Access to full-text SAGE journal articles that have been carefully selected to support and expand on the concepts presented in each chapter. Journal articles can act as an ideal resource to help support your assignments and studies.

Click on the following links, which will open in a new window.

Article 1: Cammaerts, Bart. 2011. “The hegemonic copyright regime vs the sharing copyright users of music?” Media Culture & Society. 33(3): 491-502.

No Abstract available.

1. Why does the author think there is a divide between official copyright rules and the acceptable or “normal” behavior on the part of citizens/consumers? Where does your behavior fall?
2. How is peer-to-peer sharing different from pre-digital sharing and what sorts of tactics have media companies adopted to combat it?
3. What are the arguments of the counter-voices in this debate?
4. Where does the author conclude we need to go from here? Do you agree?

Article 2: Pickard, Victor. 2011. “The battle over the FCC Blue Book: determining the role of broadcast media.” Media Culture & Society. 33(2): 171-191.

Abstract: During the 1940s a media reform movement of grassroots activists and a progressive Federal Communication Commission (FCC) emerged to challenge the commercial interests consolidating control of US media. A key initiative born out of this movement was the so-called Blue Book, a high-water mark for FCC progressive activism that mandated social responsibility obligations for broadcasters in return for their use of the public airwaves. Ultimately, red-baiting tactics defeated the policy initiatives outlined in the Blue Book and the media reform movement was largely contained. The following analysis draws from archival materials to illuminate the resulting arrangement for US broadcasters.

1. What was the FCC Blue Book and what were the historical circumstances that led to it?
2. How does the agenda surrounding the Blue Book relate to the current state of media regulation as studied in Chapter 3? What has changed since then?
3. What lessons does the author suggest the Blue Book holds about media reform?

Article 3: Cucolo, Major General Tony. 2008. “The military and the media: shotgun wedding, rocky marriage, committed relationship.” Media, War & Conflict. 1(1): 84-89.

Abstract: Major General Tony Cucolo, the US Army’s Chief of Public Affairs, discusses the war raging on the information domain that places nations at risk as much as any weapon of mass effect or mass destruction, and the critical importance of a sustained, committed relationship between the military and the media. America in particular needs a credible, accountable, and self-policing free press; the US military must continue to move away from a culture of non-engagement and establish strong professional bonds with the media. Both parties should take stock of how each has grown and changed in recent years and re-commit to protect the ideals they defend, each in their own unique way.

1. What are some of the tensions between the military and the media, according to the author? How does this relate to the “Regulating in the National Interest” section of Chapter 3 (p. 105)?
2. How does the author, the US Army’s Chief of Public Affairs in 2008, suggest the military, media and citizens find common ground when it comes to information during wartime?
3. What do you think the role of the media is when it comes to spreading news and information about the military?

Article 4: Michalis, Maria. 2012. “Balancing public and private interests in online media: the case of BBC Digital Curriculum.” Media, Culture & Society. 34(8): 944-960.

Abstract: This article examines BBC Digital Curriculum, the BBC’s online learning service, from its conception in 1999 to its termination in 2008. Although it is a case study, the article has broader relevance for public service media. First, drawing on (media) policy-making literature, it presents a complex web of private, public and political interests refuting claims that commercial opposition alone closed down BBC Curriculum. Second, it questions the suggestion that the entry of public service broadcasting into a market necessarily displaces commercial activities. Third, it discusses complementarity, distinctiveness and market impact, and highlights some pitfalls of the public value test. Finally, it argues that BBC Digital Curriculum raised fundamentally political questions. The case study is placed in the context of public service content provision online, particularly the battle between ‘free’ and paid-for services, the outcome of which will shape the society we live in.

1. How does this case study represent the enormous potential conflict between public and private interest in the digital media era?
2. What was the BBC Digital Curriculum and why was there such fierce opposition to it?
3. How does the organization of the media in the UK seem to differ from the US? How do these differences influence this case?
4. How influential were commercial forces in the BBC curriculum case? How much say did the public have in media policy?
5. What does the author mean by government “non-decisions” as a media policy? Who does this tend to favor?