Summary Chapters 1-5 – Mid-Term MP&1

Chapter 1

Fundamental questions to ask whilst studying mass media:

1. Who owns the media – and why does this matter?2. How are media products created?3. What should be government’s relation to regulating the media?4. Why are some images and ideas so prevalent in the mass media, while others are

marginalised?5. How has growth in mass media influenced the political process?6. What impact are mass media having on our society and on our world?7. How do people use and interpret the mass media?8. How do new media technologies develop, and hat is the effect or technological

change?9. What is the significance of the increasing globalisation of mass media

Multi-tasking: using more than one form of media at a time

Reader: another term for receiver or audience that implies that people actively interpret the media messages they receive – implies that people interpret messages in their own way, and therefore everyone acknowledges a message differently.

“Social construction of reality”: the process of actively creating meaning of observations

Different forms of mass media:

1. Print medium: books, newspapers and pamphlets – aims to reach a large audience from a distance – limitation: needs physical distribution

2. Sound recording: phonograph LP cassette CD MP33. Film medium:

“moving pictures” cinema “talking pictures” VCR home videos DVD4. Broadcast medium: radio – no physical distribution needed, television – development

of broadcasting fundamentally changed patterns of media consumption: made it more privatised and individualised media experience

5. “New” Media: technological innovation: cable TV, satellites, Internet – caused ‘narrowcasting’: a move away from the mass broadcast audience toward smaller, more specialised niche populations (demassification)

Media & Society:

Sociology: suggests we need to look at the relationships between media and the social world (both micro and macro) in order to understand the media and its impact on our society – seeing the connections between private troubles and public issues

Mass Media in socialisation: the process whereby we learn and internalise the values, beliefs and norms of our culture and, in doing so, develop a sense of self.

It also teaches us to perform our social roles (e.g. as friend, student, citizen, etc.) The process of socialisation continues throughout life, but it is especially influential

for children and adolescents We become aware of our learned nature of our beliefs, when someone (or other

cultural group) contradicts them, calls them into question, or when we travel abroad and experience a different culture (= culture shock)

Social institutions (family, peers, school) have the responsibility to promote socialisation

In contemporary society, the mass media serve as a powerful socialising agent (e.g. news broadcasting, media reports)

Mass Media in social relations: media does not only play an important role in almost all aspects of our daily lives, but it also affects how we learn about our world and interact with others – our views on life and our knowledge are influenced/based by what we have been told by the media, not by experience

Not only are we dependent on the media for what we know, but the media also influences how we relate to what we know

Media are often also part of our most routine relationships (e.g. with family, friends Media most often act as the bridge between people’s private lives and their relation to

the public world

The importance of social relations

Our sense of identity and individuality emerges from our social interaction with others/society (e.g. education, norms, values, ‘looking-glass self’, etc.)

Sociology teaches us, that if you want to understand people’s actions, you must consider the larger social context in which they occur

All social relations are characterised by a tension between structure and agency Three types of social relations:

1. Relationships between institutions: the interactions between the media industry and the government, for example

2. Relationships without an institution: involves the interaction of individuals occupying their institutional roles and positions – e.g. the relationship between a screenwriter and the manager

3. Relationships between institutions and individuals: who are always part of larger social groups – e.g. the use of media products by audiences/readers

Structural Constraint & Human Agency

Structure suggests constraint on human action – agency indicates independent action Structure:

- Any recurring pattern of social behaviour (not physical)

- Often limits the options of many people (e.g. traditional family structure included women working at home – made it difficult for them to pursue a career)

Agency: Intentional and undetermined human action While structure constrains agency, it is human agency than maintain and alters social

structures (e.g. women began to demand the right for equality) Structure and agency in the media:

1. Relationships between institutions: how does the media industry influence non-medial social structures? How do non-medial social structures (e.g. government, economy), affect the media industry?

2. Relationships without an institution: How does the structure of the media industry affect media personnel (and indirectly media products)? How much do media personnel influence the media products (and indirectly the media industry)?

3. Relationships between institutions and individuals: How do the mass media influence the readers (audience) of media messages? How do readers interpret and use media messages?

