Theories on Media

Introduction to New Media

The media is a way to spread information through written, audial, or visual means. (Ideological state apparatus).

Traditional Media

New Media

Refers to those mass media that communicate uniform messages in one-way, non-interactive processes to a very large audience. Traditional broadcasting - Radio 1, 2, mass circulation national and Sunday papers. There is little consumer choice beyond a few TV channels, radio stations or newspapers

Refers to interactive screen based, digital (computer) technology involving the integration of images, text, and sound. This also includes the technology used for distribution and consumption of the new digitised media content. New media includes the computer and the internet, ebooks, digital cable, and satellite, digibooks. User generated content via twitter and websites like facebook. One of the significant and popular forms of media is social media. New media gives consumers a choice.

Media - Any digital, electronic, or printed means of communication

Traditional Media - Media mass communicated through one-way methods where the audience does not have many ways to interact.

New Media - Interactive media where the audience is able to express their ideas and opinions. Involving the integration of images, texts, and sounds.

What power does the media have?

• Ideology - opinions and attitudes

• Filtering information

• Knowledge

The media has complete control over us as members of society. Through distorting and filtering information those in power of the media are able to spread and reproduce ideology (opinions and attitudes) to its users. This has a grand effect on society as a whole, for example hate and discrimination is reproduced and legitimated through false, offensive stereotypes of minority groups (sex, race, disability). This increases social issues, for example, sexual violence, hate crimes, etc. Furthermore, this is then looped in a cycle where even more distorted and exaggerated information is shared in the media.

Media Concentration of Ownership

Media Concentration:

Bagdikian (1989):

• He argued that a handful of global media companies dominated the world’s mass media.
• He called them ‘Lords of the Global Village’.
• They controlled the distribution of information from creation to product.
• The five global-dimension firms are Walt Disney, News Corp, Time Warner, CBS, and Viacom.
• There are 6 features of the concentration of ownership (see below)

1983 - 90% of US media owned by 50 companies.

2014 - 90% of US media owned by 6 companies

• Comcast
• Newscorp
• Disney
• Viacom
• Time Warner
• CBS

6 Features of the Concentration of Ownership:

1. Vertical Integration

Where one company owns all of the stages of production of media products – for example a company owning a film production studio, and the cinema where the film is shown.

2. Horizontal Integration

Where one company diversifies to own more types of media – e.g. when a film production company also gets into book publishing.

3. Lateral Expansion or Diversification

When media companies branch out into non media areas – e.g. Virgin Media getting into trains and insurance.

4. Global Conglomeration

Where companies in one country buy up companies in other countries. News Corp, for example, owns media outlets in several different countries.

5. Synergy

Where a media product is sold in several different forms – often as a form of marketing. For example, a company produces a film for cinema, then a DVD, a T.V. spin off series, a sound track for download, maybe a cartoon strip and some action figures too.

6. Technological Convergence

Where traditional media companies link with IT companies to make sure their media products are available across several different devices.

Marxism and Neo-Marxism

Marxism and the Media: Key Assumptions

The media is an ideological state apparatus used by the ruling class to maintain power and control. It is used to:

1. Increase and maintain their wealth (through advertisement).
2. Manipulate and control the ideas of the working-class, to ensure the position of the ruling-class goes unchallenged.

Increasing Wealth of the Ruling Class:

Companies are allowed access to information about our actions on social media and our purchases online (known as ‘breadcrumbs’ or ‘cookies’) often without our knowledge or consent.

They then use this to display bespoke and targeted advertisements to encourage us to buy goods, which in turn makes the bourgeoisie more profit.

Althusser: Ideological State Apparatus

• The media is a strong force in our socialisation.
• It ensures the working-class accept capitalist ideology.
• The ISA forms a false class consciousness (unaware of social exploitation), which prevents the proletariat workers to rebel.
• Democracy undermined as the ‘truth’ portrayed in the media is constructed around capitalist values.

Millban: Justifying Capitalism

• Ruling class controls the media by deciding the content, and the way it is reported.
• Eg. they are more likely to focus on social problems that blames the working-class (eg. benefit fraud), than social problems that are the result of capitalism (eg. tax evasion).
• Prevents raising awareness of economic inequality caused by capitalism; capitalism remains unchallenged.
• Journalists will deliver news in a way that pleases the owners of their company to avoid discipline, rather than providing objective and unbiased news.
• Eg. coverage of the conflict in Iraq in the media led the public to believe the country has weapons of mass destruction, where in fact no weapons were found.

Barnett and Weymour: Passive Audience

• The owners of the media assume the audience is passive and unquestioning and therefore feed simple undemanding information to the public.
• TV is now ‘dumbed down’ (eg. love island).
• This means audiences are less educated, therefore don’t challenge the dominant ideology.

Neo-Marxism

Gramsci: Hegemonic Capitalism

• Despite capitalism being prominent in the media, at times the media challenges ruling-class ideology, providing a balanced view.
• Although ruling-class ideology is hegemonic in the media, it is not autocratic (not in the hands of one single person/government/ideology)
• Eg. journalists may agree to core capitalist values of a newspapers, such as privacy of politicians, but if the core values are adhered, journalists have some autonomy over what they report (eg. Matt Hancock affair)

Glasgow University Media Group (GUMG): Unintentional Bias

• The media does tend to support the capitalist regime, however this is an unintended byproduct of the social backgrounds of journalists, rather than a conscious capitalist conspiracy.
• Most journalists are White, middle-class, and male - and 54% of them went to a private education. They’re not motivated to challenge capitalism, but rather to keep in with the norm.
• Capitalism is presented as the ‘norm’ so the stories they choose to write generally support capitalism.

Postmodernism and Pluralism

Postmodernism and the Media: Key Assumptions

Postmodern media is linked to globalisation, and reflects the diverse views and needs of society. It reflects a shift towards individual choice.

Baudrillard: Postmodern Media and Hyper-reality

• We live in a media saturated society where the line between media and reality is blurred.
• We’re bombarded with news, images, and information which makes finding the truth very difficult - the media has a huge role in distorting our views of the world.
• Baudrillard calls the media saturated view of the world as ‘hyper-reality’
• Media is polysemic (information able to be interpreted in many different ways by different individuals) - this means publishing messages/information through media is even more difficult as it can be misinterpreted.

Levene: (Active) Audience as Creators

• The media is owned and created by both owners and audiences.
• Modern media allows it to be possible for us to create our own content (Instagram, YouTube), and disperse it to the masses (eg. vloggers).

Pluralism: Key Assumptions

Healthy competition between different media companies creates a balanced range of views which largely reflects what the consumers want to see or hear (consumer choice).

News is set by the demands of the public, rather than the ideology of the media owners. The system is democratic.

Giving Muted Groups a Voice

• There are two different groups within the media:
• Those who want to gain financially
• Those wishing to gain a shift in social attitudes.
• The second group may with to promote the interest of a smaller group of people (eg. trade unions). Pluralists are optimistic that the media can play a role in representing both of these groups.

Whale: Consumers in Control

• There are a number of different groups in society with different views.
• Surveys are often completed by those who produce media, and this information is fueled directly back into the creation of media, to ensure the public gets their way.
• The media is free from political control, and is able to present a range of views without challenge. News values are decided by the consumer because if we don’t like it, we don’t  buy it.
• Eg. Apple overtaking Blackberry.

Prevention of Bias

• Significant share of the media market is taken up by Public Service Broadcasters (PSB), such as the BBC.
• They have a legal obligation to inform, educate, and provide diverse views. They are ‘impartial’ and ‘objective’.
• There are also laws around the media which would make pushing a dominant ideology (such as capitalism) quite difficult.