The big three political/economic beliefs of media Marxist Free market Liberal Pluralist

3 views of the media Although anyone is allowed to post of social networking websites such as Facebook and Youtube, it is still the hegemony that controls these platforms and control what content is highlighted on front pages and the likes. Hegemony control all your medias. (Watson) Twitter and Facebook etc haven't changed the fact that the Hegemony has remained the same, the rich and powerful will always control the media (Pearce) I believe that all social groups have control over media in some sort of way. This is because everybody looks at media if its, magazines, websites or the tele and that has an influence on them. Therefore people in the media need to target thing at the right audience, which means social groups have great control over the media. (Shields) Because we choose what we wish to consume we instantly become the main control over the media. (Phillipson) I believe that any social group can have an influence over the media, now because of websites like youtube twitter tumbler etc.. where anybody and everybody has the chance to express there opinions and anybody can see them it is possible for anybody to develop a following and have other agree with those opinions, and because of freedom of speech we are able to have any opinion we want on anything. (Heasley) feel ANY social group can have their control over the media these days; from young to old. We all have our freedom of speech (Walmsley)

Marxism: Named after Karl Marx. "The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas: i.e. the class, which is the ruling material force of society, is at the same time its ruling intellectual force. The class which has the means of material production at its disposal, has control at the same time over the means of mental production...“ (Marx The German Ideology 1846) The group that has the most power in society, controls the ideas in society Twitter and Facebook etc haven't changed the fact that the Hegemony has remained the same, the rich and powerful will always control the media (Pearce)

Percentage of UK population Percentage of total wealth owned by people at and above this level Top 1%21% of total UK wealth 2%28% of total UK wealth 5%40% of total UK wealth 10%53% of total UK wealth 25%72% of total UK wealth 50% 93% of total UK wealth The bottom 50% have 7% of the wealth Why aren’t the bottom 50% upset by this?

How Marxists believe we are controlled is… FALSE CONSCIOUSNESS Marxists believe the capitalist media is encouraging people to: believe that capitalism is natural and desirable. Extract from 1988 movie ‘They Live’

CAPITALISMSOCIALISM

How Marxists believe we are controlled is… FALSE CONSCIOUSNESS Marxists believe the capitalist media is encouraging people to believe that capitalism is natural and desirable

How Marxists believe we are controlled is… DISTRACTION Marxists believe the capitalist media is creating media that distracts people from the inequalities of the capitalist system by giving them something else to think about.

Who are the ruling group? Antonio Gramsci, a Marxist, suggested that there are a range of powerful groups in society that control the beliefs of society. He called these groups and their beliefs - THE HEGEMONY. He suggested that the media serves the interests of the hegemony and excludes those outside the hegemony

Percentage of UK population Percentage of total wealth owned by people at and above this level Top 1%21% of total UK wealth 2%28% of total UK wealth 5%40% of total UK wealth 10%53% of total UK wealth 25%72% of total UK wealth 50% 93% of total UK wealth The bottom 50% have 7% of the wealth THE RICH How is the ideology of individual wealth made to seem natural by the media?

What percentage of women MP’s are there in parliament? a) 11% b) 21% c) 31% MEN PATRIARCHY

What percentage of women make up the managerial boards of the UK top 100 companies? a)11% b)21% c)31% MEN PATRIARCHY How would a Marxist argue that the ideology of male power is made to seem natural BY THE MEDIA?

Black University graduates earn roughly 24% less than white counterparts WHITE How would a Marxist argue the ideology of white people as the rulers of society is made to seem natural by the media?

Marxists suggest that the ruling hegemony is predominantly serving the interests of… wealthy, white, male Suits me! Rupert Murdoch, owner of The Sun, The Times, Sky, Fox has a personal wealth of 3.7 billion

Marxism: Noam Chomsky, a Marxist, suggests there is no conspiracy amongst capitalists to stop people thinking about the inequality of capitalism. However those who share the beliefs of the powerful capitalist media owners are likely to be employed and promoted to positions of power in the media. You lot off! Give us a job Rupert

Summing Up the Marxist Perspective on The Capitalist media 1)The capitalist Media communicates the beliefs and values of the capitalist hegemony 2)The capitalist Media creates a false consciousness in the individual that capitalism is natural and desirable 3)The capitalist Media distracts the masses from thinking about the inequality of capitalism 4)It is not a conspiracy but those who agree with the capitalist owners will rise to positions of power in the media

A Final Thought In my opinion, I believe that due to the increasing development of the internet, social groups which were once considered to have no control over the media are beginning to find a voice through social networking e.g. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc. These sites enable anyone to broadcast their personal views/opinions over the internet. And therefore influence, to an extent our own views on matters. However I still think that ultimately the hegemony still has an obvious influence over most media, for example broadcast, as they decide what is shown on the most popular/respected channels etc. And I think that the hegemony will always have a large impact on the media despite the developments through the internet (Taylor)