the term media usually refers to communication with large numbers of people.
could be:
-one to many (such as facebook, twitter etc.)
-one to one (such as email)
-many to many (such as networks that link individuals to exchange information)

⭐ private ownership- run by individuals, families or shareholders.
⭐ state ownership- involves government controls that differ between societies.
-for: (the significance of ownership is that owners have the potential to decide what sort of information an audience receives. this involves censorship that can be direct or indirect.)
-against: (pluralist approaches argue that control of the media is increasingly in the hands of what Galbraith called 'technocratic managerial elite', who, however well paid remain employees rather than employers.)

According to traditional Marxism, the media are the most important and influential ideological institutions. Whoever owns the media exercises a great deal of power.

their role is to spread values that support the capitalist system, shaping how people see the world (support for capitalism)

the media is a tool or instrument used by the ruling class to spread an ideology that favors the interests of the bourgeoisie.
althusser saw the media as an ideological state apparatus.

❎ neo-marxists question the idea that a ruling class is a whole body with members who all share the same interests. if members from different career fields do not have much in common, they are unlikely to use the media to present a unified view. they question the idea that the working class is directly manipulated because for it to happen, a ruling class would need a level of unity (cohesion) that it does not have.

economic- programming costs vary between different forms of media and this can affect how content is selected and presented.
-when news media simply use stories already written by a company or news agency, this is called churnalism. it has been increasing in recent years, less original stories than it used to be. evidence ⚠ davies reports the finding of justin lewis and his team at cardiff university that 80% of the news stories were churnalism.

for marxists, news values are evidence of how audiences are shaped and manipulated

closer to pluralist view than marxist. -it is now difficult to escape media, people spent less time on it before.

postmodernists argue that the media increasingly dominate the way we live and the way we constructor identities; we live in a media-saturated society. it is difficult to distinguish between media and reality.

baudrillard- concept of hyper-reality; forming and changing reality. -simulacra; representations that refer to other representations. (reality is constructed from the way in which individuals pick and chose different ideas to suit their one prejudices or beliefs.

the media can help shape how audiences respond to news.

postmodersnists suggest that identities have become more open to change.

digital optimists suggest that this is bound to widen peoples views, they will become more tolerant and open minded.

digital pessimists see this in a different light. they question the strength of online relationships. example; how many 'facebook friends' are really friends?
negative behavior can be spread online, abuse, death threats, cyber-bullying.
spending time online takes away real life interaction, people lose the ability to communicate in the real world and spend less quality time.

working class is usually presented as dangerous, problematic and dependent. Ehrenreich argues that for the media to be a working class means being; old-fashioned, uneducated, lazy and incapable. representations rarely portray the ordinariness of working class life, instead focus on negative situations that rarely happen. working class have less access to media and less control over how they're portrayed.

middle class representation is generally broader, such as music, fashion and art. they are seen as purposeful, independent and socially supportive.

upper class is represented as problematic behavior, greed, selfishness or criminality.

how superheroes always used to be men - their leader was always a man
women empowerment in months

ownership and control of national and global media is often characterized as middle-aged. pearson demonstrates that young people involve traits such as; rebellion, disrespect, selfishness and obsessions with self and sex.