ABSTRACT
The term ‘political economy’ was originally used to describe a country’s wealth, the production, distribution, buying and selling of goods, and their relationship with law, custom and government. In Media Studies, political economy is used to look at the relationship between media companies, the government who administer the rules and regulations that control the media, and us the consumers. Systems of production and distribution, what is permitted and what is encouraged often determines what sort of artefacts will be produced, what limits there are as to what can and cannot be said and shown, how these may be consumed by audiences and the effects, both intended and unintended, that they may have on audiences.
