“Show me the money!” a famous quote that could easy explain the purpose/drive of every business in the world right now. It’s all about the money. Media is not an exception to that rule. Media is driven by advertising or sales, as the book outlines it on page 54. The dependency of media on economics is due to the fact that media is driven by sales and contributions by sponsors or advertising. If the economy is bad and there is a lack of cash, media is suffering as well. Also media chains are an important aspect of the economy. Conglomeration, process of companies being under one large ownership but still saying separate entities (pg. 56), is a perfect example of that. If sponsorship for the company decreases that means each entity will be affected, some more than others depending on the executive board’s decision. An interesting part of media’s economics is the nonprofits. The Associated Press is a global newsgathering organization (pg. 60). The AP sells pictures, news stories and such in order to meet the expenses of the business. The struggle of media to make profit and cover all expenses rises the question of the government’s role. If the government owned media, just like the government owns public schools and parks, would the media be biased more than it already is? That’s a debate that has been going on for awhile and charters such as BBC are examples of how government could fund media but still stay out of the content shown.
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