MEDIA- ownership and control of the news

Question 1

marxist view on ownership and control of the media

Answer 1

• the selection is based on the ideology of the ruling class
  -audience is passive and believes this
  -ISA- ensures that the subject class is in a state of false class consciousness

Question 2

What would marxists say a journalists purpose is

Answer 2

Journalists job is to pass on the ideology of the owners
The ruling class are the gatekeepers and they are who the journalists speak to in order to select the news as they are often experts and specialists in many topics and so the agenda setting is them

Question 3

how can the marxist view be proved

Answer 3

+Rupert Murdoch (a man that once owned majority of the biggest newspapers ) his ex employees were told they had to “think like rupert” therefore the news was controlled by a member of the ruling class

Question 4

how can the marxist view be evaluated

Answer 4

-Citizen journalists are part of the new media which is the most impactful in the modern world and they go against the marxist perspective as it allows everyday people to challenge the ideology

Question 5

What would pluralists say about the ownership and control of the media

Answer 5

• they would say that journalists are independent from the owners
• we have choice as we are an active audience : based on audience demand
• reflects reality
• owners do not have time to control the media as they have other interests

Question 6

How can the pluralist view be proved

Answer 6

+ news values reinforce this as the audience want to see stories which are based on the news values
+citizen journalists are giving the audience what they want and they are part of the new media

Question 7

How can the pluralist view be evaluated

Answer 7

• Churnalism- fake news do not reflect reality which conflicts with the whole pluralist view
  -Neo marxists would say that journalists are chosen based on their viewpoint so that their views align with the owners and they are still passing on the ideology with minimal influence from the owner- a lot of journalists went to private schools and part of the upper classes

Question 8

What is the neo marxist view on ownership and control of the media

Answer 8

-Neo marxists would say that journalists are chosen based on their viewpoint so that their views align with the owners and they are still passing on the ideology with minimal influence from the owner- 51% of top journalists went to private schools and part of the upper classes eg. rupert Murdochs employees were told to “think like rupert”

• They do not constantly need to reinforce the dominant ideology instead the ruling class has established what gramsci calls hegemony: through this the ideology takes a more common sense approach alternative views are viewed as ridiculous