Mass Media Corporations

Assess the view that the owners of mass media corporations control media output and serve mainly ruling-class interests. (33 marks) AO1: Knowledge and Understanding (15 marks) Lower in the band 1. students will present an answer based on very limited knowledge and understanding of the mass media and ownership issues rather than based on sociological arguments or evidence. There will be only a peripheral link to the question. At this level there will be little evidence that the student has understood either the question or the material in response to it.
At this level answers might include: • isolated or disjointed statements about ownership of different aspects of the media or • some flawed material from theories of the mass media. Higher in the band, students will present knowledge on the mass media, ownership and control that is incomplete or flawed. However, students’ understanding of both the set question and the material presented as an answer will be marginally more explicit and more sociological than those lower in the band. At this level answers might include: a very brief list of evidence relating to ownership of different aspects of the media or • incomplete or flawed accounts from theories of the mass media. 6 – 11 Answers in this band will show reasonable sociological knowledge and understanding. Lower in the band, students will present an adequate but possibly generalised or essentially descriptive and narrowly focused account of sociological knowledge on the question. There will be a fairly limited understanding of the demands of the question set.
At this level answers might include: • a brief list of factors related to ownership and/or control of different aspects of the media or • brief, descriptive and accurate accounts of one or two studies of ownership and control of the mass media or • outlines of one or two theories of the mass media, with relevance to the question left largely implicit. Higher in the band, students will present a fuller though possibly still unbalanced response to the question.

Answers may still be somewhat descriptive or narrowly focused, for instance dealing predominantly with only one perspective or one study of the media and ownership and control. At this level answers might include: • a more developed list of factors related to ownership and/or control of different aspects of the media, but with a limited theoretical structure or Sources may include: Bagdikian; Miliband; Marx; Gramsci; Doyle; Curran; Whale; Tunstall and Palmer.