Anthony Weymouth - Markets and Myths: Forces For Change In the European Media

First published 1996 by Pearson Education Limited
Second impression 1999

Published 2013 by Routledge
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Copyright 1996, Taylor & Francis.

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ISBN 13: 978-0-582-27565-2 (pbk)

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Markets and myths : forces for change in the media of Western Europe /

[edited by] Tony Weymouth

p. cm.

Discusses media in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-582-27565-2
1. Mass mediaEurope, WesternHistory20th century.

I. Weymouth, Tony, 1938
P92.E9M37 1996
302.23094dc20

95-47529
CIP

Set by 5 in 10/11 pt Palatino

The volume of analysis and comment undertaken in Media Studies in the second half of this century has been, by any standard, formidable. This is hardly surprising. In a century marked by the clash of ideologies and the cataclysmic tragedy of the Second World War, the battle of words, and through them for hearts and minds, has never been more intense, and the power of the media never more appreciated.

Universal access to information is one of the keystones of all stable and mature democracies. If language is the social phenomenon by which information is carried, then the media (the written press, radio, television and telecommunications) are the gates through which it flows. Small wonder, then, that the integrity, motivation and behaviour of the gatekeepers (the media conglomerates, the broadcasters and others) should be the objects of the close attention of all those for whom the maintenance of democratic values is a passionate imperative. By the act of bringing information to the people, and through the attitudes which they bring to this task, the media often claim to be acting in the public interest, and by so doing, upholding the most basic principles which underpin democracy in Western Europe. However, the socio-economic changes which have taken place since 1945, not just in Western Europe but on a more global scale, have given rise to concerns relating to the function as well as to the quality of media performance, and no more so than in the last two decades of the twentieth century.

The general aim of this book is to make a highly complex process of media development accessible to readers from a range of disciplinary backgrounds who are approaching the study of the media in Western Europe for the first time. This task is not without its problems. Such is the volume and complexity of current research in this area that students risk becoming so lost in the detail that they fail to see the significance of the picture overall. We overcome this danger in is essentially the story of transition from one phase of media development to another, characterised, above all, by the emergence of market forces as significant new players in the public sphere.

Against this explanatory backdrop of , the principal landmarks of media development for their own particular country. They also analyse these trends and assess their significance for the future direction that their own national media will take. Their accounts are of interest not just from the point of view of the different national perspectives, particular problems and attitudes which they bring to the task, but also because of the emerging picture wherein certain common and, to some extent, disquieting and controversial features can be perceived.

One of the specific aims of this book is to examine both the implications of the changes occurring in the media, as well as the concerns which accompany them, in order to ascertain the direction in which the Western European media in general is heading. An interesting question, in this respect, relates to the present and future role of the media in representing (or mediating) a new concept of a more unified Western Europe to the citizens of the European Union. This issue is addressed principally in . In this final chapter we also examine the related questions of the future of public service broadcasting in Europe, as well as the direction that future policy-making may take.

Our investigation is on a limited scale. We confine ourselves to examining the media of five countries Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain and thus our references to Western Europe and sometimes to Europe, even, draw heavily upon the media development in those countries alone. We believe, however, that the trends revealed from this study have a more universal significance which extends beyond the frontiers of the countries examined. This book is an essential starting-point for students in Media Studies, Politics, History, Cultural Studies and Modern Languages (the list is not exhaustive) who wish to understand the role of the media in its current state of transition. Indeed, it goes further than that, and points to the likely significance of these changes, not just for the media but also for the people whom they serve, and for the future of the wider concept of European Union to which a large part of the old Continent is committed.

We wish to express our gratitude to the many people who have assisted in the preparation of this book. We are particularly indebted to Granville Williams, Michael Bromley, Gordon Parsons and Christopher Williams for their comments and helpful suggestions for improving the text. Naturally, we accept responsibility for any of its shortcomings.

The University of Central Lancashire,
Preston, England.
The University of Avignon,
France.
14 August 1995

We are grateful to the following for permission to reproduce copyright material:

II Sole 24 Ore for the figure Berlusconis Fininvest empire; Radio Advertising Handbook for the figures Current share of radio listening, Radio advertising revenue 1980-93 ( million), The Development of commercial radio in the UK and The audience share in the UK; The Independent for the figure The ITV Franchises 1991; Le Monde for the figure TV Audience Share (1995); Fundesco and OJD for the figures, The development of the daily written press in Spain and Index of press distribution in the European Community from Comunicacin Social, 1993 ; Nielsen Repress for the figure Advertising investment in the Media in 1993 from the Anuario de Publicidad, 1994; The European Institute for the Media for the tables, Process of media concentration and diversification and Daily newspaper circulation in Europe in Snchez-Taberneros Media Concentration in Europe, 1992; Documentation Franaise for the tables Ten leading dailies in France, 1992, Decline of national and regional titles and trends towards press concentration 1914-1990 and French audience share(%) in 1994; Cable and Satellite Europe for Cable and satellite penetration in Western Europe in 1995; Media Perspektiven for the use of the table Overview of the written daily press in Germany by Walter J. Schultz, the tables Popular Magazines: developments in the circulation of major publishers, Bertelsmann/Gruner + Jahr: popular magazines published abroad, Burda: popular magazines published abroad, Springer: popular magazines published abroad and Bauer: popular magazines published abroad by Horst Roper, the tables TV advertising turnover 1980-93, Overall % share in the TV advertising market 1989-93, Shares in national TV companies 1994 as % and The 50 most important daily newspapers in the EC (1991-2) by Jurgen Heinrich; Media Key for the tables Advertising share of principal agencies for magazine market (%), Total media share of publicity revenue (%), Total share of television advertising market (%), Radio: market share of principal broadcasters (%) and Revenue derived from advertising, licence fees and direct sales (written press only) of the principal media organisations (in billion lira) 1993; Blackwell publishers for the use of a quote from The Transformation of the Public Sphere by Jurgan Habermas; John Libbey and Company for a quote from Broadcasting and Policy in the European Single Market by R. Collins; Routledge for quotes from Freedom without Responsibility by J Curran and A Seaton, and from Life and Times of Post-modernity by K Tester. All rights reserved.