theoretical explanations of media reps

Question 1

marxist belief

Answer 1

the media is part of the superstructure which is influenced and controlled by capitalism (the infrastructure)

Question 2

marxism- milliband

Answer 2

media is the new opium of the people and has replaced religion. the media is an anaesthetic that numbs the pain of being exploited by the ruling class

Question 3

marxism- curran

Answer 3

uses Rupert Murdoch as an example of the ruling class owning and controlling the media

Question 4

neo-marxism belief

Answer 4

continued to look at the important role of the media in maintaining ruling class interests and hegemony

Question 5

neo-marxism- sutton trust

Answer 5

journalists are usually white, male, middle class and over 50% went to private school

Question 6

neo-marxism- gilroy

Answer 6

the reason why certain groups are marginalised in the media is because they threaten journalist’s position in society

Question 7

pluralist belief

Answer 7

claim that the media representations are problematic because they reflect society and what people want to see

Question 8

pluralism- whale

Answer 8

states that what we see in the press/ news is determined by its readers/ audiences

Question 9

pluralism- williams

Answer 9

argues that journalists are vital in a democratic society as they provide people with unbiased, critical views of politics and allow people to live cultural and political lives.

Question 10

pluralism- halloran

Answer 10

audiences are able to manipulate the media they see as they have ‘plural views of society’

Question 11

feminist belief

Answer 11

patriarchal ideologies are supported in media representations

Question 12

liberal feminism- mulvey

Answer 12

‘male gaze’ portrays women as passive objects of male desire

Question 13

liberal feminism- connell

Answer 13

men portrayed as breadwinners and women as homemakers

Question 14

radical feminism- wolf

Answer 14

‘beauty myth’- women feel pressure to conform to men’s image of the ‘ideal woman’ which creates ‘false consciousness’ distracting women from bettering their position in society

Question 15

marxist feminism- beechey

Answer 15

women are a reserve army of labour- brought in during economic booms and thrown out in slumps

Question 16

postmodernist belief

Answer 16

discuss diversity and choice in media images which people can pick and choose from

Question 17

postmodernism- mcluhan

Answer 17

‘global village’- infromation spreads at speed of light as people are entwined with one another’s lives

Question 18

postmodernism- strinati

Answer 18

media saturation- media plays a significant role in constructing identities since people are connected with devices on a daily basis

Question 19

postmodernism- baudrillard

Answer 19

‘hyper-reality’- physical reality has become blended with virtual reality since people are ‘engulfed’ by communication

Question 20

postmodernism- turkle

Answer 20

we are ‘alone together’. TV is more of a real world than the actual world we inhabit