Media Economics and Policy

Course Objectives

• The purpose of this module is to develop students' understanding of economic and financial concepts and issues in the context of the media industries.
• The course will examine the changing economic and financial forces, which direct and constrain the choices of managers in various sub-sectors of the media.
• Examine the specific proposals that shape the structure and organisation of the field of media and communication (media policy)
• Examine the related area of attention economy via a guest lecture.

Course Description
This module examines key economic and policy issues across different media industries. The course covers many issues including international trade, business strategies, pricing policies, competition and owner concentration as they affect media firms and industries. Students will also be introduced basic economics features of various media industries, for example, the economics of newspapers, television, radio and online media. The course is an introductory one and assumes students have no background in economics. This course will introduce students to a number of broad and fundamental concepts relevant to the study of economics. Key concepts and issues related to the company, the consumer and the market will be examined. There will be a guest lecture on the attention economy.

Learning Methods
The course will be structured into lectures led by Professor Hibberd. Sessions will be accompanied with power point presentations.

Attendance

Students must attend class for at least 60%. Teachers will not provide alternative teaching materials beyond online teaching materials presented in class.

Examination Information

The final grade will be composed of the results achieved by students:

• One 3000-word essay (90% of the final evaluation)
• In-class participation (60% minimum) (10% of the final evaluation)

Required Material

Key Texts

• Doyle, G. (2013). Understanding Media Economics.2^nd ed. London: Sage.
• Albarran, Alan B. (2010) The Media Economy. London: Routledge.
• Davenport, Thomas H. & John C. Beck, The Attention Economy, Harvard Business School Press, Boston 2001

Further reading:

• Alexander, A., Owers, J., Carveth, R., Hollified, C. & Greco, A. (eds) (2004). Media Economics: Theory and Practice. Third Edition. Mahwah: LEA.
• Howard Rheingold, Net Smart: How to Thrive Online 2012 Mit Press
• Derek Thompson, Hit Makers, Penguin Books New York 2017
• Picard, R. (2002). The Economics and Financing of Media Companies. New York: Fordham University Press.
• Richeri, G. (2012) L’economia dei media. Naples.Laterza.
• Herbert Simon Models of Thought, New Haven, Yale University Press, 1979.
• Faris Yakob Paid Attention, London, KoganPage 2015.
• Philip Kotler (with Hermawan Kartajaya & Iwan Setiawan) Marketing 4.0, New York, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2017
• Amy Webb The Big Nine, New York, PublicAffairs 2019.