The impact of commercialisation of the media on the content of

the conglomerate-owned community newspapers in South

Africa: A study of four community newspapers from the Caxton
CTP Publishers stable.
Susan W. Mwangi
Howley (2005:140) argues that news has become a
commercial product that is shaped, packaged and
marketed with a constant eye on profits... Newspapers
are businesses dedicated to presenting information
within the parameters of profitability.
According to Williams (2003:56) Political economy sees
the content, style and form of media products, whether
news, journalism, film, advertising, drama or popular
music are shaped by structural features such as
ownership, advertising and audience spending. This
approach views the media as industries and businesses whose
production is geared towards the making of profit. Whatever
sells the most and realizes the most profits and this is the
major determinant of what is produced. The approach
emphasises the media as industries and businesses. Their
organisation, operation and their production are shaped and
determined by economic considerations and their attendant
political aspects. Williams (2003:75) has referred to this
phenomenon as the prostitution of the press
Market-driven journalism theories focus on the economic
and market variables at work in the media environment. They
deal with how these factors play themselves out in shaping
media output. Ross (1997:4) defines commercialisation of
the press as the drifting of ultimate control into the
hands of men with business motives. According to
McManus (1994:197) commercialisation analyses news as a
commodity in which normative journalism ideals take a
back seat in subordination to market-driven journalism.
He further argues that market-driven values and
journalism cannot co-exist they are, in his opinion,
mutually exclusive.

As McManus (1994:1) observes growing commercialisation

of journalism views news as the product, the readers or
viewers as the customer, while the circulation or
signal area as the market. As business logic permeates
the newsroom, journalism is crafted to serve the market.
He argues that media are increasingly being run like businesses
whose aims are to maximize their streams of revenue.
Bagidikian (2004:247) points out that some newspapers
make 80% of their revenues from advertisements and devote
about 65% of their space to them. The free-sheets on the other
hand, rely more heavily on the advertising revenues. Hadland
(2005:13) sees commercialisation as threatening the bounds of
editorial independence. This may lead to the suppression of
negative news or advertiser aggravating content, as the old
adage goes, he who pays the piper calls the tune. He
further argues that if advertising underwrites a publications
operations and determines its profitability, then media focus
and loyalty ceases to be the readers and becomes the
advertisers.
According to Gillmor (2004:24) market-driven journalism
delineates the limits and the extent to which the media can be
open to dissident voices and encourage genuine debate. In the
absence of solid, in-depth information, the communitys
chain of voices is broken and the readers become a
mass of shallow citizenry who can be turned into a
dangerous mob more easily than an informed one.
Bagdikian (2004:247) notes that market-driven journalism
gathers an audience, not to inform it, but to sell it to
advertisers.
In the absence of normative journalism, McManus
(1994:191) sees society as suffering from more than just
a shortage of useful information - information
poverty, but even worse, he sees the community as being
misled. Junk journalism, he argues, distorts news as it omits
newsworthy information and includes what is nonnewsworthy.
Media proliferation has been seen as presenting a
chance for previously media-deprived communities to

receive news. McManus (1994:2) has also argued that market

forces can be a mixed blessing which possesses the potential to
re-invigorate journalism that was previously too serious,
sanctimonious and often plain boring
CONCLUSION NG STUDY
AGREE SIYA SA SINABI NI:
Howleys (2005:140) view that news has become a
commercial product that is shaped, packaged and
marketed with a constant eye on profits.
PATI DITO:
Howleys (2005:140) view that news has become a
commercial product that is shaped, packaged and
marketed with a constant eye on profits
Link sa study:

http://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/bitstre
am/handle/10539/4765/Susan
%20Mwangi%20-%20MA
%20Thesis.pdf?
sequence=7&isAllowed=y