Peter Hägel
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780198852711
- eISBN:
- 9780191887079
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198852711.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics, Political Economy
Chapter 6 presents two cases of billionaires whose pursuit of wealth in the global economy has broader political consequences. It looks at how Charles and David Koch have tried to limit climate ...
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Chapter 6 presents two cases of billionaires whose pursuit of wealth in the global economy has broader political consequences. It looks at how Charles and David Koch have tried to limit climate change mitigation in order to protect the fossil fuel–based business interests of their conglomerate Koch Industries. The Koch brothers spread climate change skepticism via the funding of think tanks and public advocacy, and they finance campaigns boosting politicians that oppose climate change mitigation. In Rupert Murdoch’s case, his News Corporation has been his main political resource. He has used the opinion-shaping power of his media empire to extract favors from politicians abroad, especially in the UK, but also in Australia, by offering support (or threatening hostility) during election times.Less
Chapter 6 presents two cases of billionaires whose pursuit of wealth in the global economy has broader political consequences. It looks at how Charles and David Koch have tried to limit climate change mitigation in order to protect the fossil fuel–based business interests of their conglomerate Koch Industries. The Koch brothers spread climate change skepticism via the funding of think tanks and public advocacy, and they finance campaigns boosting politicians that oppose climate change mitigation. In Rupert Murdoch’s case, his News Corporation has been his main political resource. He has used the opinion-shaping power of his media empire to extract favors from politicians abroad, especially in the UK, but also in Australia, by offering support (or threatening hostility) during election times.
Brian Mcnair
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748634460
- eISBN:
- 9780748670925
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748634460.003.0011
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter looks at films about public relations. It specifically investigates the ways in which cinema has represented the journalistic king-makers, and also the changing nature of media power in ...
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This chapter looks at films about public relations. It specifically investigates the ways in which cinema has represented the journalistic king-makers, and also the changing nature of media power in the age of the internet. Sweet Smell of Success is revered as a powerful and prescient exploration of the rising power of the journalist in democratic societies, and a warning against the abuse of that power. As in films about journalism, cinematic representations of public relations professionals often combine grime with glamour, and positive with negative images. As a film about journalism, Citizen Kane formulates both the normative liberal ideal. Rupert Murdoch may turn out to have been the last media baron. The structures of media power are being radically transformed, with uncertain consequences for democratic and authoritarian societies alike.Less
This chapter looks at films about public relations. It specifically investigates the ways in which cinema has represented the journalistic king-makers, and also the changing nature of media power in the age of the internet. Sweet Smell of Success is revered as a powerful and prescient exploration of the rising power of the journalist in democratic societies, and a warning against the abuse of that power. As in films about journalism, cinematic representations of public relations professionals often combine grime with glamour, and positive with negative images. As a film about journalism, Citizen Kane formulates both the normative liberal ideal. Rupert Murdoch may turn out to have been the last media baron. The structures of media power are being radically transformed, with uncertain consequences for democratic and authoritarian societies alike.
Jonathan A. Knee
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780231179287
- eISBN:
- 9780231543330
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231179287.003.0003
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Corporate Governance and Accountability
There is no more respected educational thinker than Joel Klein and no more visionary media mogul than Rupert Murdoch, but their collaboration to upend the failed educational status quo produced an ...
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There is no more respected educational thinker than Joel Klein and no more visionary media mogul than Rupert Murdoch, but their collaboration to upend the failed educational status quo produced an incoherent business plan that cost News Corp. shareholders over $1 billion by the time the plug was pulled.Less
There is no more respected educational thinker than Joel Klein and no more visionary media mogul than Rupert Murdoch, but their collaboration to upend the failed educational status quo produced an incoherent business plan that cost News Corp. shareholders over $1 billion by the time the plug was pulled.
Aida A. Hozić
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- April 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780190204235
- eISBN:
- 9780190204266
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190204235.003.0010
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics, Political Economy
This chapter explores the institution of scandal by focusing on the phone-hacking affair in the United Kingdom, which seriously rattled Rupert Murdoch’s media empire in 2011. The chapter addresses ...