Relationships between the media and other social institutions:

- includes the social, economic and political contexts in which media exists- Institutions outside the control of media personnel set certain legal and

economic limits within which the media must operate- In turn, media have agency in the sense of acting on their own and

influencing other social institutions – mixture of structural constraint and independent agency

- Includes questions such as: How have media affected the organisation of political campaigns? or Does it matter who owns major publishing houses or newspapers?

Relationships within the media industry:

- Includes the context in which media personnel labour – this means we must be familiar with the internal workings of mass media organisations and the processes of professional socialisation

- Sociological emphasis is on social positions, roles and practices )not on individuals)

- Issues of concern include the structures of media institutions, who wields power within them, what professional norms and expectations and associated with different positions

- The tension between structure and agency is related to how much autonomy/independence media personnel have in doing their work

- Includes questions such as: To what extent do standard journalistic practices shape the process of news reporting or the content of the news? or How “free” are musicians to create their own music

Relationships between the media and the public:

- Occurs when the media deliver messages to readers- Interest is in how readers interact with media products and technology- Holds the idea that readers are not passive audiences that soak up the many

messages they come across in the media (one-way relationship), but they actively interpret media messages

- Audiences must rely on other resources to make sense of media messages- Relevant resources include knowledge and information gained from

personal experience, other people, formal education, or other media products.

- People constantly draw on collective resources and experiences that are shaped by social factors in constructing their own individual interpretations of media messages.

- Includes questions as: How powerful are media images in shaping how we think and feel? or Do the media affect how people are likely to behave?

Model of Media and Social World

Media Industry: - the entire organisational structure that makes up the media - affected by changes in technology but also instrumental for influencing the

direction/application of technology- the producer of the media message/product

Readers/Audiences: - May be influenced by the media messages they see- Must actively interpret and construct meaning from messages/products

Technology: - Its direction and development is affected by how the readers/audience

choose to use it, or not to use it. - Has a potential impact on the public – a lot of/little attention required

Medial message/product: - Developed by media industry- Affects the reader/audience

Social world: all factors not included in the four boxes (that are involved in our daily lives) that are crucial for an understanding of the workings of the media (e.g. government and economic forces = non-media social factors )

Top and bottom boxes include human agents (real people) and left and right boxes include human creations

All components of the model relate to other components

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Chapter 2

Production perspective: a sociological perspective that suggests that we cannot look at media products in a vacuum. Instead, we should see media products as the result of a social process of production that occurs within an institutional framework.

Media Ownership

The ownership of the media is becoming increasingly concentrated in fewer and fewer hands.

Conglomeration: media companies have become part of much larger corporations, which own a collection of other companies that may operate in highly diverse business areas (e.g. The Walt Disney Company – p. 41)

Vertical integration: the process by which one owner acquires all aspects of production and distribution of a single type of media product (e.g. a book company buying different agencies to better control its entire process – paper mills, printing facilities, book stores)

Horizontal integration: the process by which one company buys different kinds of media, concentrating ownership across differing types of media (rather than ‘up and down’ through one industry) – (e.g. media companies assemble TV stations, book publishers, music labels, etc., to support its operations) = cross promotion

Consequences of Conglomeration & Integration

Integration & Self-promotion: owners perceive such arrangements as both efficient and profitable

Synergy: the dynamic where components of a company work together to produce benefits that would be impossible for a single, separately operated unit of the company.

Consequence of integration: an increase in media cross-promotion and a decrease in media products that are not suitable for cross promotion

Consequence of conglomeration: - media has turned from respectable news divisions to a necessary commitment

to make a profit

Readers / Audience

Medial message/product Technology

Media Industry

Social world

- creates Hollywoodisation: to attract audiences, an increased emphasis has been placed on entertainment and celebrities on the network news

- corporate takeovers of print media have put the emphasis on attracting and entertaining consumers, rather than on informing citizens – sensationalism

- leads to increased bottom-line pressure (jobs – taken away from people with journalistic experiences and replaced by people from the business world)

Effects of concentration

Media Control & Political power: state ownership and the government’s control of the media affects the media product (e.g. censorship, propaganda – Berlusconi)

It becomes more difficult for alternative media voices to emerge (e.g. gay and lesbians on prime time television) – also in political sense

Freedom of the press may be left to those few who can afford to own what has become a very expensive ‘press’.

