Media companies both suffer and actively deploy derivatives trading

Evidence

Derivatives are the “meta-capital that binds and blends different sorts of particular capital together” and are thus unavoidable for any global corporation. Derivatives are an external force affecting the media sector in both a broad sense (e.g., the intensified maximization of individual asset value demanded of publicly traded corporations, including media conglomerates) and a narrow sense (e.g., the derivatives traders that are speculating on the future prices of media companies, shaping their perception in the investment community). Derivatives are also an internal force. In figure 2.21, we see the rise in derivatives trading enacted by media companies themselves, often to hedge their global exposure to currency exchange rates that can fluctuate widely, shaping the global flow of film, television, and popular music products. — Andrew deWaard, Derivative Media, 162

Categorization

• DEFINE: Sets up the external-force versus internal-force distinction as a way to frame how finance operates on and through media - a definitional scaffolding for the whole book.