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This chapter explores the institution of scandal by focusing on the phone-hacking affair in the United Kingdom, which seriously rattled Rupert Murdoch’s media empire in 2011. The chapter addresses two questions: What are the conditions that make scandals propagate? And what role do scandals play in societies in crisis, especially financial crisis? By drawing on Michel Foucault’s analysis of sexuality and sexual scandals in the Victorian age, the chapter underscores the stabilizing effects of scandals on existing power relations and gender hierarchies.Less
This chapter explores the institution of scandal by focusing on the phone-hacking affair in the United Kingdom, which seriously rattled Rupert Murdoch’s media empire in 2011. The chapter addresses two questions: What are the conditions that make scandals propagate? And what role do scandals play in societies in crisis, especially financial crisis? By drawing on Michel Foucault’s analysis of sexuality and sexual scandals in the Victorian age, the chapter underscores the stabilizing effects of scandals on existing power relations and gender hierarchies.
K. D. Ewing
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198254393
- eISBN:
- 9780191681486
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198254393.003.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Employment Law, Human Rights and Immigration
This study considers the position of the individual worker who engages in a strike or industrial action, described as one of the fundamental human liberties protected by international law. This ...
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This study considers the position of the individual worker who engages in a strike or industrial action, described as one of the fundamental human liberties protected by international law. This chapter gives a background of the study by presenting an account of the strike at Wapping on 24 January 1984. The employers there responded to the strike by dismissing some 5,500 workers. The Wapping dispute clearly demonstrated the powerlessness of workers faced with an aggressive management determined to introduce change into the workplace. It highlighted a central weakness of British labour law where a strike or other forms of industrial action is a breach of contract by the workers involved.Less
This study considers the position of the individual worker who engages in a strike or industrial action, described as one of the fundamental human liberties protected by international law. This chapter gives a background of the study by presenting an account of the strike at Wapping on 24 January 1984. The employers there responded to the strike by dismissing some 5,500 workers. The Wapping dispute clearly demonstrated the powerlessness of workers faced with an aggressive management determined to introduce change into the workplace. It highlighted a central weakness of British labour law where a strike or other forms of industrial action is a breach of contract by the workers involved.
Petros Iosifidis
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780199987238
- eISBN:
- 9780190210182
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199987238.003.0016
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Research and Statistics, Economic Sociology
This chapter describes media ownership and concentration in the United Kingdom. After summarizing the British media landscape, the chapter focuses on print media (newspapers, book publishing, ...
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This chapter describes media ownership and concentration in the United Kingdom. After summarizing the British media landscape, the chapter focuses on print media (newspapers, book publishing, magazine publishing), audiovisual media (radio, broadcast television, multichannel TV platforms, film), telecommunications media (wireline and wireless telecom), and Internet media (Internet Service Providers, search engines, online news market). A major concentration issue is Rupert Murdoch’s hold over various media properties. The public service BBC has been traditionally a powerful player in broadcasting, and has moved into digital and online services. Commercial operators have called for the government to curb BBC’s expansion efforts in the online market. The existing law is ineffective in preventing concentration and opened the door for more concentration and cross-ownership in the traditional industries like newspapers and broadcasting. In telecom, the major firms are BT and Vodafone. Cable TV is dominated by Liberty Global, while satellite TV is controlled by the Murdoch group. In print media, the major firms are Bertelsmann, Pearson, Bauer, Trinity Mirror, Daily Mail and General Trust, and The Guardian.Less
This chapter describes media ownership and concentration in the United Kingdom. After summarizing the British media landscape, the chapter focuses on print media (newspapers, book publishing, magazine publishing), audiovisual media (radio, broadcast television, multichannel TV platforms, film), telecommunications media (wireline and wireless telecom), and Internet media (Internet Service Providers, search engines, online news market). A major concentration issue is Rupert Murdoch’s hold over various media properties. The public service BBC has been traditionally a powerful player in broadcasting, and has moved into digital and online services. Commercial operators have called for the government to curb BBC’s expansion efforts in the online market. The existing law is ineffective in preventing concentration and opened the door for more concentration and cross-ownership in the traditional industries like newspapers and broadcasting. In telecom, the major firms are BT and Vodafone. Cable TV is dominated by Liberty Global, while satellite TV is controlled by the Murdoch group. In print media, the major firms are Bertelsmann, Pearson, Bauer, Trinity Mirror, Daily Mail and General Trust, and The Guardian.
Jonathan A. Knee
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780231179287
- eISBN:
- 9780231543330
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231179287.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Corporate Governance and Accountability
The past thirty years have seen dozens of otherwise successful investors try to improve education through the application of market principles. They have funneled billions of dollars into alternative ...