Mass media institutions have become no different from other social institutions; they are linked to the patterned inequality that exists throughout our society

Media Ownership & Content Diversity

Media owned by few will lead to products that lack diversity – as ownership becomes increasingly concentrated, the content of media will become increasingly uniform.

The Homogenisation Hypothesis (Bagdikian, 2000): the absence of competition in the media industry will lead inevitably to homogeneous media products that serve the interests of the increasingly small number of owners.

The Local Newspaper Monopoly (Entman, 1989): looked at local newspaper competition and asked whether monopoly ownership matters – no consistent relationship between newspaper competition and news diversity; argues that diversity in news content can be understood in two terms:

- Vertical diversity: the range of actor mentioned and the degree of disagreement in a single newspaper

- Horizontal diversity: the differences in content between two newspapers(Quasi-monopoly: joint-ownership agreements, whereby the same company owns two papers, or two companies jointly operate two papers in the same area)

- Entman’s study reveals that concentration of ownership does NOT create homogenisation

The Music Industry: Peterson & Berger (1975) argue that high market concentration leads to homogeneity, which a competitive market leads to diversity

- Two components of diversity: different songs that made the top 10 list each year (increase in numbers reflects increase in diversity) and the number of ‘new’ and ‘established’ artists who made the top 10 list (new artists are a reflection of diversity/established artists are a reflection of standardisation)

- Conclusion: a loosening of market concentration through increased competitions permits greater innovation and diversity in popular music

Mass Media for Profit

Media has one underlying goal (in a capitalist system): the creation of products that will earn financial profits

Prime-time profits: bottom-line profit pressures set the framework for programming decisions – executives achieve profits by broadcasting programmes that will attract large audiences, but also follow a ‘logic of safety’, by minimising risky programmes.

The television business has changed over the decades: nowadays more cable television networks have arisen, which leads to overall lower ratings and the costs of producing network television dramas/sitcoms continues to escalate – these two aspects makes running a newsmagazine more attractive (less costly, can be produced in-house)

Profit & the News Media

News outlets have two ways to enhance their profits: cut costs or increase revenues, or the following strategies:

1. Decrease the number of journalists2. Use journalistic and production staff on multiple company-owned news

outlets3. Cut back on long-term investigative reporting that produces a small number

of stories4. Use a larger percentage of wire services reports5. At TV stations, use video public relations segments (reports that have been

prepared and provided free of charge by public relations firms) in newscasts6. Rely on a small number of elites (who are easy and inexpensive to reach) as

regular news sources7. Focus the news on preplanned official events (which are easy and

inexpensive to cover) instead of less routine happenings8. Focus coverage on a limited number of institutions in a handful of big cities

These methods do have consequences: - The media will like make news coverage which is more focussed on elites

and governments - It creates only few legitimate news sources - The media will become more entertainment/sensationalist focussed - There will be more focus on marketing the news instead of reporting it

The impact of advertising

It is the key source of revenue for mass media sources Because the advertisers are doing the most important buying, the principle ‘products’

being sold are the audiences, not the mass media sources, or programmes produced by media organisations.

Advertising and the Press in the 19th Century

The British Press: - British newspapers gradually won their freedom from government and party

control as they shifted to a financial structure that relied on advertising - They achieved a kind of economic independence- Competition rose between radical and advertised press- The papers that had advertisements were able to be produced cheaply and

with more pages, contained both news and ads. This pushed up the cost of producing a competitive newspaper. This made it difficult for papers without ads to compete.

- This led to the downfall of radical papers, which led to the end of a national radical press in England.

- Therefore, the introduction of advertising and the subsequent decline of the radical press resulted in newspapers that provided a more limited view of events than they had before.

The U.S. Press:- Until the late 1800s, U.S. newspapers had been largely funded and controlled

by political parties, politicians and partisan organisations. After that, the news shifted to a commercially based press due to a change in the definition of a newspaper’s purpose. – commercialisation

- This shift shaped news content in 2 ways: 1. news purveyors began to avoid controversy, preferring instead a

blander product that would be likely to attract and not offend large audiences as well as advertisers – instead of focussing on substantive political news, it contained a variety of features (sports, fashion, etc.)

