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Hegemonic Marxists- Media Ownership and Control - Coggle Diagram
Hegemonic Marxists- Media Ownership and Control
GUMG
Through these institutions, the ruling class subconsciously transmit ideas that are essential for their social group. Thus the media reflects the ideas of the ruling class (including media owners)
Media professionals subconsciously control the content of the media by transmitting the dominant values of the white, male, m/c media owners. This is because they are under the influence of the dominant ideology- it is not intentional but a by-product of their socialisation
Hegemony
: dominance in society of the ruling class set of ideas, occurs when the ruling class control society's institutions e.g. education, the CJS, the media
White, male, m/c values:
approval of business
free markets and acquisition of wealth
condemnation of trade unions and militancy
preference for Conservativism
support for monarchy/ ruling elites
suspicion of feminists, minorities, the w/c, radicals, homosexuals, protestors, strikers etc
Although media owners have powerful influence, they rarely have day-to-day control of the media content, which is left in the hands of editors and journalists. Thus, staff have some independence, and choose to support the dominant ideology by choice, not because they are manipulated into doing so.
The Sutton Trust:
over 50% of the top 100 journalists in the UK were educated at private schools between 2006 and 2012.
Agenda Setting
They use
gate keeping
to
censor reports that do not conform
with dominant ideology, to
avoid criticism of the dominant class
e.g. whilst welfare scroungers are reported on often, elite tax evasion is largely ignored (gatekeeped)
Media professionals set an agenda for discussion which means
some things are deliberately excluded from being reported
in the media as they
do not conform with dominant ideology
E.g.
Sally Cline
was a journalist who occasionally challenged the dominant ideology, resulting in editors
changing her columns or simply not printing them
Economic Pressures
Media professionals and journalists tend to
play it safe
in relation to choice of TV programmes, advertising or news in
fear that if they take a risk, the company won't make profit and their jobs may be at risk
Motivation not to "rock the boat" in media content is usually for profit rather than to transmit the capitalist ideology
(hegemony)
Journalist
news values do sometimes go against the dominant ideology
, however this is purely to
attract audiences
and
make a profit.
The Establishment
Journalists turn a blind eye to the corruption and mistakes of the Establishment and instead vilify and criticise the poor and unemployed- used as scapegoats. This deflects attention away from those who have power.
It should be the job of the media to scrutinise the Establishment, but "the British Media is an integral part of the British Establishment". They share the same interests and mantras.
They aim to protect their dominant position in society by managing democracy to make sure it doesn't threaten their interests
Jones
: Media owners and journalists are part of the Establishment, so they are bound together by common economic interests and a shared set of mentalities
GUMG
: most journalists tend to be white, male, m/c themselves so they share the views of the dominant class
Evaluation
Journalist's news values mean that sometimes they do not simply trout out the dominant ideology- they can develop critical, anti-Establishment views which strike a chord with their audiences e.g. campaigns against gov corruption or wrong doing by companies- they do not always share the same interests as the Establishment
Agenda-setting and gate-keeping mean some items are deliberately excluded from being reported in the media and audiences are encouraged to think about certain events rather than others= they have little real choice of media content as products are produced within the framework of the dominant ideology- this suggests a direct manipulation of audiences.
Underestimates the power and influence of the owners. Owners DO appoint and dismiss managers and editors who step too far out of line and journalists' careers are dependent on gaining approval of their stories from editors.
Feminists: Ignores the role of patriarchy.
Pluralists: ignores the power the audience has due to citizen journalism