Cambridge A-Level Sociology: Media Ownership, Control and the New Media — Revision Notes (9699)

These notes condense heading 9 Ownership and control of media from Cambridge International A Level Sociology (9699) Paper 4. The central debate is whether media content reflects audience choice (pluralism) or the interests of a powerful few (Marxism and neo-Marxism), and whether the new media have changed that balance. Expect 35-mark essays asking you to evaluate one theory or one claim about the new media.

Full explanations: media ownership and control study guide.

Syllabus coverage

9699 (2024–2026) Paper 4 Section B, heading 9: 9.1 Traditional media and the new media; 9.2 Theories of the media and influences on media content; 9.3 The impact of the new media.

Key terms

Term	Definition
Media conglomerate	Large corporation owning many media (and often non-media) businesses
Cross-media ownership	Owning different media types (press, TV, online)
Digitalisation	Conversion of content into digital form
Convergence	Merging of media technologies and content on one platform (Jenkins, 2006)
Gatekeeping	Editors deciding what becomes news
News values	Criteria that make events newsworthy (Galtung and Ruge, 1965)
Agenda setting	Media influence on what issues people think about (McCombs and Shaw, 1972)
Hegemony	Dominance of ruling-class ideas through consent (Gramsci)
Hyperreality	Media images become more real than reality (Baudrillard)
Censorship	Restriction of content by state, law, owners or self-censorship
Digital optimism / pessimism	Positive / negative evaluations of the new media’s impact
Filter bubble	Algorithmic personalisation limiting exposure to other views (Pariser, 2011)

9.1 Trends and traditional versus new media

• Trends: cross-media ownership, conglomerates (Bagdikian, The Media Monopoly, 1983), digitalisation, social media.
• Traditional: one-to-many, professional, linear, national. New: interactive, user-generated, on demand, global.
• Undermined? Falling print and scheduled TV audiences and advertising shift vs continuing trust in established brands and new-media concentration in a few corporations.

9.2 Theories compared

Theory	Who controls content?	Evidence	Weakness
Pluralism	Audiences, through market choice; independent journalists	Diversity of outlets; regulation; public-service broadcasting	Ignores concentration; audiences choose from limited menu
Instrumental Marxism	Owners, deliberately (mass manipulation)	Miliband (1969); Herman and Chomsky’s five filters (1988)	Underplays journalists’ autonomy and audience resistance
Neo-Marxism / hegemonic	Shared middle-class assumptions of journalists	Glasgow University Media Group, Bad News (1976); Hall	Hard to prove; may underplay owner influence
Postmodernism	No single source; fragmented audiences create meaning	Baudrillard (1981) hyperreality	Neglects economic power

Influences on news: news values; gatekeepers; commercial pressure and advertisers; owners; official and PR sources; deadlines and budgets; censorship and self-censorship.

Political process: agenda setting (McCombs and Shaw); opinion polls (bandwagon/underdog); framing in news reporting; targeted social-media campaigns (Cambridge Analytica, 2018).

9.3 The new media

Optimist claim	Pessimist reply
Speeds globalisation and connection (Castells, 1996)	Spreads Western corporate culture and misinformation
Challenges power: citizen journalism, Arab Spring (2010–2011)	States use it for surveillance (Morozov, 2011)
Participation and choice (Jenkins, 2006)	Amateurism and declining quality (Keen, 2007)
Diverse information	Filter bubbles (Pariser, 2011); surveillance capitalism (Zuboff, 2019)
Identity experimentation; maintaining ties (boyd, 2014)	Weaker intimacy (Turkle, 2011)

Worked essay plan

Practice question: “Media content reflects the interests of media owners.” Evaluate this view. [35]

1. Introduce trends towards conglomerates and cross-media ownership.
2. Instrumental Marxist support: Miliband; Herman and Chomsky’s filters.
3. Neo-Marxist refinement: hegemony through journalists’ shared assumptions (GUMG).
4. Pluralist challenge: audience choice, regulation, professional values.
5. New-media challenge: user-generated content and citizen journalism — but platforms are themselves conglomerates.
6. Postmodern angle: audiences interpret content in many ways.
7. Judgement: owners shape the boundaries of content; day-to-day content reflects several influences.

Model evaluation paragraph

On the pluralist view: “Pluralists are right that audiences can now choose from more outlets than ever, and the new media let ordinary users publish content. However, choice is exercised within a market dominated by a small number of conglomerates, and Herman and Chomsky’s filters suggest that advertising and reliance on official sources narrow the range of views that reach mainstream news. Neo-Marxists add that this narrowing happens without owners giving orders, through journalists’ shared assumptions. Pluralism therefore describes the variety of media products better than it explains the limits on what they say.”

The paragraph uses three theories, applies them to the new media and ends with a judgement — the pattern examiners reward with AO3 marks.

Common mistakes and exam traps

• Confusing instrumental Marxism (owners direct) with hegemonic Marxism (shared ideology).
• Describing news values without linking them to who controls content.
• Treating new media as automatically democratic — the syllabus asks for optimism versus pessimism.
• Forgetting censorship and the political process bullets in 9.2.
• Using only one country’s media; apply examples from more than one society where you can.

Quick self-test

1. Name Herman and Chomsky’s five filters.
2. What did McCombs and Shaw find?
3. Give one difference between traditional and new media.
4. Define hegemony.
5. Give one digital pessimist argument and its author.

Frequently asked questions

Which theory should my conclusion favour? Any, if justified. A common, defensible conclusion is that owners set limits while professional, commercial and audience factors shape daily content.

Are news values a pluralist or Marxist idea? They can support either: pluralists see them as audience-driven, while critics say they systematically favour elites.

Does 9.3 overlap with globalisation? Yes — the syllabus explicitly asks how the new media contribute to globalisation, so links to heading 7 are credited.

Related pages: media ownership and control practice questions | media representation and effects revision notes