pays big money on advertisements to catch attention which means the viewers eyeballs are the productIn that model, advertisers truly pay the bills because media companies make more money from ads than they do by charging consumers for contentBecause the owners are inclined to be the most responsive to the demands of shareholders, they also are inclined to be more most responsive to the advertisers who help them meet those demands.Therefore, the advertisers have quite a lot of say in the eyeballs they want to buy, which in turn, influences the content produced to attract those eyeballs.Notes- Ch.4:Radio DebateIn the U.S., the “market” group argued that government in control of media threatened independence and the government had had no business interfering with or depriving entrepreneurs from creating a vibrant broadcasting industryAdvantage: government cant control information people are gettingIn the UK, what we might call the “public sphere” argued that leaving mass communication to market forces would not serve the industry at all because the media would be so busy meeting demands of business that it would not be able to focus on public service