marxism Flashcards
summary of instrumentalist marxist views: ownership and control
media is controlled by owners who manipulate messages to reinforce capitalism, ideological state apparatus
summary of instrumentalist marxist views: media messages/content
used as manipulation- false consciousness used to divide and distract from the issues with capitalism
summary of instrumentalist marxist views: effets of media on individuals
don’t realise they are being exploited- false class consciousness
summary of hegemonic marxist views: ownership and control
control by journalists and editors who are the gatekeepers
summary of hegemonic (neo- think gramsci) marxist views: media messages/content
content and messages reflect their bakcgrounds (non intentional support for bourgeousie ideas)
summary of hegemonic marxist views: effects of media on individuals
dual consciousness- many realise the message content, but do not do anything about it
manipulative/ instrumental view
- manipulate-> control/influence
- instrumental-> affecting/influencing
(manipulative marxism) Miliband- media owners manipulate what is produced to justify class inequality, they discourage criticism of the capitalist system
- media moguls control, manipulate and promote the dominant ideology and preferred/dominant reading, which they try to create a general consensus/agreement
- those that challenge this are portrayed in the media to be unreasonable and extreme, discrediting them
- media have the means to:
- complete/distort views
- ignore, attack, dismiss or present views as unreasonable when they threaten the dominant ideology
- journalists have little choice, but to conform to the wishes of the owners
-hence, the media creates a climate of conformity which justifies the rich and powerful
(manipulative marxism) examples of Miliband’s argument: Berlusconi and Julian Assange
- media owners, wealth holders and the political elite are in an ideological conspiracy
- his control in italy= 3TV stations, 40% of the italian audience
- controlled by the PSB
- owned by mediaset and Rai= 90% of national aud AND ad revenue shares
//
- In 2010, he used Wikileaks to leak a US airstrike on Baghdad w/ US soldiers fatally shooting 18 civillians from a helicopter in Iraq including 2 journalists.
- then he was pursued and discredited by media and jailed
- unjust situation exposed, they covered it up!
(manipulative marxism) Curran and Seaton & example
- media owners interfere and manipulate conent
- Rupert Murdoch:
- supported war Iraq and all his newspapers around the world support
- admitted ‘hands on economically and editorially’
- he can tell the editors what do do
= conformity!!
(manipulative marxism) Castles and Kosack- Media representations of ethnic minorities distract and divide the working class and examples
- Media suits capitaists to ensure that the white w/c see ethnic minorities as a threat to their way of life
- this distracts them from the real cause of inequality- the capitalist system
- divide and conquer- so the w/c white and minority don’t unite and revolt.
- daytime TV programming focuses on crime and the crime of ethnic minorities, leading people to believe that ethnic minorities are a threat to them.
- newspapers subtly other ethnic minority groups by twisting narratives: according to the Runnymede trust, 94% of pakistani people found representation of their ethnicity to be negative
(manipulative marxism) Marcuse- the working class is controlled by “bread and circuses”, the media is entertainment to keep them docile + example
- the media controls the working class through giving us enough of what information we want to live, as well as entertainment we would find nice to have, which distracts us from this hard news
- eg halloumi recipes distracting us from the bad hard news
(manipulative marxism) Turnstall and Palmer- media regulation and government + example
- the government are not interested in regulating/controlling the media as they need their support to either gain power or hang onto it
- Leveson inquiry: in 2011, there was an inquiry into phone hacking at news of the world, this exposed the relationship between owners, editors and high level politicians.
- the editor admitted that they paid police officers to give them information
- media support was given to political parties in return for policies that favoured the owners
Rupert Murdoch’s power in shaping british politics
- he has the power to turn public opinion for/against a party, divert public attention etc
- he can blackmail and manipulate anyone
- this is concerning because it should be illegal and proves that those with money, power and hence influence are immune to justice and criticism- above the law.
neo-marxism and ownership
- agree with traditional marxists that media transmits the ideology of the r/c
- suggest this is due to editors and reporters coming from upper middle class backgrounds rather than owners controlling the media content (educated privately to gain best qualifications)
- people are employe to fit in with the vaues of the organisation and these are set by the owners- media groups have paarticular political and ideological views
What evicdence for the neo-marxist view: what did Glasgow University Media Group (GUMG) find?
- the majority of those in editor and senior reporter roles have similar backgrounds
- Largely Oxbridge educated, white, middle-class backgrounds are dominant in mainstream media
- 51% of journalists form private schools compared to just 7% of the population (similar figs in gov and civil service
- they protect the values of the establishment as they are part of the establishment
Agenda setting of media according to the neo-marxist view
- media are able to set the parameters of what is in the public interest and this usually refelcts the elite in society
- shift focus from social issues that conflict with privelaged position of the elite onto issues which support their right to be in power
- examples include reporting of government handling of protests, laws and information
Gramsci and Hegemony
- establishment of hegemonic ideas in social institutions- education, religion, leads individual journalist to side with ideology of ruling class
- middle of the road, centrist ideals are promoted by media with radical or revolutionary ideas percieved as dangerous
- dissenting voices as outliers in society rather than a reflection of the diversity of opinion in society
Evaluating Neo-Marxist approaches
- traditional marxists argue that journalists are subject to micro management form owners and their political ideologies
- Whale (1997) argues that media reflects the demands of the audience- what is produced is a reflection of popular culture
- critics argue that in contemporary society there are a wide range of media sources and those in demand are a reflection of the population’s views