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The past thirty years have seen dozens of otherwise successful investors try to improve education through the application of market principles. They have funneled billions of dollars into alternative schools, online education, and textbook publishing, and they have, with surprising regularity, lost their shirts. In Class Clowns, professor and investment banker Jonathan A. Knee dissects what drives investors' efforts to improve education and why they consistently fail. Knee takes readers inside four spectacular financial failures in education: Rupert Murdoch's billion-dollar effort to reshape elementary education through technology; the unhappy investors—including hedge fund titan John Paulson—who lost billions in textbook publisher Houghton Mifflin; the abandonment of Knowledge Universe, Michael Milken's twenty-year mission to revolutionize the global education industry; and a look at Chris Whittle, founder of EdisonLearning and a pioneer of large-scale transformational educational ventures, who continues to attract investment despite decades of financial and operational disappointment. Although deep belief in the curative powers of the market drove these initiatives, it was the investors' failure to appreciate market structure that doomed them. Knee asks: What makes a good education business? By contrasting rare successes, he finds a dozen broad lessons at the heart of these cautionary case studies. Class Clowns offers an important guide for public policy makers and guardrails for future investors, as well as an intelligent exposé for activists and teachers frustrated with the repeated underperformance of these attempts to shake up education.Less
The past thirty years have seen dozens of otherwise successful investors try to improve education through the application of market principles. They have funneled billions of dollars into alternative schools, online education, and textbook publishing, and they have, with surprising regularity, lost their shirts. In Class Clowns, professor and investment banker Jonathan A. Knee dissects what drives investors' efforts to improve education and why they consistently fail. Knee takes readers inside four spectacular financial failures in education: Rupert Murdoch's billion-dollar effort to reshape elementary education through technology; the unhappy investors—including hedge fund titan John Paulson—who lost billions in textbook publisher Houghton Mifflin; the abandonment of Knowledge Universe, Michael Milken's twenty-year mission to revolutionize the global education industry; and a look at Chris Whittle, founder of EdisonLearning and a pioneer of large-scale transformational educational ventures, who continues to attract investment despite decades of financial and operational disappointment. Although deep belief in the curative powers of the market drove these initiatives, it was the investors' failure to appreciate market structure that doomed them. Knee asks: What makes a good education business? By contrasting rare successes, he finds a dozen broad lessons at the heart of these cautionary case studies. Class Clowns offers an important guide for public policy makers and guardrails for future investors, as well as an intelligent exposé for activists and teachers frustrated with the repeated underperformance of these attempts to shake up education.
Kristin Shrader-Frechette
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199794638
- eISBN:
- 9780199919277
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199794638.003.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
Chapter 1 begins by stressing the severity of climate change (CC) and showing how, contrary to popular belief, atomic energy is not a viable solution to ...
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Chapter 1 begins by stressing the severity of climate change (CC) and showing how, contrary to popular belief, atomic energy is not a viable solution to CC. Many scientists and most market proponents agree that renewable energy and energy efficiencies are better options. The chapter also shows that government subsidies for oil and nuclear power are the result of flawed science, poor ethics, short-term thinking, and special-interest influence. The chapter has 7 sections, the first of which surveys four major components of the energy crisis. These are oil addiction, non-CC-related deaths from fossil-fuel pollution, nuclear-weapons proliferation, and catastrophic CC. The second section summarizes some of the powerful evidence for global CC. The third section uses historical, ahistorical, Rawlsian, and utilitarian ethical principles to show how developed nations, especially the US, are most responsible for human-caused CC. The fourth section shows why climate-change skeptics, such as “deniers” who doubt CC is real, and “delayers” who say that it should not yet be addressed, have no valid objections. Instead, they all err scientifically and ethically. The fifth section illustrates that all modern scientific methods—and scientific consensus since at least 1995—confirm the reality of global CC. Essentially all expert-scientific analyses published in refereed, scientific-professional journals confirm the reality of global CC. The sixth section of the chapter shows how fossil-fuel special interests have contributed to the continued CC debate largely by paying non-experts to deny or challenge CC. The seventh section of the chapter provides an outline of each chapter in the book, noting that this book makes use of both scientific and ethical analyses to show why nuclear proponents’ arguments err, why CC deniers are wrong, and how scientific-methodological understanding can advance sound energy policy—including conservation, renewable energy, and energy efficiencies.Less
