The Media Case Study By Dylan Mooney & Chloe Malone Understanding the creative media Sector/ Communication skills Task 1 Dylan Mooney TV Name Audience Size Owner Location Market Share RTE 1 86.9% State Owned Donnybrook 17.8% Dublin RTE 2 83.4% State Owned Donnybrook 5.35% Dublin RTEjr 14.6% State Owned Donnybrook 0.74% Dublin Tv3 82.0% Virgin Media Ballymount 7.64% (Liberty Global) Dublin 3e 68.1% Virgin Media Ballymount 2.32% (Liberty Global) Dublin UTV Ireland 68.9% Virgin Media Macken House, 5.96% (Liberty Global) Dublin 1 Understanding Media MND Page 1 Understanding Media MND Page 2 Radio Station Audience Size Owner Location Rte Radio 1 28% State Owned Donnybrook Dublin Fm 104 17% Wireless Group Macken House, Dublin1 Newstalk 14% Communicorp Marconi House, Dublin 2 Spin 1038 13% Communicorp The Malthouse, Dublin 2 98Fm 11% Communicorp The Malthouse, Dublin 2 Q102 7% Wireless Group 39-40 Mayor Street Upper, Dublin 1 Today Fm 7% Communicorp Marconi House, Dublin 2 Sunshine 106.8 5% Star Broadcasting ltd Castleforbes House, Dublin 1 RTE 2Fm 5% State Owned Donnybrook Dublin Radio Nova 5% Bay Broadcasting Castleforbes House, ltd/Choice Dublin 1 Broadcasting ltd/Star broadcasting ltd Classic Hits 4fm 3% Bay Broadcasting ltd Castleforbes House, Dublin 1 Understanding Media MND Page 3 Print Name Audience Size % Owner Location Irish Independent 14.1% Independent News & Independent House, Media 27-32 Talbot Street, Dublin 1 The Irish Times 8.8% Irish Times Trust 28 Tara Street, Dublin2 The Examiner 5.4% Landmark Media Blackpool, Cork Investments Irish Daily Star 8.6% Independent News & The independent Media and Northern House, Talbot Street, & Shell Dublin 1 Irish Daily Mirror 5.3% Trinity Mirror Park House, North Circular Road, Dublin 7 Understanding Media MND Page 4 Online Newspaper Name Audience Size % Owner Location Irish Independent 6.6% Independent News & Independent House, Online Media 27-32 Talbot Street, Dublin 1 The Irish Times 4.4% Irish Times Trust 28 Tara Street, Online Dublin2 The Examiner Online 1.4% Landmark Media Blackpool, Cork Investments Irish Daily Star 0.5% Independent News & The independent Online Media and Northern House, Talbot Street, & Shell Dublin 1 Irish Daily Mirror 1.4% Trinity Mirror Park House, North Online Circular Road, Dublin 7 Understanding Media MND Page 5 Marketing & Advertising Name Clients Location i-Believe Irish Triathlon 39 Clarendon Street, Dublin 2 BikeRader Runireland.com Focus Advertising Ltd. Luas Cross City The Warehouse, Mt Eden Road, Dublin 4 Leap Card Intel ican Dublin Horse Show 2-4, Ely Place, Dublin Tesco Temple Street Permanent TSB Understanding Media MND Page 6 Task 2 Chloe Malone Ownership As with many industries, competition and ownership are controlled by law as well as code. This is aimed to avoid the scenario where one group or individual holds a dominant position within an industry. Ownership is the act, state or right of owning something. The person who has ownership over the thing in question therefore has full right to make decisions about the use of the thing. Media ownership in Ireland is governed by the competition acts, regulatory bodies and voluntary codes of practice. State Ownership: State ownership is companies owned by the people who have shares. They are usually held by the relevant minister. They are not commercially funded. A lot of its funding comes from the tax payer. eg RTÉ Private Ownership: Private ownership can be commercial or non profit making. Shares are held by individuals or corporations. They are more interested in satisfying the company shareholders than the public. There are also more varied channel choices. Eg TV3 Market Consolidation: Market consolidation is where a small number of large media groups buy up as many media assets as they can which provides them with both market share and economies of scale. Cross Media Operation: Cross media operations can operate across a number of different media. The company would have a lot more purchasing power which in time will reduce production costs. An example would be a radio station buying a local newspaper or TV broadcaster. Understanding Media MND Page 7 TV Radio Print State RTÉ One RTÉ Radio 1 - Ownership RTÉ One+1 RTÉ Lyric FM - RTÉ2 RTÉ 2FM RTÉ Raidio na Gaeltachta RTÉ Junior RTÉ Pulse Private TV3 98FM, Irish Ownership 3e Spin 1038 Independent UTV Ireland Today FM Sunday -(all owned by Newstalk Independent Virgin Media -(owned by The Herald Ireland) Communicorp) Sunday World TG4 –(owned Dublin’s Q102 The Star by Teilifís na FM104 -(owned by Gaeilge) -(owned by Wireless INM) Group[News Corp]) • RTÉ: is a semi-state company and national broadcaster for Ireland. • Director General: Dee Forbes • Chair of Board: Moya Doherty Understanding Media MND Page 8 • Virgin Media Ireland: is Liberty Global’s telecommunications operation in Ireland. • CEO: Michael Fries • Founder: John C. Malone • Communicorp: is a media holding quarter with its headquarters based in Ireland. • CEO: Gervaise Slowey • Founder: Denis O’Brien • News Corp: is an American multinational mass media company. • CEO: Robert James Thomson • Founder: Rupert Murdoch • INM: Independent News and Media is a media organisation with assets in 22 different countries. Its headquarters are in Dublin. • CEO: Robert Pitt • Founder: William Martin Murphy • Owner: Denis O’Brien Understanding Media MND Page 9 Regulation: Media regulation is the control or guidance of mass media by governments and other bodies. This regulation can be split into two categories – statutory and voluntary. 