2. newspapers became advocate for their newfound economic patrons – direct political influence was achieved only by introducing a new business influence. – the financial role of advertising shaped daily practices within the news industry and transformed the meaning of news for both producers and consumers

Advertising and the Contemporary News Media

Advertisers are still the dominant source of revenue for news media – it is a force that provides both motivations and constraints that influence the news.

MTV: low cost TV network, due to the fact that the videos are advertising for the music industry.

Narrowcasting: cable TV programmes /TV networks that target specific audience segments instead of aiming for a mass audience (e.g. a cooking show vs. a sitcom) – makes sure advertiser reaches desirable audience

Chapter 3

Difference between democratic societies and totalitarian nations:

Totalitarian nations: the state largely dominates the potential agency of the media – the emergence of underground media is common in such situations, affirming the active agency of citizens in even the bleakest of circumstances.

Democratic societies: pride themselves on protecting freedom of the press and freedom of expression – characterised by a more diverse mix of public and privately owned media outlets offering a variety of information and entertainment. (still largely controlled by commercial corporations

Governments in general can either constrain or promote the free activity/agency of the media (=tension between structure and agency as it applies to media and the political world)

Common features of Media Regulation Debates

Radio piracy: the struggle between micro-broadcasters and commercial media corporations

Not all media are alike when it comes to regulation – the rules regulating media have historically differed among the three basic types of communication media: print media, broadcast media and common carriers (e.g. mail system, telephone, computer networks)

This is also due to technological differences (e.g. rise of the Internet) This shows that everyone involved with the media wants governmental regulation –

but they disagree on what kind of government regulation should exist. Also shows that regulation constraining the behaviour of one actor benefits others

The ‘First’ Freedom

First amendment of the U.S. Constitution = Freedom of the Press: the government should take a ‘hands-off’ approach toward the media

Includes ‘Copyright’ laws – protects publishers and authors The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) has a responsibility for the issuance

of licenses, the setting of some charges, and the enforcement of communication rules (for example, to regulate the forming of monopolies on media).

European approach to regulating media:

Broadcast regulation began early as an outgrowth of regulations affecting wireless telegraphy – meant creating a state monopoly system (e.g. BBC)

Europeans adopted an approach that involved direct government operation of the media as a technique to avoid signal interference. The result was a system that:

1. Emphasised public service2. Was national in character3. Was politicised4. Was non-commercial

This form of media regulation has changed over the years, giving way to more open competition between public broadcasters and commercial stations

Regulating Ownership & Control

Regulating ownership of media outlets: 1. The media technology has changed from smaller print media outlets, to

broadcast media (e.g. Internet), which are able to reach millions of people.2. The ownership patterns have changed – the amount of investment capital

necessary to product major state-of-the-art media products is enormous. – freedom of the press exists only for those who can afford it (in the past small publishers of pamphlets were enough)

Regulating ownership of programming:1. Copyright laws protect the interests of artists, writers and the media industry

by banning the unauthorised use or reproduction of many media-related products.

2. The government is also concerned with avoiding monopolistic ownership of media property – FCC regulated the ownership and control of TV programming through so-called ‘Fin-Syn’ rules (financial interest and syndication rules) – limited the ability of the three major American TV networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) to acquire financial interests or syndication rights (=selling the rights to rebroadcast a program) in TV programming– rules changed after two decades

Regulating ownership and control of technology:1. The question who is to control pre-existing and new mass media technologies

(e.g. digitalisation – the Internet).2. Rules were made to ensure the limitations of telephone companies, digital

TV providers and Internet services, for example 3. Rules were also made to ensure antimonopoly – e.g. the antitrust lawsuit

against the Microsoft Corporation (Windows was used on more than 90% of all computers, and IE was forced on nearly every computer as well)

Regulating Media Content & Distribution

Diversity vs. Property rights: - calls for media regulation come from both liberals and conservatives- Liberals:

See the government’s role in media regulation as one of protecting the public against the domination of the private sector

Tries to protect the public interest against monopolistic corporate practices

Support regulation and publicly owned media (e.g. PBS, NPR)- Conservatives:

