The extent of bias in the media differs but newspapers tend to be more bias due to the words they use. They use certain words to describe situations that inevitably create certain opinions. Two contrasting theories as to how bias the media is would be Marxists and Pluralist approach.
For Marxists the mass media has the power to control and influence people in society. They believe that the media are the means by which the ideas of the ruling class maintain their dominance as the ruling class. Ruling class ideas control the information we have about the world because capitalists have access (own) the resources which enable its members to present their ideas as normal and portray capitalism in a positive light and maintain the status quo of society. This in turn then creates a false consciousness amongst the masses.
Manipulative Marxism emphasises the media as a form economic capitalism. This is where the media can be manipulated for the masses to stay in a false consciousness. It is seen as agents of social control were the dominant ideology is transmitted. It can be seen as more important than religion as a source of ideological control. Marxist see the owners of mass media as a small select group of elite who try to control the masses by projecting capitalism positively preventing the working class from developing a class consciousness and preventing a revolution from occurring. As there is only a view owners within mass media there is a lack of diversity in what is being portrayed to the masses. This can be seen as bias as the masses do not have a choice as to what they are being subjected to through the media. The masses will, in reality only have access to the information the ruling class see as norm and they will just accept the status quo. As they are all owned by the same few companies businesses within them help promote each other’s operations which can be seen as restricting the masses to only capitalist ideologies. For example, Rupert Murdoch will promote a Fox movie through other outlets, such as his newspapers.
Hegemonic Marxism uses the concept of hegemony to demonstrate that the powerful have to engage in a cultural struggle to maintain their control (neo Marxism). This is where the ruling class project a culture which reflects their own norms and values and don’t extent to any other views. They do this by for example, news articles that they feel is newsworthy therefore the masses will feel it as newsworthy and important. This position allows us to see the subtlety of the process of capitalist control. Neo Marxist sees the media's message as coded so to help the masses understand the world and link event to make them seem important. As it is capitalists who control the media, they are therefore dictating to the masses what they should see as important through these coded messages, maintaining their power and control.
Marxist view is a strong analysis of the mass media as a source of inequality within society and helps explain bias in the media. It is also a good at explaining the power of the media through concentration of ownership. For example, only 5 co operations own all of America’s media which gives them huge power and control.
Marxist theory can be criticised as it underestimates the fact that the masses have the ability to make their own mind up over what they see/hear/read. It assumes the masses will believe everything the ruling class project to them and cannot reject it. As mass media is so interactive now, it is possible for capitalist ideology to be challenged by the masses.
The extent of bias in the media differs but newspapers tend to be more bias due to the words they use. They use certain words to describe situations that inevitably create certain opinions. A Marxists view of media bias can be seen in studies by the Glasgow Media Group. They have argued that both BBC News and ITN cannot refrain from editorialising and fall short of their legal obligation to present political and industrial news in a balanced, neutral and objective fashion. They argue that television news does not reflect the full range of views, they undemocratic in its choice of who is allowed to speak. It also ar that
the dominant ideology works in the production of television news. In addition, they seen a clear distinction between the distorted false consciousnesses generated by The extent of bias in the media differs but newspapers tend to be more bias due to the words they use. They use certain words to describe situations that inevatabley create certain opions. the media and the independent reality of events found in true consciousness. For example, viewers were given a misleading portrayal of industrial disputes in the UK when measured against the independent reality of events. More recent support for the Marxist approach can be found in the Glasgow media Groups more recent study “Bad news from Israel (2004) As well as looking at the way the conflict was covered , it also studied the coverage in relation to the understanding, believes and attitudes of the audience. The study found that a bias towards official ‘Israeli perspectives’, particularly BBC 1, where Israelis were interviewed or reported more than twice as much as Palestinians. In addition the study found that there was a strong emphasis on the Israeli casualties, relative to Palestinians, although two to three times more Palestinians than Israelis died. Although the studies conducted by the Glasgow media group was first to make links to semiology, it underestimates the ability of consumers to make up their own minds.
In contrast the pluralist approach sees the media as being unbiased and that no one group or elite dominate society. Pluralists believe that the mass media is reflective of social reality, and acts as a 'mirror'. They state that it has a functional role in meeting the demands of its mass audience, and thus owes a duty to the people. Power is dispersed within society and that different pressure and interest groups all influence the media. Pluralists also share the view that media content is reflective of the audiences interests, an example of this is how coverage of 'immigrants' is often very negative in 'The Sun', a tabloid newspaper. Pluralists feel that media is responsive to both market and public demand. The audience is a dictator in terms of what it wants in media content. The pluralist theory disputes Marxist theory that concentration of ownership is important in controlling the masses. Pluralists state that ownership and control is detached due to the fact it is impossible for individuals such as Rupert Murdoch to make every decision regarding media. Thus there is a divorce between ownership and control; this is also due to the presence of chief executive officers and shareholders. They argue that if the media is bias then this is merely a reflection of what people want and think.
The pluralist approach is strong in recognising the range and diversity within mass media. It is a more likely theory to explain mass media in today’s more interactive society. The recent phone hacking scandal suggests that employees at News International newspapers have been prepared to break the law in order to secure information which has infringed individual privacy. However you might also argue that the fact that this story has come to light in the mass media illustrates its investigative qualities which also provides some support for the pluralist approach to the study of the mass media and that if Rupert Murdoch's plans to take full ownership of BSkyB are blocked this will help to restrict the extent of monopoly ownership and control within the mass media therefore restricting bias opinion projected in the mass media. The pluralist approach can be critised for not recognising the clear evidence of bias.
Although the pluralist approach may be seen as a more modern view of the mass media and does recognise consumer choice, it is evident that the mass media are clearly bias and our views may be distort our views of the world as we see it through “their” eyes and a neutral view is very rarely shown in mediums such as newspapers and 24hour news channels.