Media Ownership and Control...

...Media Ownership and Control...

Ownership and control is a generally used term that refers to the view that the majority of the media outlets are owned by a small group of people or a small number of corporations.

People may assume that the title of owner and controller are the same due to the close link of being able to have the last word. The owner of a business is the person who owns the business i.e. has put the financial capital into the business and takes out the profit. The controller of the business is the person that makes the management decisions.

However due to business structures becoming larger, there is a tendency for the control of the company or corporation to become more widely spread between the owners and those that run the business on a day-to-day basis. This has been a particular issue in recent years where shareholders in a number of companies are less happy about the way businesses are being run on their behalf. Recent issues have involved the increase in directors' pay and the ethical practices of some businesses. If they are not happy with the initial running of the business, shareholders are eligible to take issue at the AGM (Annual General Meeting) for the company and vote out directors if they wish to. Shareholders will also sometimes try to influence the ethical practice of the businesses that they own, so that it leads more towards the way they like it.

By knowing the difference between the owner and controller of a company, we are able to understand more of what their job role may be, which as a result could enable us to understand the level at which they may stand within the business industry.