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

Who owns and controls the media, and does it matter? Syllabus heading 9 of Cambridge International A Level Sociology (9699), Ownership and control of media, is the first half of Paper 4’s Media section. It covers trends in media organisation and the difference between traditional and new media (9.1), competing theories of what shapes media content (9.2), and the impact of the new media on power, globalisation and relationships (9.3). Essays are worth 35 marks and must weigh pluralist against Marxist and postmodern views.

This guide sits under the Paper 4 overview guide. Representation and effects (heading 10) are covered in the media representation and effects guide.

Syllabus coverage

Cambridge International AS & A Level Sociology 9699 (2024–2026), Paper 4 Section B, heading 9:

• 9.1 Traditional media and the new media — trends including cross-media ownership, digitalisation, media conglomerates and social media; debates about who controls the media; differences between traditional and new media; whether traditional media has been undermined by new media.
• 9.2 Theories of the media and influences on media content — pluralist theories; Marxist and neo-Marxist theories; factors influencing selection and presentation of news; mass manipulation and hegemony; the postmodernist contribution; censorship; how the media may influence the political process (agenda setting, opinion polls, news reporting).
• 9.3 The impact of the new media — contribution to globalisation; challenge to existing power structures; digital optimism versus digital pessimism; impact on social identities and interpersonal relationships.

What trends are changing media organisation?

Trend	Meaning	Example of significance
Cross-media ownership	One company owning different types of media (press, TV, film, online)	Concentrates influence across formats
Media conglomerates	Very large corporations with many media and non-media interests	Ben Bagdikian’s The Media Monopoly (first edition 1983) tracked shrinking numbers of controlling corporations in the USA
Digitalisation	Conversion of all content to digital form	Allows convergence — one device carries news, film, music and communication (Henry Jenkins, Convergence Culture, 2006)
Social media	Platforms where users create and share content	Shifts some gatekeeping power from editors to algorithms and users

How do traditional and new media differ?

Traditional media	New media
One-to-many broadcasting	Many-to-many, interactive
Professional producers, editorial gatekeepers	User-generated content, algorithmic curation
Scheduled, linear	On demand, mobile, always on
National audiences and regulation	Global reach; harder to regulate
High entry cost	Low entry cost for producers

Has traditional media been undermined? Newspaper circulation and scheduled TV audiences have fallen and advertising has moved online. Yet traditional organisations remain trusted sources, many of the most-shared online stories originate from them, and the largest new-media firms are themselves conglomerates — so concentration of ownership may have moved rather than disappeared.

Who controls the media? The main theories

Pluralism. Society contains many competing groups, and the media market reflects them. Consumers choose, so owners must give audiences what they want; professional journalists value independence; regulation and public-service broadcasting protect balance. Criticism: ownership is highly concentrated and audiences can only choose from what is offered.

Traditional (instrumental) Marxism. Owners use the media to spread ruling-class ideology. Ralph Miliband (The State in Capitalist Society, 1969) saw the media as a tool for legitimising capitalism. Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky’s propaganda model (Manufacturing Consent, 1988) identified five “filters” — ownership, advertising, reliance on official sources, “flak” and anti-communism — that shape US news. This is the mass manipulation model.

Neo-Marxism (hegemonic model). Drawing on Gramsci’s idea of hegemony, the Glasgow University Media Group (Bad News, 1976) argued that ruling-class ideas dominate because journalists, mostly from middle-class backgrounds, share a common-sense view of the world — not because owners give orders. Stuart Hall’s work at the Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies developed this approach.

Postmodernism. Jean Baudrillard (Simulacra and Simulation, 1981) argued that media images have become hyperreal — more real to us than reality. Postmodernists see media-saturated societies with fragmented audiences who create their own meanings, making single-source control less meaningful. Criticism: this underplays the economic power of media corporations.

What influences the selection and presentation of news?

• News values — Johan Galtung and Mari Ruge (1965) identified criteria such as negativity, elite persons, unexpectedness and proximity that make an event “newsworthy”.
• Gatekeeping and agenda-setting by editors.
• Commercial pressures — advertising and the need for audiences; competition for clicks.
• Owners’ influence — direct or indirect.
• Sources — reliance on official spokespeople and public-relations material.
• Practical constraints — deadlines, budgets, location of journalists.
• Censorship — formal state censorship, legal limits (defamation, national security), regulation, and self-censorship by journalists who anticipate owners’ or advertisers’ views.

How might the media influence the political process?

• Agenda setting — Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw’s study of the 1968 US presidential election (published 1972) found that issues the media emphasised were the issues voters rated most important: the media tell people what to think about.
• Opinion polls — published polls can create bandwagon or underdog effects and shape coverage.
• News reporting — framing, bias and personalisation of politics.
• Social media — targeted political advertising; the Cambridge Analytica scandal (2018) raised concern about the use of personal data to influence voters.

What is the impact of the new media?

On globalisation: new media speed up global communication, allowing instant global audiences, global brands and diaspora connections (Manuel Castells, The Rise of the Network Society, 1996).

As a challenge to power: citizen journalism and social media can bypass gatekeepers, expose abuses and help organise protest (for example during the Arab Spring, 2010–2011).

Digital optimism versus digital pessimism:

Digital optimists	Digital pessimists
More choice, participation and access to information (Jenkins, 2006)	Andrew Keen, The Cult of the Amateur (2007): quality and expertise undermined
Empowerment of marginal groups	Evgeny Morozov, The Net Delusion (2011): authoritarian states use the internet for surveillance and propaganda
Networked social movements	Eli Pariser, The Filter Bubble (2011): algorithms show us what we already agree with
Global knowledge sharing	Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism (2019): personal data turned into profit

On identities and relationships: new media allow people to experiment with and display identities and to maintain long-distance ties. Sherry Turkle’s Alone Together (2011) argued constant connection can weaken face-to-face intimacy, whereas danah boyd’s It’s Complicated (2014) found that teenagers used social media to extend, not replace, their social lives.

Frequently asked questions

Is pluralism or Marxism more convincing? Many sociologists take a middle view: ownership is concentrated, but journalists, regulation and audiences limit owners’ control. Use evidence to justify your position.

What is the difference between manipulation and hegemony? Manipulation is deliberate control by owners; hegemony is dominance of ruling-class ideas through shared assumptions, without direct orders.

Does the new media make Marxist theory outdated? Not necessarily — the largest platforms are global corporations, so ownership concentration may simply have moved online.

Sources

• Cambridge International, Cambridge International AS & A Level Sociology 9699 syllabus for 2024, 2025 and 2026, Paper 4 Media, heading 9.
• Works are named with publication years in the text.

Related pages: media ownership and control revision notes | media ownership and control practice questions | Paper 4 revision notes