Marxists and the role of media ownership

-Argue concentration of ownership is inherintly dangerous as the capitalist ideas are being transmitted more intensly

-Argue the media reinforces and perpetuates a false class sonsciousness (working-class believe that meritocracy exists and society is fair).

-This is through the capital class using it’s cultural power to dominate agencies of socialisation, education system, religion, family and media. The role of these agenceis is to transmit the ruling-class ideology (meritocracy), so if they fail to succeed in life thye are encoraged to beloieve it is their fault for not working hard enough.

2 approaches when understanding ownership

Summary of the hegemonic marxists theory

-A small concentration of individuals from the capitalist class excersie (Gramsci)hegemony over the majority of the population, Glasglow University media group argue that media content support these views, but is accidental as the backgrounds of, journlists,broadcasts are mostly, white,middle-class and male. (sutton trust reports over 50% of top journalsits in the UK were educated in private schools). This means journalists and broadcasters have a ‘middle-of-the-road’ consensus, unthreatening and appeals to the amjority of their audiences. This means if theres an alternative view, they would see it as ‘extremist’ and ridicule them if they are included within newspapers.

  • Economic pressure - GUMG argues that journalists try to appease to everyone and to not rock the boat, so their more motivated by profit than anything else. In order for media companie sto make profit they need to attract advertising, which advertedly attracts a specific type of audience, in order to not offend and lose these audiences they play it safe by excluding anything that may offend/upset the viewers.

  • Agenda setting - The media has the power to decide what issues to focus on, but in order to play it safe the media prsents a narro agenda for discussion.(The Sun readers fixated by the fact that jeremy corbyn didn’t sing the national anthem than the number of people living in poverty). This means that oridnary people will not be given important information that will help them decide how the country should be run. This results in cultural hegemonym, where capitalism and ‘the free market’, is presented as the ‘norm’.

  • Media and the establishment - Jones(2015), he argues that media owners, editors and journalist are a part of the establishment, alliance of unaccountable powerful groups bound together by common economic interests and a shared set of mentalities, they aim to protect their dominant position in society (keep status) by mamaging democracy so that it does not threaten their interests.

    -Johns argues it’s down to the media in order to keep them in check and scrutinise the establishments activities (selective enforcement). He note sthat the British media is an integral part of the British establishment (share same mantras/assumptions/dominant/hegemonic ideology).

    -He also argues that journalists turn a blind eye to the establishment and critically attack/vilify the behaviour of the poor,immigrants and public sector workers, which deflects the attention and anger from those with actual power in society.

Evaluation

  • Vague about what forms ideology and the effects it’s suppoose to have on the ‘powerless’ groups, essentialy saying the working class and misrepresented groups are passive to the the socialisation of this ideology within the media.

  • There isn’t a clear distinction between hegemonic marxists focus on agenda setting and the role of medis as part of the British establishment compared with and instrumental maxists focus on manipulation, they are to similar because their vague explanations.

  • Feminists would argue that hegemonic marxist theory ignores that agenda-setting is patriarchal and that the practice is to limit womens role in media production/content.

  • Postmodernists would argue new media and citizren journalism have the potential to influence the establishment (GUMG/jones)

Summary of Marxist instrumentalist theory

They argue that mass media is an ideological instrument which reproduces and justifies class inequality, this is through media owners embedding their domiant ideology with conformist/conservative views within news & entertainment. This creates the idea that the ruling-class ideology is the ’truth’ and ‘fact’, so manipulates the public.

Inequality is also reproduced through the negative media representations of ethnic minorities where they are portrayed as criminals,migrants and extermists, the do this to divide the working class as to not threaten their status if they all shared the same views. Castle & Kosack(1973) argue that it distracts the white working-class from the actual causes of class inequality, and if there is an alternative view, they are rarely eard or dismissed as extremist.

Marcuse argues that media owners control the working-class through a ‘bread and circuses’ approach, they put out superficial entertainment so people are kept happy,distracted and docile as they are diverted from real issues like ,causes of poverty. Dumb down the masses to reproduce passive and obedient audiences and workers.

Tunstall & Palmer(1991) argue that governments no longer interested in controlling media owners activities as the class interests of the media owners and the political elite often overlap, newspapers owned by a media conglonmerate will directly support a government or neglect to criticise government policy.

Evaluation

  • Pluralists would argue that such developments of concentration of ownership as cultural imperalism and capitalist dominance but the functioning of a free market.

  • The theory is economic reductionist, as they focus on the social class relationships and inequalities - Feminists would argue that they ignore the role of media owners transmitting a patriarchal ideology as the concentration of media owners are predominantly from the hegemonic social group (white, male, heterosexual).