See any form of government’s involvement as meddling in the free market

Support property rights and the free-market system Conservatives tend to advocate a laissez-faire (let it be, leave it alone)

approach by government Caution against the dangers of bureaucratic government intervention

and the tyranny of ‘politically correct’ calls for diversity See the marketplace as a place where ideas and products stand or fall

based on the extent of their popularity Are in favour of regulating material they deem unsuitable (e.g. sex

and violence to protect children and minors)- Fairness Doctrine: introduced to promote serious coverage of public issues

and to ensure diversity by preventing any single viewpoint from dominating coverage – the doctrine was abolished as a counterargument was that the premise of broadcast-frequency scarcity on which it was built was no longer an issue.

Regulating for morality

Ratings and Warnings: content is regulated by industry self-regulation, rather than formal government involvement (e.g. rating system for viewers – G, PG, PG-13, etc.)

Outlawing and Controlling Distribution: the suggestion that distributors should not sell obscene recordings, or control the distribution of them, to minors (age limits for magazines, special time slots for obscene TV programmes)

Issue of violence: children are too often exposed to violence on mass media, which can lead to more violent behaviour, increased fearfulness for violence, or increased insensitivity about violence directed at others (=bystander effect).Views on television violence:

1. The marketplace should determine programming and, therefore, no government regulation is needed

2. There should be total ban on television violence, calling it a threat to public health

3. Violent programming should be limited to certain times of the day when young children are less likely to be watching TV (most common view)

4. Ratings and the ‘V-chip’ should be used for violence on TV

Regulating for Accuracy: Advertising

The agencies of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the government protect the public against fraudulent or deceptive advertising.

The Government regulates advertising for possibly harmful products, such as alcohol and tobacco (e.g. advertisements for cigarettes have become illegal).

The government has also acted at times to limit the total amount of advertising aimed at children

Regulating in the ‘National Interest’: Media and the Military

There has always been a tension between the media’s rights to provide information to the public and the government’s need to protect sensitive information during times of war – dramatic change in friendly relationship between media and government changed during the Vietnam War

Informal, Political, Social & Economic Pressure

The most obvious players in the debates over the media are media critics, the media related think-tanks, the citizen-activists and local, regional, and national organisations that are exclusively devoted to media-related issues (e.g. violence, political diversity)

Chapter 4

Decision- making environment of prime-time television:

Economic constraints: TV programmes must correspond to the current mood of the audience, and the programme must contain appeal, to meet profit requirements

Economic forces: identify the goals and shape the terrain of the decision-making process, but human actors must assess both programme and audience in the effort to deliver the correct product (often through the imitation of current popular programmes)

Political constraints: includes government regulations – do not always determine what media organisations will do, as the media sometimes ignore, reinterpret, challenge or block regulations. The media can block external regulations by engaging in a public form of self-regulation (e.g. film ratings and warning labels)

Organisation of Media Work

Maintaining the existence of an organisation points different individuals within that organisation in the same direction (media personnel are shaped by the needs of an organisation)

Media workers must also negotiate the terms of their cooperation before each new endeavour (emphasises the capacity for independent action but ignores the constraints under which media personnel labour)

Convention: a practice/technique that is widely used in a field (e.g. a news format that includes sitting in a studio at a counter or desk with one person telling the news – song structure – magazine covers with the same lay-out, etc.)

News Routine

News: information about recent important events Rationalisation: the processes of news gathering and news reporting are anticipated as

basic routines are adopted in the acquiring of news.

News organisations cast a ‘net’ made up of wire services, full-time reporters and stringers to ‘catch’ newsworthy happenings (e.g. newspapers have staff/bureaus in places they define as important – station reporters at important places)

Beats: a series of official locations that become site where reporters are stationed – central to how reporters detect events. – bring reporters in contact with news and newsmakers

Due to the fact that news is routinised, a lot of other important newsworthy happenings are missed and not shown in the media.

