instrumental maxist views of media ownership Flashcards
instrumental vs hegemonic
instrumental marxism - traditional marxism
- media is an ideological instrument to reproduce and justify class inequality - owners work collectively to control passive audience
hegemonic marxism - neo-marxism
- ruling class exercise economic, social and cultural domination over the majority of the population - maximise profit - passive unless have experience
the media as an ideological instrument
Miliband - control of media is instrumental
mass media is an ideological instrument - plays key role in reproduction and justification of class inequality
Marcuse - bread and circuses
media owners transmit conformist ideology in the form of news and entertainment - shape and amnipulate how people hink about the world eg celebrating m/c
media owners spread myth of meritocracy eg the apprentice
the media as an ideological instrument eval
strengths
- in italy - Silvio Berlusconi’s control of 3 TV stations was instrumental to his party winning the general election 1994
- Murdoch admitted to house of lords communication committee in 2007 - hands on both economically and editorially major issues in the sun and world news
limitations
- economic reductionists - only interested in how media ownership related to social class
- feminists - they ignore the role of media owners in transmitters patriarchal ideology
- criticised because rarely explain how an owner’s media manipulation works in practice - anecdotal rather than based on empirical research
media representations of class and ethnicity
political elite are in same social class - do not encourage criticism of capitalist system
ethnic minorities - portrayed as criminals, migrants and extremists - demonising them
- suits capitalist class - white w/c people viewing ethnic minorities as threat distracting from real cause of inequality
Curran and Seaton - w/c not interested in serious debates
Newman - tv rarely focus on w/c
Hall - white eye
Cushion et al - 7 in 10 stories about black men related to crime
media representations of class and ethnicity eval
limitations
- growth of new media - citizen journalism - actions of powerful under constant public scrutiny - so invalid argument as owners cannot produce conservative views on immigration without criticism
- new media changing rep
- media owners dont have as much power anymore
- pluralism - this is due to consumer choice not ideology
media controls the working class through bread and circuses
Marcuse
mass media ensures society only get a narrow range of approved views and knowledge - passive and easily manipulated
bread - fed and ciruses - entertained
- deliberately make sure media output is mainly entertainment-orientated to keep people happy and docile
- superficial entertainments eg love island
Marcuse - creates false needs - we think we need to watch such entertainment shows to keep up with the joneses
media controls the working class through bread and circuses - eval
pluralists - state regulates media ownership so no one person or company has too much influence
- audiences are not passive - can accept, reject or interpret media messages - postmodernism, selective filter model, reception analysis model ,uses and gratifications, two step flow model
