Chapter 2: Marxist Analysis

Question 1

What is marxism?

Answer 1

Marxism is both a social theory and a political movement rooted in the idea that “society is the history of class struggles

Question 2

What is the central premise of marxism?

Answer 2

the mode of production in society (economic structure and practice) determines the social relations of production (class structure)

Question 3

Def historical materialism

Answer 3

the character of social life to be a reflection of the material conditions that exist at a particular historical juncture

Question 4

What is the materialist philosophy?

Answer 4

the material world precedes human thought (Marxism)

- Marx believed that materials changed over time so it must be viewed in a historical context

Question 5

Explain Marx’s base/superstructure model

Answer 5

Economic base ➔ modes of production
- Modes of production consists forces of production (natural resources, land, factories, technologies of prod, and labour power) AND relations of production

the base influences the cultural superstructure ➔ social institutions (family structures, religion, politics, government, law, education, arts, media etc.)

The material conditions of society (the economic base) influences/determines the cultural superstructure that is social consciousness

Question 6

Explain idealist philosophy

Answer 6

Ideas, not material conditions, determine social existence

Question 7

Def the profit motive

Answer 7

the continuous desire to increase capital, ideology that drives capitalism

Question 8

List the 4 patterns of media ownership

Answer 8

Concentration, conglomeration, integration, and multinationalism

Question 9

Explain concentrated media ownership

Answer 9

Concentrated, meaning that it is owned and controlled by a small group of powerful companies

Oligopolies ➔ reduces competition so hard for start-ups to survive

Once concentrated the remaining companies act more like partners vs competitors

Question 10

Explain conglomeration media ownership

Answer 10

Conglomeration, the corporate practice of accumulating multiple companies and businesses through start-ups, mergers, buyouts, and takeovers

-parent company owns and controls a host of subsidiary companies

Ex. Disney

Question 11

Explain integration media ownership

Answer 11

Integration is an ownership pattern in which the subsidiary companies or branches within a corporation are strategically interrelated

• Vertical integration describes a corporation that owns and controls various aspects of production and distribution within a single media industry like publishing or broadcasting
• Horizontal integration/cross-media ownership describes an ownership pattern in which a corporation dominates one stage (or level in the value chain) of the production process (typically at the same level of production, distribution, or exhibition )

Question 12

Explain multinationalism

Answer 12

Multinationalism, or a corporate presence in multiple countries, allowing for the production and distribution of media products on a global scale

Question 13

Def strategy

Answer 13

Strategy: assumes a place that can be circumscribed as proper (propre) and thus served as the basis for generating relations with an exterior distinct from it (competitors, adversaries, ‘clientèles,’ ‘targets,’ or ‘objects’ of research)

Question 14

Def tactics

Answer 14

Tactics: the everyday practices used by the “weak” to resist domination

Question 15

List the 5 key strategies of profit maximization

Answer 15

Synergy, planned obsolescence, the logic of safety, celebrity and spectacle, and joint ventures

Question 16

Def synergy

Answer 16

Synergy, or the involvement of multiple subsidiary companies in the cross-development, production, and distribution of a media brand for the purpose of “exploiting it for all the profit possible.”
- possible because of horizontal integration

Question 17

Def planned obsolencene

Answer 17

Planned obsolescence “is a business strategy in which the obsolescence (the process of becoming obsolete – that is, unfashionable or no longer usable) of a product is planned and built into it from its conception

Technological obsolescence and psychological obsolescence

Question 18

Def logic of safety

Answer 18

Logic of safety, which is based on two principles: the belief that “nothing succeeds like success” and the idea that “change” is financially risky.

o Risk avoidance

3 basic arts of imitation: sequels, remakes, and spin-offs

Question 19

Def celebrity

Answer 19

Celebrity refers to “those people who are well known for their well-knownness.

Question 20

Def spectacle

Answer 20

Spectacle describes the media’s obsession with the sensational and arresting, scandalous and shocking dimensions of a situation or context

Question 21

Def hyper-spectacles

Answer 21

Hyper-spectacles: when celebrity and spectacle collide

Low-cost to produce and captures attention for long times = profit generating machines

Question 22

Def joint venture

Answer 22

Joint ventures to reduce financial risks ➔ media conglomerates split the costs of a new venture

Question 23

Def advertising

Answer 23

Advertising is a form of communication and marketing designed to persuade audiences to feel and/or behave a certain way toward a product, service, or corporate brand, and it plays a central role in media industry profits

Question 24

Def measured advertising spending

Answer 24

• Measured advertising spending typically includes expenditures for network and cable TV, consumer magazines, newspapers, internet, radio, and outdoor (billboards, benches, etc.)

Question 25

Def unmeasured advertising spending

Answer 25

• Unmeasured advertising spending often includes expenditures for direct mail, telemarketing, and catalogues

Question 26

Def product placement

Answer 26

product placements: charge companies to promote their products by high- lighting labels and name brands, or simply having characters mention a brand

Question 27

Niche marketing

Answer 27

Niche marketing is the targeting of a specific segment of the public that shares particular, but known demographic traits such as age, sex, income, etc

Question 28

Narrowcasting vs broadcasting

Answer 28

Narrowcasting as a way of distinguishing it from broadcasting, a model that targeted a large, anonymous, and undifferentiated audience

Question 29

List the consequences of ownership patterns and profit maximization

Answer 29

Reduction of diversity, restriction of democracy, spread of cultural imperialism

Question 30

Explain reduction of diversity

Answer 30

Concentration ➔ restricts competition
Integration ➔ dev of only some projects
Logic of safety ➔ limits creativity
All together = homogenization of media

False consciousness, the belief that the masses are duped into blindly accepting the prevailing ideology, their criticisms of standardization are not entirely without merit.

Question 31

Explain restriction of democracy

Answer 31

Democracy is premised on the notion of egalitarianism, the free and open exchange of ideas, and the participation of diverse publics ➔ decline of democratic ideals

Gatekeeping is a filtering practice that determines what makes it into the media and what does not

Agenda-setting refers to the power of the media to influence what people are concerned with or care about ➔ focusing

Framing describes the viewpoint or perspective that is employed by the news and entertainment media when covering social and political issues ➔ structuring

Question 32

Explain cultural imperialism

Answer 32

Cultural imperialism describes the exporting of US values and ideologies around the globe, usually to the detriment of local culture and national sovereignty
- inward flow is so much greater than the outward flow that over time it causes cultural erosion in poorer countries with less-developed media industries