Mass Media: Who Owns the UK Media?

Reasonably through and up-to-date information about UK Media Ownership is always a useful resource and this publication, Who Owns the UK Media?, from Media Reform UK (a Pressure Group that promotes reform of UK Media (there’s probably a clue in the name) is something Media Sociology teachers should find helpful for a couple of reasons:

Firstly,  because it’s only a couple of years old (published in 2019).

Secondly because it covers a wide range of online and offline media in some detail (including information on things like readership / viewership, income and the like).

Equally-usefully, this is a revised and updated version of the original 2015 Ownership Report which means it’s possible to track and compare changes in economic ownership over the past 5 or so years in relation to:

UK National Newspapers (offline and online versions)

UK Local Newspapers

The New Digital Journalism

New Media Platforms and Intermediaries (e.g. Facebook, Twitter)

Share of UK Search

Social Media and News Consumption

UK Terrestrial TV

UK Subscription Video-On-Demand

Radio (Analogues and Digital) and Podcasting.

In addition, there’s a 30-second video explainer (Who Owns the UK Media?) that accompanies the Report.

There are further Reports available on the website that might be useful for A-level Sociology on different aspects of Media Ownership and Negative Agenda Setting in the Press constructed around an analysis of how Jeremy Corbyn’s first week as Labour Leader was reported by the UK Press.

The latter is not just useful as a contemporary piece to illustrate something like Hall’s concept of media Agenda Setting; it also includes extensive Content Analysis that can be linked to media research methods.