Page 128 - Critical Political Economy of the Media

Concentration and commercialisation 107

the distribution and marketing of counter-cultural works such as Michael
Moore’s documentary films. For McNair (2006: 49) this demonstrates the success
of market capitalism against socialist mutations, and the pertinence of a ‘chaos’
paradigm in place of a ‘control’ one (although control remains an ‘aspiration’ of
elites). For McChesney (2003: 34), by contrast:

[t]he global commercial media system is radical in that it respects no tradition,
or custom, on balance, if it stands in the way of profits. But ultimately it is
politically conservative, because the media giants are significant beneficiaries
of the current social structure around the world, and any upheaval in
property or social relations – particularly to the extent that it reduces the
power of business – is not in their interest.

The best response, arguably, is not to deny the openness, and contradictions,
within communication systems but rather to assess their tendencies and investigate
their boundaries, both material and symbolic, for content creation and exchange.
Diversity concerns are increasingly met by arguments that media diversity has
increased; digital expansion overcomes scarcity, while new media represent a
shift from corporate control to user empowerment. The next chapter considers
these claims and their implications. Conclusions about the problems of ownership
will be deferred until we have further considered arguments that the Inter-
netisation of media and communications has fundamentally recast the problems
of scarcity, ownership and concentration.

Note
1 This managerial thesis reinterpreted a more critical account of the separation of
ownership and control by Berle and Means (1932); see Mizruchi (2004).