Production Analysis

Production-context analysis

is concerned with the balance (or imbalance) of power and control and how content is shaped through the varied influence of the participants

Why do Production Analysis?

the study of broadcasting institutions can enhance our understanding of programs

It can also prepare us for the social, economic, and policy realities of our careers.

Main Strategies of Analysis

Actional Analysis focuses on how people get other people to agree

with them and identifies successful ways to do that

Structural Analysis focuses on constraints in political and economic

environments that determine limits on media decision makers

Divided into Three SectionsUnder one Thematic Umbrella

Production analysis draws attention to the fact that whatever else popular culture may be, it is deeply embedded in capitalist, for-profit mass production.

Microlevel: Television WorkersMidrange: Television Institutions Macrolevel: Political Economy

Microlevel

looks at how the constraints associated with specific roles (time and other pressures) affects content

how much power does each player in the production process really have?

Microlevel

Technical DeterminantsUnionsRelationships among staff, talent, production

company, network

Midrange Criticism

Midrange criticism looks at how the organizational structure of the medium affects content Network Programming Brand Identity

Mid Range Criticism

At this level, organizational communication and industrial relations perspectives are common

Operational Control the ability of units of the organization to

set and implement policy set and modify goals allocate resources

Macro-level criticism

looks at how media ownership, regulation, and social trends affect content. Monopoly power and free market capitalism Public Interest and Individual Rights Federal Rights versus State Rights Limited Government versus Regulation of Harms Censorship and Gatekeeping

Allocative Control: the ability to set an organization's agenda, goals, and resources

Turow's (1997) "power roles" Turow analyzed roles in tv production and put

them into categories based on the type of power and influence they had over a television program

Producer Power Rule, which covers Publisher/Producers and, to some extent, distributors

Authority Power Role, which covers Regulators Investor Power Role Client Power Role, which

covers Advertisers

Turow's (1997) "power roles"

Client Power Role, which covers Advertisers Creator Power Role, which also covers directors,

performers, content editors, and others who can influence the final product

Distributor and Exhibitor power role, which covers Retailers, Collectors, and to some extent, Distributors

Auxiliary Power Role, which covers Financial Management, Reproducers and, to some extent, Production Support

Turow's (1997) "power roles"

The Union, Linking-Pin, and Facilitator Power Roles, which cover different kinds of Representatives

Public and Public Advocacy Roles, which covers Consumers, Critics, and to some extent, Regulators, Representatives, and Selector/gatekeepers