Chapter 1 begins by stressing the severity of climate change (CC) and showing how, contrary to popular belief, atomic energy is not a viable solution to CC. Many scientists and most market proponents agree that renewable energy and energy efficiencies are better options. The chapter also shows that government subsidies for oil and nuclear power are the result of flawed science, poor ethics, short-term thinking, and special-interest influence. The chapter has 7 sections, the first of which surveys four major components of the energy crisis. These are oil addiction, non-CC-related deaths from fossil-fuel pollution, nuclear-weapons proliferation, and catastrophic CC. The second section summarizes some of the powerful evidence for global CC. The third section uses historical, ahistorical, Rawlsian, and utilitarian ethical principles to show how developed nations, especially the US, are most responsible for human-caused CC. The fourth section shows why climate-change skeptics, such as “deniers” who doubt CC is real, and “delayers” who say that it should not yet be addressed, have no valid objections. Instead, they all err scientifically and ethically. The fifth section illustrates that all modern scientific methods—and scientific consensus since at least 1995—confirm the reality of global CC. Essentially all expert-scientific analyses published in refereed, scientific-professional journals confirm the reality of global CC. The sixth section of the chapter shows how fossil-fuel special interests have contributed to the continued CC debate largely by paying non-experts to deny or challenge CC. The seventh section of the chapter provides an outline of each chapter in the book, noting that this book makes use of both scientific and ethical analyses to show why nuclear proponents’ arguments err, why CC deniers are wrong, and how scientific-methodological understanding can advance sound energy policy—including conservation, renewable energy, and energy efficiencies.
Cate Dowd
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- April 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780190655860
- eISBN:
- 9780190098445
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190655860.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
Advances in online technology and news systems, such as automated reasoning across digital resources and connectivity to cloud servers for storage and software, have changed digital journalism ...
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Advances in online technology and news systems, such as automated reasoning across digital resources and connectivity to cloud servers for storage and software, have changed digital journalism production and publishing methods. Integrated media systems used by editors are also conduits to search systems and social media, but the lure of big data and rise in fake news have fragmented some layers of journalism, alongside investments in analytics and a shift in the loci for verification. Data has generated new roles to exploit data insights and machine learning methods, but access to big data and data lakes is so significant it has spawned newsworthy partnerships between media moguls and social media entrepreneurs. However, digital journalism does not even have its own semantic systems that could protect the values of journalism, but relies on the affordances of other systems. Amidst indexing and classification systems for well-defined vocabulary and concepts in news, data leaks and metadata present challenges for journalism. By contrast data visualisations and real-time field reporting with short-form mobile media and civilian drones set new standards during the European asylum seeker crisis. Aerial filming with drones also adds to the ontological base of journalism. An ontology for journalism and intersecting ontologies can inform the design of new semantic learning systems. The Semantic CAT Method, which draws on participatory design and game design, also assists the conceptual design of synthetic players with emotion attributes, towards a meta-model for learning. The design of context-aware sensor systems to protect journalists in conflict zones is also discussed.Less
Advances in online technology and news systems, such as automated reasoning across digital resources and connectivity to cloud servers for storage and software, have changed digital journalism production and publishing methods. Integrated media systems used by editors are also conduits to search systems and social media, but the lure of big data and rise in fake news have fragmented some layers of journalism, alongside investments in analytics and a shift in the loci for verification. Data has generated new roles to exploit data insights and machine learning methods, but access to big data and data lakes is so significant it has spawned newsworthy partnerships between media moguls and social media entrepreneurs. However, digital journalism does not even have its own semantic systems that could protect the values of journalism, but relies on the affordances of other systems. Amidst indexing and classification systems for well-defined vocabulary and concepts in news, data leaks and metadata present challenges for journalism. By contrast data visualisations and real-time field reporting with short-form mobile media and civilian drones set new standards during the European asylum seeker crisis. Aerial filming with drones also adds to the ontological base of journalism. An ontology for journalism and intersecting ontologies can inform the design of new semantic learning systems. The Semantic CAT Method, which draws on participatory design and game design, also assists the conceptual design of synthetic players with emotion attributes, towards a meta-model for learning. The design of context-aware sensor systems to protect journalists in conflict zones is also discussed.