Part of The Student Room Group

  • Join over 1.2 million students every month
  • Accelerate your learning by 29%
  • Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month

Assess the claim that the Media works in ways that support the ideology of the ruling class

Extracts from this document...

Introduction

Assess the claim that the Media works in ways that support the ideology of the ruling class The manipulative Marxist theory of the role of the media is that the media reflects the interests of the powerful, and supports their interests, this a conformist view, although Marxists do believe that the media act to legitimate or maintain the power of those who own the media. The ownership of the media has been largely concentrated and the views expressed are essentially conservative. A known theorist is Ralph Miliband who in his book "The state in Capitalist society" argues that the owners of the media exert a direct influence over there staff, this is shown in the content of their newspapers. Marxists also think that those who control the media support their social position in dominant times by exerting their beliefs and values through the media. It's also argued that the media's effect on commodity consumption because of the commercial advertising that newspapers carry, through this it is believed that the capitalist class manages to maintain it's economic power through the advertising revenue collected. ...read more.

Middle

He aimed to unify social theory and practice and to challenge what he saw as orthodox Marxism, hegemony for him was a way in which worker's would accept leadership through processes of socialisation from which they accept the ideas of dominant groups as natural. Hegemonic Marxists argue with manipulative as they believe that it would be impossible for owners to have a direct influence in the day to day running of the organisation. People who believe in the hegemonic view believe that the owners of the media are white middle class, middle-aged men with a consensual view. Although this view is very different from the manipulative view it is still Marxist because of the prevailing ideas seen as pro capitalist, anti communist and against minority interest. However structuralists theorists do not see audiences as being easily manipulated, but as actively engaged in making sense of media communication. A statement by Lull in 1997 was; The ongoing manipulation of public information and imagery constructs a potent dominant ideology, which helps sustain the material and cultural interests of its creator. ...read more.

Conclusion

The strengths of the pluralist approach would be that it recognises that audiences are not passive recipients of media messages; and that they are able to make choices about what they watch, read and listen to. A second strength would be that the pluralist approach recognises bias in the media, but maintains that audiences are also able to recognise bias so the media loses the power to manipulate the public. The weaknesses of the pluralist approach would be that media diversity does not in reality mean wide ranging choice this is due to the concentration of the ownership of the media e.g. Rupert Murdoch taking control of Digital Television. A second weakness would be that journalists are closely vetted before they are recruited so very few dissident voices are heard. A final weakness would be that one question still remains; do we get the media we want, or do we learn to want what we actually get? ...read more.

The above preview is unformatted text

This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our AS and A Level Media section.

Found what you're looking for?

  • Start learning 29% faster today
  • 150,000+ documents available
  • Just £6.99 a month

or


Not the one? Search for your essay title...
  • Join over 1.2 million students every month
  • Accelerate your learning by 29%
  • Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month

See related essaysSee related essays

Related AS and A Level Media essays

  1. What do the Pluralists say about the media generally?

    the media don't persuade us directly, they do affect what we know and what we think is important. Because the media are nowadays the sole source of information for many events, issues etc. But key differences do remain between the two and these relate to the following: - The extent

  2. Assess the claim that 'The News is selected according to the demands of the ...

    that this is not necessarily the case, pointing instead to the role of power differentials and the role of dominant ideology. Other theorists would also criticize pluralism on the basis that it does not take into account individual decision making of media professionals and the impact of those decisions on media output.

  1. How does the media represent female bodies?

    10 14 5 9 49 Accompanied by positive comments 4 8 7 6 7 32 Images of women 77 84 116 104 118 531 Images of men 61 45 67 47 28 248 From this grid you can see that I included a total number of pages containing images of women.

  2. What are some of the key messages and ideas presented in the novella, Fahrenheit ...

    Bradbury conveys this criticism through the role that technology plays in a materialistic society like the one in his novel. The result of mass media and other technology is that people in Fahrenheit 451 have become monotonous and boring. Bradbury reveals this impact through Montag's wife, Mildred.

  1. CENSORSHIP - A Liberal and Conservative View

    If this security is therefore breached by the use of vulgarity, then society as a whole will diminish. The most important stance of the conservatives is perhaps the existence of hierarchy and order. To the conservative eyes inequality naturally exists, and the state plays the role of a father albeit

  2. Outline the three main approaches to Audience Studies assessing the strengths and weaknesses.

    Another weakness of the effect/hypodermic model is the fact that the research relied heavily on laboratory situations and the results cannot therefore used in everyday situations in the real world. It could also be argued that the researchers assumed the media were the most significant influence on the individuals and

  1. Media and Racism: does the British media help maintain racism?

    somebody without any prior knowledge of the Bradford riots in 2001, reading these articles would make them believe the whole incident only consisted of rioting by Asian youths against the police. My research has led me to conclude, the media does play an active role in maintaining racism but I

  2. Assess the pluralist view of media ownership

    Postmodernists support Pluralists in noting the active role audiences play, particularly in interpreting and choosing media content. However, Marxists and Neo-Marxists argue that it is media that shapes the public demand (primarily through ads), not the other way around. Pluralists also note the important role of the media regulations that prevent the media owners from dominating the output.

  • Over 160,000 pieces
    of student written work
  • Annotated by
    experienced teachers
  • Ideas and feedback to
    improve your own work