Theories of Ownership and Control

Pluralism, Traditional/Instrumental Marxism & Neo-Marxism/Hegemonic Marxism

What are they key features of the pluralist approach?

• cultural optimism (neophiliacs)

• media owners are driven by profit and must therefore compete for customers/audiences

• there is a wide range of competing media platforms

• there is a wide range of products that reflect a wide range of audience interest and choices

• the media is generally free from government intervention and ownership

• audiences are free to “pick and mix” whatever explanation suits them

• audiences have the freedom to accept, reject, or re-interpret media content in line with taste and beliefs (echo chamber, selective filter model)

• “people power”

• consumers are more informed

• audiences control media

What are some criticisms of the pluralist approach?

• the “freedom to choose” is an illusion

• the pressure to attract new audiences and gain profit limits choice (Barnett & Seymour)

• how news is gathered is not some product of individual endeavour but actually churnalism

• experts are still the most powerful elite in society

• judges, the police, and politicians are those with the most to gain from protecting the status quo

What is churnalism?

the recycling of news stories

Which sociologist is associated with the traditional/instrumental Marxist approach?

Miliband

What is the traditional/instrumental Marxist approach?

• cultural pessimism

• censorship and control (Mackinnon)

• the media reflects and reinforces the dominant, capitalist ideology

• ideological state apparatus (ISA) - Althusser

• the media want the public to “sing from the same hymn sheet”

• the messages the media want the public to echo is the preferred/dominant reading (Morley) - these messages accept and justify the capitalist system

• the internal hierarchy in media companies is fixed and rigid, with the owner having complete control over the direction and agenda of the company (Miliband)

• individual journalists have no freedom or integrity and conform to the agenda of the CEO of the media conglomerate (e.g., Rupert Murdoch) as they depend on the owners for their jobs

• the mass public/audiences are vulnerable to manipulation

• audiences passively accept the content fed to them

• real media content is “dumbed down” by trivial sport and celebrity (a “bread and circus” approach)

• the mass media are an ideological agency that functions to maintain, legitimise, and reproduce class inequalities (false class consciousness)

• a threat to democracy

What is a “bread and circus” approach?

the audience are cheaply and quickly “fed” and entertained

What are some criticisms of the traditional/instrumental Marxist approach?

• cultural pessimism

• in a postmodern media form, there exists true choice and diversity

• marketing your product to a diverse group increases profit

• the bourgeoisie owners of media companies do not have time to micro-manage media content

• there are laws and regulations in place to guarantee the integrity of the free press and limit churnalism

• owners might intervene sometimes in media content, but they will do so because they want to ensure good sales figures

• traditional Marxists overplay the discerning nature of the public - they are not mindless robots

What is the neo-Marxist/hegemonic Marxist approach?

• there is a limited media agenda due to cultural hegemony, not because of direct control by wealthy media owners

• there is limited consumer choice

• cultural factors are more important than economic factors in explaining narrow media content

• journalist news values sometimes go against the dominant ideology, but this is to attract audiences and make a profit

• hegemonic theory is far bigger than just the news media - it extends to the acceptance of the ideology as a whole, becoming a cultural hegemony

• false class consciousness

• audiences passively accept the dominant ideology

What is hegemony (Gramsci)?

a system of dominance where the acceptance and conformity through persuasion frames the ruling class’s ideology as common sense

What are some criticisms of the neo-Marxist/hegemonic Marxist approach?

• the views taken by journalists are not because of their background, but are the result of what the audience demands (Whale)

• it is very difficult to prove that the media helps to establish hegemony