(Safa
Radwan)
The
Structure and Ownership of Disney.
The founders of Disney were two
brothers Walt Disney and Roy Disney, who created the company on
October 16, 1923. Today it is run by Robert Iger, a Chairman and CEO (Chief
Executive Officer) of The Walt Disney Company, and 22 other directors and
executives.
Walt Disney has four major sectors:
·
Media Networks: The ABC television
and radio network, Disney channel, ESPN, A&E, E!, and Disney.com.
·
Parks and Resorts: Walt Disney
World Resort, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and other resort properties.
·
Studio Entertainment: Walt Disney
Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, Hollywood Pictures, Miramax Films, and Buena
Vista Theatrical Productions.
·
Consumer Products: Character
merchandising, Disney stores, books, and magazines.
Disney recently reported sector income from
operations, revenue, and invested assets (in millions) as follows:
(Source:
http://www.chegg.com/homework-help/questions-and-answers/walt-disney-company-four-major-sectors-described-follows-media-networks-abc-television-rad-q1675646)
·
A&E Networks
·
American Broadcasting Company
·
Disney television networks
·
ESPN
·
Disney radio stations
Disney is a conglomerate type of company. A
conglomerate is when a big corporation own many large companies.
They own companies from other media sectors such
as TV, radio, film, publishing, websites, etc. Disney is a conglomerate,
because they own the Disneyland/world Parks and hotels, Disney Radio,
Disneylife (streaming service), Disney Channels, Disney store and Disney
films.
In the past, Disney have taken over other firms.
When a company takes over another one, this is called Horizontal Integration.
One major example of Disney doing Horizontal Integration, is in 2006, when Disney agreed a $7.4billion (£4.1billion) deal to buy Pixar, the animation
firm behind films including Toy Story and The Incredibles.
Ethics in
the media:
In a business, ethics is the moral decisions a
company has to make. It’s a company’s responsibility to make the right choices
that are ethically correct.
Some ethical constraints include;
-violence
-nudity/sexually explicit
-language/swearing
-drugs use
-Misogyny
-racism/sexism
Ethics should be taken in consideration when
creating a piece of media, for example Disney has a code of conduct that they
follow, that tells them how they should behave ethically, some key values
include; honesty, integrity, teamwork, trust, non-discrimination, health and
safety. They follow these ethic conducts is so that everyone can have an equal
opportunity and work comfortably in the environment. If the employees are happy
then they will produce a higher quality of work, more efficiently and
productively.
One example of a company, in which an employee
infringed on ethical rights is `Nickelodeon’.
(Source:
http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/loud-house-showrunner-chris-savino-fired-nickelodeon-sexual-harassment-charges-1202594788/).
Chris Savino, the creator of a cartoon
called Loud House, airing on the Nickelodeon channel, was suspended by
Nickelodeon, for infringing on their ethical constraints.
As many as 12 women came forward to
accuse Savino of harassment including unwanted sexual advances, leading to his
suspension from the company, and another animator taking over his show.
Legal system:
Laws & Disney has policies that you must
agree to when you sign up, two of these are;
Hiring Practices:
Walt Disney must provide equal opportunity for
all employees (and people who want to apply) without regard to race, religion,
skin colour, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age,
marital status, mental or physical disability, pregnancy, or any other basis
prohibited by law.
Harassment Prevention and Discrimination
Policies:
Walt Disney’s policy prohibits employees from harassing
any other employee, guest or other person in the course of the company’s
business for any reason prohibited by law, including, but not limited to, race,
religion, skin colour, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national
origin, age, marital status, mental or physical disability, pregnancy, or any
other basis prohibited by law.
Breaking these laws will result in extermination
from the company. (Source:
https://ditm-twdc-us.storage.googleapis.com/2015/11/Code_of_Conduct_English.pdf,
https://www.tnwinc.com/files/cc/disney.pdf)
Some legal issues include;
-privacy (the right the creator has to their own
life, outside public scrutiny)
-piracy (the act of duplicating, or recording
someone else’s intellectual property and distributing it freely)
-copyright (using someone else’s legal property
without the rights to use it)
-libel (publishing a fake statement, that is
damaging to a person’s reputation)
An example
of a movie going to court for copyright, was the Titanic. In 2012 a woman
called Princess Samatha Kennedy (yes, that’s her real name) sued Paramount for
copyright infringement, claiming Titanic ripped off her unpublished biography
about her father, however the suit was ultimately dismissed. The court said any
similarities were a coincidence. The suit also failed partly because Kennedy
had also unsuccessfully sued the movie, ‘Forrest Gump’.
Task 3
Who are the
BBFC? (And what are they responsible for in the media sector?)
The BBFC stands for British Board of Film
Classification. They are an organisation of people who are responsible for
giving films and videos age ratings before they are shown the public.
On their site (http://www.bbfc.co.uk/what-classification/guidelines),
they claim to have two key objectives:
- to protect children and vulnerable adults from potentially harmful or otherwise unsuitable content
- to empower consumers, particularly parents and those with responsibility for children, to make informed viewing decisions.
How do the
BBFC’s decisions affect the film Industry?
The BBFC greatly affect the film industry
because they decide whether a film can be shown to a particular audience or
not. This means that they can stop all viewers under 18 from legally watching a
film in theatres. The consequences of a cinema allowing an underage child to
view
What do the
BBFC censor from certain audiences and why?
They censor scenes that they deem as too
inappropriate for younger audiences, for example, if a movie contains too many
violent, sexual and offensive scenes then the BBFC can rate the film as 18,
however they can’t directly tell companies to remove or censor their content.
How do the
BBFC enforce their decisions?
They watch a film from beginning until end,
and decide as a group what the accurate age rating is, and also assign a BBFC
Insight to each one (more info below). To give a fair and reliable rating, the
BBFC follow closely to the Classification Guidelines, and give an unbiased
response.
The BBCF regularly update their review
systems, so that they can accurately give the films they review, the correct
ratings, as time goes on ratings and the public opinion of what is an
appropriate change.
What are
the BBFC Insights?
The BBFC Insights is a document containing
a detailed list of all the things they found in the media, that were deemed
unsuitable for younger audiences, thus give them the rating (12,15,18…ect).
These documents are displayed on their website (http://www.bbfc.co.uk/what-classification/what-bbfc-insight),
so that the public will understand why they have given the media that rating,
and what types of bad content might be present in the film/video.
The VSC,
Ofcom, and ASA are regulatory bodies. Explain their role in the sector media sector?
VSC - (Video standards council) Is a rating
system used in over 30 countries. They give age ratings for video games in the
UK, using the PEGI system.
Ofcom - (Office
of Communications) They ensure that the UK has a wide
range of electronic communications services, such as broadband, television,
radio, ETC.
ASA - (The Advertising Standards Authority)
The UK’s independent regulator of advertising across all media. We apply the
Advertising Codes, which are written by the Committees of Advertising Practice
Their
role is to "regulate the content of advertisements, sales promotions and
direct marketing in the UK" by investigating "complaints made about
ads, sales promotions or direct marketing", and deciding whether such
advertising complies with its advertising standards codes.
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