Front page: - identifies the editors’ selection of the most important events of the day- influences which stories will be the most visible- provides a key measure of success for reporters

Selected through various norms:- The timeliness of a story- Its impact on the community- The prominence of the participants in the events- Combination of important international, national, regional & featured news

Objectivity

“The belief in objectivity is a faith in fact, a distrust of values, and a commitment to their segregation”- Schudson (1978) = a doctrine that perceives the separation of ‘fact’ and ‘value’ as a messy business that require the use of a method, or set of practices, to ensure their separation.

Key practices/conventions to obtain objectivity: 1. Maintain political neutrality2. Observe current standards of decency and good taste3. Use documentary reporting practices, which rely on physical evidence4. Use standardised formats to package the news5. Train reporters as generalists instead of specialists6. Use editorial review to enforce these methods

Occupational roles & professional socialisation

Roles: the bundles of expectations that are associated with different social positions- Become apparent when role expectations are breached- Also become apparent when we have to learn a new one (e.g. starting new

job)- The concept of role highlights the significance of external social controls –

individual behaviour is both patterned by and influenced by broader social forces

- Are not rigid – they don’t dictate specific behaviours as individuals have a great deal of room for negotiation within the framework of the roles they occupy

- Are not static or permanent – they are dynamic and changeable over time due to the alteration of social conditions/historical contexts – solution: focus on specific genres (e.g. comedy) or time periods (e.g. 1920’s, American Dream)

Socialisation: the process by which we learn the basic ground rules of a role

Photography

Photographers in different work settings take on different roles – each may use similar equipment, yet each has a different role, with different sets of tasks, expectations and norms (e.g. photojournalist vs. advertising photographer)

Socialisation of photography: allows the beginner to move beyond the technical aspects of the work and learn how to conceptually see images in ways that are distinct to the professional photojournalist/ad photographer – includes how to anticipate action and plan shots in advance

Photos taken should document happenings, not transform them – unobtrusiveness Framework for photographers:

- Photographers are expected to produce images that fit the standard scripts - Role expectations: should have good news judgement and be able to produce

images that can tell various aspects of the story

Norms on the Internet

Netiquette: the body of norms on the Net – often regulated by users themselves Socialisation: often electronic ‘how-to’ manuals are distributed, and most web pages

have a ‘FAQ’s’ page. This helps socialise new members on the workings of the Internet

Chapter 5

Ideology: a system of meaning that helps define and explain the world and that makes value judgements about that world – includes:

• Belief systems, values, worldview • Broader system of meaning • Thinking and defining social and cultural issues • not how real, but how is reality understood • the media sell certain messages and worldviews • e.g. economic news is based on the investor (business) perspective, and not the consumer’s point of view – only experts’ views are being used• ideology operates by normalizing a particular perspective on the world

Dominant ideology: the media promote the worldview of the powerful vs.Cultural contradictions: mass media texts include more contradictory messages, both expressing the ‘dominant ideology’ and at least partially challenging world views.

Culture wars: a situation where fundamental issues of morality are being fought, that the media is at the centre of (different parties promote their views via the media)

Ideology as Normalisation:

The accumulation of media images suggest what is ‘normal’ and what is ‘abnormal’ – as have a y to display a narrow range of behaviours and lifestyles, marginalising and/or neglecting people who are ‘different’ from the mass-mediated norm.

Some groups (political parties) fear that media images normalize specific social relations, making certain ways of behaving seem unexceptional – due to patterns in media texts

Popularity is more important to media producers than a commitment to any specific ideology (main goal is to make profit)

Roots of Ideological Analysis

Karl Marx (1818-1883)- Ideology: economic-class terms that capitalists had a class interest in the

accumulation of capital through the exploitation of labour, and which celebrates individualism and the free market.

- Economic Determination: economics are the driving force of society- Base-Superstructure: clear and concrete world is the base, politics and culture are

the top layer built upon that base- False consciousness: ideology is a powerful mechanism of social control whereby

members of the ruling class imposed their worldview, which represented their interests, on members of subordinate classes – the people who accepted the ideology projected on them were said to have false consciousness, because their worldview served the interests of others

- Social revolution: depended on the working class breaking free of the ideas of the ruling class and moving beyond their false consciousness – and developing a revolutionary consciousness that represented their material interests as workers

- Class Structure: scarcity causes class differences- Future: labour class will grow and capitalism will implode- QUESTION OF POWER

