Page 176 - Critical Political Economy of the Media

Marketing communications and media 155

consumers. Advertisers benefit from reaching more viewers; but too much
advertising (or the wrong kinds) may alienate consumers/users. Media face
pressures to balance the needs and interests of both parties.

4 Content producers: professional cultures and values

How media engage with advertisers depends not only on economic dependencies
but also on institutional arrangements and cultures influencing interactions
between actors. As studies such as Gans’s (1980) analysis of US journalism show,
staff power, professional codes and governance can counter pressures to accom-
modate advertising. Trade unions can also organise effectively, not only on
behalf of workers but in advancing wider social and cultural interests. The Writers
Guild of America has organised in opposition to product integration, in part on
the grounds of it undermining the artistic integrity of writers. Journalists have
organised on behalf of editorial integrity and PR professionals have advanced
codes on transparency and disclosure.

5 Civil society action
Consumer and citizens’ activism need civil society resources to thrive but have
had a distinguished history of interventions (Stole 2006; Mukherjee and Banet-
Weiser 2012). Long-standing forms of community action and organised lobbying
have been aided by the power of online activism. Civil society activism can
counter marketers’ power by influencing policy-makers and groups in society.

6 User activity practices and cultures
At the heart of much critical investigation of contemporary digital media is
recognition of the influence and potentialities of non-commodified creativity and
communication, together with the constraints of corporate and governmental
controls. The various cultures and practices that challenge commodification,
from piracy to gift exchanges, serve to counter advertising influence, yet they can
also be imbricated with advertising too. Independent fan websites may secure
income from advertising or media merchandise. Examining how user activity
can be a countervailing force, but often complexly implicated with commercial
communications, is one of the tasks for critical scholarship.

This mapping is designed to invite more open investigation of advertising influence
on non-advertising content and media–advertiser relationships. To examine these
factors requires a combination of quantitative measurement and qualitative assess-
ment. The radical tradition highlights key problems arising from media dependence
on advertising finance – but to investigate and challenge this persuasively we need
to examine the configuration of influences in a more dynamic and open manner;
the approach above is designed to contribute to that task.