Letter From Birmingham: The Mass Media As A Form Of Ideology

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Letter From Birmingham: The Mass Media As A Form Of Ideology

Thursday, 12 January 2012 01:04

(Column) - In my this piece, I will be discussing the view that mass media functions as a form of ideology in modern societies. The piece will first look at the definition of ideology before examining the functions of the mass media in modern societies as a form of ideology citing some theoretical work.

Ideology according to L. Taylor. & A. Willis. (1999) is a complex term with a number of sometimes contradictory meanings.

Hall, S. (1981) defined ideology as “those images, concepts and premises which provide the frameworks through which we represent, interpret, understand and ‘make sense’ of some aspect of social existence.” PK_Jarju

The concept has a long tradition in the literature and has therefore been used in a variety of contexts. Much of the field takes its cue from Marx and Marxist interpretations of ideology, which direct our attention to the various ways in which the ideas and actions of a certain (ruling or dominant) class serve to include some, exclude others, and generally succeed in naturalising social relations and practices in a given context.

According to Marx, in their endeavour to persuade the rest of society that a continuation of the status was in their interest as well, the ruling class always numb any radical instincts, so that their own values could prevail.

The mass media according to Althusser (1971) is one agent that perpetuates these within a society, as are the government, the church, culture and the education system.
Media texts can be understood in ideological terms as forms of communication that privilege certain sets of ideas and neglect or undermine others. The mass media in modern societies are owned and used by powerful social groups to reproduce their social and economic power. They assist in the maintenance of ideas and beliefs that work to reproduce the existing political order and the dominance of the ruling political order.

The mass media indoctrinates, manipulates and promote a false consciousness which is immune against its falsehood.

In the United Kingdom and the United States of America for example, the private media is the hands of press barons who are often part of international business conglomerates, which have financial interest in other sectors of the communication industry such as local radios, television and films. And as a result, these owners produce texts that always reflect their values and ideologies.

Furthermore, owners and producers of the mass media act as gate keepers and the texts they produce are no longer an accurate and balance recording or reporting of events but a synthetic, value-laden account which carries within it the dominant assumption and ideas of the society within which they are produced. Most of these owners and producers have a middle-class outlook which they inject into their interpretation of the news and current events.

Coxwall, B. & Robbins, L. (1998) argues that: “The media values of professional journalists together with traditionally pro-conservative bias found most explicitly in the press means that the mass media fail to reflect the values found in society at large. In particular, working-class views do not find expression in the media.”

The mass media structure the complexities of the social world and make it understandable to readers, listeners and viewers. For example, journalists invariably use consensus view of society as a framework which is imposed on their reporting in order to explain and make sense out of events. In doing this, the media focus a lot of attention on elites and present images of the world that are significantly lacking in diversity.

In the United Kingdom for example, knowing that only a small proportion of the population is actively engaged in politics and heavily depend on the mass media for information, the mass media plays a much more creative role in shaping people’s ideas, attitude, beliefs and actions. In other words, the mass media do not simply reflect public opinion so much as help to mould it in the first place.

They also present their dominant ideas and values in such a way which allows them to seem as though they are working in the interest of those they in fact help to subordinate. An example might be that in some texts, such as action films like Die Hard trilogy starring Bruce Willis or the Lethal Weapon series starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover in which solving problems with force is seen as an acceptable value and reflects a certain ideology.

Another example is the Missing in Action film starring Chuck Norris and the Rambo series starring Sylvester Stallone. The films portrayed Vietnamese as savage and brutal enemies who deserved no better treatment but to be killed by Norris and Stallone as they liberate the American soldiers who were captured during the Vietnam War.

The ideological work of the films depicts American soldiers as the good guys, brave men and winners of the war. The films as Croteau, D & Hoyness, W. (2003) observed: “Serves as a kind of redemption for a country unable to accept defeat in Vietnam and still struggling with the shame of loss. If the United States did not win the Vietnam War on the battlefield, the movies allow its citizens to return in the world of film fantasy to alter the end of the story. In these stories, there is no longer shame or defeat but instead pride, triumph, and a reaffirmation of national strength.”

Another way in which the mass media functions as an ideology is through advertisement. Modern society is bombarded with so many forms of advertisements in the form of videos, texts and images, which treat them as consumers and that happiness and satisfaction can be purchased.

The media and other cultural texts hail or call up readers and in the process position them in relation to what they are consuming. And as a result, the individual sees him/herself as a sovereign, autonomous individual. In so doing, the individual mistakes these positions as being natural and inherent in themselves.

To conclude this discussion, I strongly believe in the notion that the mass media functions as an ideology in modern societies, as there is there is a link between the power structure of society and the output of the mass media.

Comments

0 #1 2012-01-12 11:09

Furthermore, owners and producers of the mass media act as gate keepers and the texts they produce are no longer an accurate and balance recording or reporting of events but a synthetic, Quote:

value-laden account which carries within it the dominant assumption and ideas of the society within which they are produced. Most of these owners and producers have a middle-class outlook which they inject into their interpretation of the news and current events.

You are spot on here mate. This is why I don't take anything I read on hear in the media face on. Many Gambian online paper have their own ideologies and writes their stories in way that makes readers assume that they are doing for their sake.
Well researched article, keep it up.

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