Marx and the media

Theodor Adorno (1903-1969), Dialektik der Aufklärung- mass culture is the people's opium- systematic repetition numbs the mind and destroys the ability to think critically- mass culture is filled with capitalistic ideology of the upper class- Frankfurter Schüle (Adorno, Horkheimer, Habermas, Marcuse, Wittfogel)

Hegemony

the dominance or leadership of one social group or nation over others According to Antonio Gramsci (Italian Marxist - The Prison Note Books - 1891 -

1937), hegemony:- connects questions of culture, power & ideology

- ruling groups can maintain their power through force (requires the use of institutions, e.g. military to maintain obedience), consent, or a combination of the two

- consent is exercised through cultural leadership: ruling groups in a society actively seek to have their worldview accepted by all members of society as the universal way of thinking – institutions (schools, religion, media) help the powerful exercise this cultural leadership, as they are the sites where we produce and reproduce ways of thinking about society

- One of the most effective ways of ruling is through the shaping of commonsense assumptions – what we take for granted exists in a realm that is uncontested, where there is neither a need nor room for questioning assumptions

- “Natural”: something we can define – in opposition to culture (since nature is perceived to be beyond human control) – when situations are natural, then there is little reasons to be concerned about these issues because they are not social problems but the natural order of things (e.g. economic inequality)

- Hegemony class struggle (involves ideas and ideology): rulers try to maintain their power by defining the assumptions on which the society rests and incorporate potentially opposing forces into the basic ideological framework.

- agency- dialectic instead of determinist- Gramsci: hegemony is a process that is always in the making (not permanent)

Stuart Hall (1932 - ): - Argues that mass media are one of the principal sites where the cultural leadership,

the work of hegemony, is exercised- The media are involved in “the politics of signification”: the media produce

images of the world that give events particular meanings - Media images do not simply reflect the world, they re-present it: instead of

reproducing the reality of the world ‘out there’, the media engage in practices that define reality.

- The media have the power to signify events in a particular way - media representations have the tendency to reproduce the basic stories and values that are the underpinnings of this hegemony

- us vs. them (e.g. in action-adventure films: good vs. bad, villain vs. hero, in-group vs. out-group, strengths vs. weaknesses, courage vs. cowardice)

- Birmingham Centre of Contemporary Cultural Studies

Ideology gives meaning and defines:

– tells us what is normal and what is deviant – tells us who is normal and who is deviant – tells us about behavior

is a construct and dynamic: – no singular media – historical roots

is a system of ideas (e.g. Vietnam Films: to help the US overcome the ‘Vietnam Syndrome’ through a process of ‘remasculinisation’ – masculinity defined by its toughness is reasserted in the face of the threats of the threats in Vietnam)

we have to be careful when we make generalisations about the ideological content of the media, as we are usually talking about a specific medium or media texts, and not the media in general (which signifies the multiple organisations/technologies of media)

News media and the limits of debate Journalists find themselves in the middle of debate, as being ‘too left’ or ‘too right’

causes uproar News focuses on powerful people and institutions and generally reflects established

interests Two of the most prominent enduring values in the news are ‘social order’ and

‘national leadership’ (Gans, 1979) News presents images of the world that are significantly lacking in diversity – has

consequences for the way the news depicts the political world Insider: a nature of politics where a small group of analysts are regular commentators

and news sources, regardless of the wisdom of their previous commentary or of their prior actions when they occupied the position of power – ‘expert’ (e.g. CNN effect)

This approach to the news does little to inform the public of positions outside this limited range of opinion, as it implicitly denies that other positions should be taken seriously

The news is ideological in drawing boundaries between what is acceptable – the conventional ideas of insiders – and what is not

Television

The dominant form of media in the late 20th century (large audience, covers other forms of media – e.g. in sitcoms, programmes, etc.)