1. Statutory regulation is operated with Legal Protection under a governing council. 2. Voluntary regulation involves an independent regulatory body and normally deals with codes of conduct, ethics and practice. • Broadcasting in Ireland is regulated by the Broadcasting Acts 2009, overseen by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI). The BAI have applied several broadcasting codes of practice and standards to hold broadcasters accountable to. • Print media is less regulated but still operates under the Defamation Acts and the office of the Press Ombudsman. Any complaints regarding material broadcast will be dealt with by The Broadcasting Complaints Commission (BCC). This is also part of the BAI. Advertisers on any form of media are voluntarily supervised by the Advertising Standards Authority Ireland (ASAI). • Online media is regulated by statutory as well as voluntary members of groups like the Press Council. Understanding Media MND Page 10 TASK 3 Chloe Malone Defamation in Ireland Defamation: A defamatory statement is one which tends to injure a person’s reputation in the eyes of reasonable member of society. – As said on www.lawyer.ie Traditionally, defamation was divided into two forms. There was libel and slander. Libel was the written form while slander was the spoken form. Today, because of modern technology, all defamatory statements are regarded as libellous rather than slanderous. The 2009 Act abolishes the torts libel and slander and replaces them with the “Torts of Defamation”. The torts of defamation are 3 ingredients. 1. Has to be published. 2. Must refer to the complainant 3. It must be false. Something can only be deemed as defamatory is published. In order to prove publication, only one person has to show proof of the publication and that his/her opinion was lowered as a result. A defamatory statement does not necessarily have to name someone. It can suggest a person(s) by their profession, location or connections. If one person gives enough evidence that he/she recognises the complainant by image or description that is enough to be deemed a defamatory statement. If a statement is privileged, the potential plaintiff has no cause of action. There are two types of privilege: absolute privilege and qualified privilege. Absolute privilege means the intentions of the publisher are irrelevant. Understanding Media MND Page 11 Qualified privilege is free communication in certain relationships without the risk of defamation. This is generally where the person giving the statement has the legal, moral or social duty to give it while the other person has interest in receiving it. Defamation Act 2009 • The distinction between libel and slander is now abolished. They are now replaced by “Torts of Defamation”. • The tort of defamation involves the publishing of a defamatory statement. • The Circuit Court received enhanced jurisdiction in relation to defamation claims. They can award up to €50,000 in damages in defamation cases. Broadcasting Regulations The Broadcasting Act 2009 sets the regulatory structure for broadcasting services in Ireland. It secures all Irish broadcasting content related legislation in a single act (as stated on the BAI website). The Act provides provisions in relation to: • Board Appointments • Broadcasting standards • Complaints and the Right of Reply • Commercial and community broadcasters • Public service broadcasters • TV Licence • Broadcasting Fund Understanding Media MND Page 12 Gender Imbalance • As stated on: http://eige.europa.eu/gender-mainstreaming/resources/malta/guidelines-gender- equality-and-gender-portrayal-broadcasting-media Television and radio stations should increase the participation and involvement of both sexes in broadcasting as producers or decision-makers in the industry. Men and women should have the same responsibilities in the broadcasting industry. Broadcasters should ensure both sexes have the same access to all areas and levels of the broadcasting media. Broadcasting companies should recruit a gender-balanced staff. Broadcasting organizations should adopt an equality policy and a structure for the employment of both sexes in key sectors and in managerial level. Political Impartiality • According to: http://www.unav.es/fcom/communication-society/en/articulo.php?art_id=356 a) Regulation: to establish whether the news coverage that broadcasters give to political actors in their news programmes is subject to any kind of regulation and, if so, to what type of regulation and on the basis of what criteria. In other words, the study examines the legal contexts, the legal frameworks and the protection mechanisms in place.