topic 1: ownership and control of mass media Flashcards
Miliband
“the media is the ‘new opium of the people’”
Marcuse
Media is thrown to the workers/lower class to distract them from their low position in society
how do marxists view media concentration?
media concentration is bad, increasing power to control the output of the media is being placed into fewer hands
how do marxists view the ownership of the media?
Owners use the media to spread an ideology that benefits them and also churns out content that leave the working classes oblivious to their exploitation
How does the marxist view differ from pluralism?
Marxists reject the pluralist view as they believe that the choice is very limited. The content of the media purely reflects the view of those dominant in society
How would neophilacs criticise the marxist view?
the rise in new digital media, the internet and citizen journalism undermines the influence and control of media owners, giving more power to the masses
How does Ofcom disprove the marxist theory?
Independent bodies (e.g ofcom) regulate the media, which shows changes are occuring
Glasgow University Media Group
- suggest that media content does support the interests of those who run the capitalist system but this is an unintended by-product of the social backgrounds of journalists
Althusser
argues ideological state apparatuses seek to induce the masses into false consciousness
Gramsci
argues hegemony uses the ideas and values the bourgeoisie are able to control the proletariat
Glasgow Univeristy Media Group
- suggest that media content does support the interests of those who run the capitalist system but this is an unintended by-product of the social backgrounds of journalists
What view do the GUMG suggest journalists have and why?
they claim journalists and broadcasters tend to believe in middle-of-the-road views because these are generally unthreatening and appeal to majority of their viewers.
Findings of the sutton trust
of top 100 journalists in 2006, 54% were independently educated
agenda setting
the showcasing of limited items within the media so that the audience has a fairly narrow agenda for discussion
gatekeeping
the refusal to showcase items
Philo
- the media only broadcast solutions to the crisis as presented by the 3 main political parties and the bankers themsleves whilst completely ignoring solutions for other avenues
yelland
“All Murdoch’s editors go on a journey where they end agreeing with everything Murdoch says and often have the mantra: ‘what would Rupert think about this’ in their head”
Stuart Hall
although dominant class will control the ideas with the media, they will never have total dominance and because of this, there is possibility that society could change
News Value
present material which may seem critical to the dominant ideology, this will strike a cord with the audience attracting them to the media outlets and subsequently bosts profits for media owners
Strinatti
- countries such as the UK are now unrecognisable from 30 years ago
- we have seen such a shift from modern industrial society with manufacturing economies t postmodern and post industrial societies with service economies
Baurdrillard - hyper reality
- consumers are immersed in so much media that it becomes difficult to distinguish between real life and the media version of reality
‘media is polysemic’
each media message is interpreted in a different way
what is Baurdrillard’s view on ownership of the media?
if there are multiple interpretations of media content then the power to disseminate knowledge is not concerned in the hands of a few owners.
What is his view on meta narratives?
There is greater diversity of media which makes it easier for audiences to accept or reject meta narratives proposed by the powerful.