Television relies almost exclusively on conventional ‘realist’ forms of image construction that mask the workings of the camera

Therefore, people do not confuse televised image with our real world/life Still, part of the allure of television is that it seems real – we routinely defer disbelief

while we are watching Television also portrays stereotypical ‘American family’

- 1950s/1960s: white, middle class, happy and secure family (e.g. ‘Father Knows Best’)

- 1970s: “turn to relevance”- social and political issues were discussed through the television family (e.g. ‘All in the Family’) – also more focus on relationships between co-workers – “work-families”

- Mid 1970s: the family was depicted as a source of conflict and struggle as well as comfort and love – social problems made their way into the TV

family. (aim was to target young, urban, highly educated viewers – appealing to advertisers)

- 1990s: new kind of ‘family’ image – close-knit friendship circles (e.g. Friends)

These examples show that television programmes and the ideology they circulate are far from static – they are part on the ongoing ideological contest to shape the definition of a proper family

Occurring limitations: rarely see interracial or gay and lesbian families in popular TV

Rap music

Rap should be understood as a mass mediated critique of the underlying ideology of mainstream (American) society (Rose, 1994)

Rap lyrics are intended to convey a sense of social realism’ that ‘loosely resembles a sort of street ethnography of racist institutions and social practices, but told more often than not in the first person’ (Kelley, 1994)

Rap music is often a critique of institutions (e.g. criminal justice system, police, educational system, etc.)

Rap is often full of ideological contradictions – they critique the institutions of society as being racist, yet the lyrics and imagery are often sexist and homophobic

Rap’s commercial success is due to the fact that the music is very popular among white suburban youth

The ideology of rap is often masked and most accessible to those who know the black urban culture that forms its roots – thus, black youth may interpret the rap differently to white youth, even though they both may enjoy the music

Rap is nowadays about selling records and products as much as it is a place to express oppositional thoughts – commercialisation of music (music used to sell products as well)

The working of rap music is an example of how hegemony works: they are contradictory, and can be oppositional, yet it is hard to maintain this limited form of critique.

Commercialisation: a large part of the process – as critical media products have a tendency to become incorporated into mass, commercial products.

Advertising & Consumer Culture

Ads are so deeply embedded in our environment (they are everywhere) that we are likely to hear, see, and even smell them (e.g. perfume ads) without thinking twice

Ads are specific to their product of service (e.g. drinking a particular type of beer will attract women, etc.)

Ads may all tell us that a particular item will save us money, make us healthier, or that it would make a great gift for a loved one.

Ads always suggest connections between products and lifestyles and between services and states of mind and presenting information about prices, availability, etc.

All ads are fundamentally about selling – they address their audiences as consumers

Advertising raises certain values – those associated with acquiring wealth and consuming goods

Advertising also promotes a worldview that stresses the individual and the realm of private life (ignoring collective values and the terrain of the public world)

Mass advertising emerged in the 1920s, with the goal to have a coordinated ideological effort to complement their control of the workplace – to settle differences, stimulate positive habits and introduce pacifism (=all violence is unjustifiable)

At the start, advertising was more about creating consumers than selling individual products– promoting the new ‘American way’ – ads sold consumerism as a gateway to social integration in 20th century America, as an ideology that would smooth over social conflicts (especially class conflicts) and serve as a form of ‘social cement’

Women’s magazines as advertisements: promote the consumer lifestyle by showing how social status and success can be ‘bought’ in the consumer marketplace, through the usage of advertising – use both direct (ads) and covert (editorials, ‘make-over’ section) advertising to sell magazine and promote an ideology that celebrates the consumption of gender-specific products as a mean to accomplish the ‘good life’.

The dreams that American ads sell (capitalism and political freedom), are also exported all around the world (e.g. Coca Cola, Levis, Hollywood films, etc.) – actually exporting the American way of life (e.g. Friends)

Culture has therefore become increasingly global, with media images circulating across national boundaries

Secondary discourses: the ideas about social relationships that are embedded within ads that we must look at when analysis ads ideologically (O’Barr, 1994) – how ads covey messages about social life at the same time that they try to promote a specific product (important to look at context, setting, characteristics of actors and interaction between actors)

Three main categories of ads that feature images of foreigners (O’Barr): - Travel ads (depicted as the ‘others’ – available for entertainment of tourists)- Product endorsements (make connections between the advertised product

and associations people have with foreign countries – make products look exotic, as people from foreign countries are seen as more primitive and sexual)

- International business ads (due to globalization – emphasise that Americans and foreigners share a perspective and have a common set of goals – “people just like us”)