Hegemonic View of Media Power in Society - Essay Example

Hegemonic View of Media Power in Society Introduction Media are said to be the fifth pillar of any society. The power it entertains is unimaginable and infinite. The unlimited power, which is enjoyed by the media, has raised various questions and has engaged many researchers and thinkers regarding its use as an authoritative body. Various writers and scholars have expressed their views and presented theories while many researchers have conducted studies on the topic. Out of these theories Pluralism and Marxism have gained huge popularity. This essay aims to discuss the hegemonic view of media power in society in reference to Pluralism and Marxism. This is to carefully examine the arguments for and against hegemonic view of media. Herein, it should be noted that hegemonic view of media refers to conflict of media ownership. Hegemonic View and the Power of Media in Society According to the hegemonic view, the idea of the elites or the ruling class can be made and becomes the idea of any society. This explains that the elites and ruling class monitors the media and control it in any society. Thus, it can be said that media is utilized as a vehicle by these society elite’s who drives it according to their will to exert pressure and control over the society (local or international). The term has its roots evolving from Marxism however does not completely fits on its assumptions. There is a lot of criticism regarding the term and its authenticity and credibility as the previous ideologies such as Marxism and Pluralism are all conflicting in nature and does not align at one single point (Wayne). If someone is asked whether or not media should be given ownership because of its power then a certain and accurate answer is hardly expected. The issue has grabbed the attention of many scholars as many believe that media should be given ownership while many conflicts with this idea and believes that it should not. To clear this confusing understanding of the subject, Marxism which is based on the understandings and writings of 19th century social activist Karl Marx, has presented some points which contributes some evidence to counter the argument (Martín). According to Marx’s ideas and his understandings, regarding media it is the most frontline media and has the power to persuade the ‘proletariat’ to accept capitalism as a process that is original and undeniable. This idea strongly suggests that the media in the contemporary society is so influential that it can easily persuade and convince the professionals and other workers (that tends to sell their labor for survival) and public easily regarding any object. However, the idea does not at all suggest that media should be granted power and ownership of the society. Many Marxists theorists believe that it does not allow media to gain power over the society thus should not be granted with the ownership (Jameel). One of the few examples is that the idea or Marxism view was strongly disagreed by one of the notable Italian Marxist, Antonio Gramsci who believed that the idea / picture is different and that the Marxist view of the ruling class, their status and power is change. As a result he came up with the concept of ‘Hegemony’. According to him, the ruling class did not have power to own, operate, manage or persuade any society on its very own. It always needed help of the public particularly the Proletariat (the professionals). They can only persuade and rule by force and by staying dominant and with the help of some other forces. Both of these ideologies did not go well and received a lot of negative criticism as the idea that was presented in it was in a vague and did not give a clear understanding and therefore cannot be applied on the contemporary media and the argument that it should be given ownership. Both of these thinkers assumed the audience (public) as passive and who can easily be persuaded (Artz and Kamalipour). In a documentary, ‘The War You Don’t See’ John Pilger coined the term ‘Ruling by Consent’ at the very start of his documentary (Pilger). After watching the documentary, one can easily realize that frontline media in the two super powers of the world i.e. the USA and UK will not at all publish or broadcast anything which is against or in contrary with the ‘War Agenda’ pursued by both governments. Even though the power, which the mainstream media of both the countries enjoy, is far greater then one can imagine. The media is used and utilized in such a way that it easily manipulates and influence the thoughts and perception of the audience. For this reason the information is always filtered and is published and broadcasted with the government’s consent, which was further elaborated by Chomsky as ‘manufacturing consent’ (Martín). Similarly, Pluralism also illustrates that media have the power over society and can persuade the general public by the dominance of the elite. Various cases have been evidenced which has shown that media has highlighted and given importance to subordinate social groups of many countries and have contributed towards the political pluralism. The word pluralism simply explains that media has the tendency to double and exaggerate any idea or thought and is effectively utilized by the elites or political groups to persuade the audience (Karppinen). Conclusion Thus, it can be concluded that Marxism, Pluralism and Hegemony are all broad and conflicting issues, which has puzzled and confused the audience regarding the power of the media and its ownership of the society. These concepts have also failed to explain the correct understanding of the subject as they are all out dated and do not fulfill the requirements of modern media. However, thoughts can be related to the contemporary media, its power and the society but nothing sound and clear has been witnessed yet. This leaves us with a fuzzy image of the topic and it is difficult to say whether or not the media should be given ownership or not and what power does it enjoy in the present modern society. Works Cited Artz, Lee and Yahya R Kamalipour. The globalization of corporate media hegemony. New York: Univ. of New York Press, 2003. Print. Jameel, Arafat Al. Is Marxism the Base for Spreading a Dominant Ideology in the Media? München: GRIN Verlag, 2010. Print. Karppinen, Kari. Rethinking media pluralism. New York: Fordham University Press, 2013. Print. Martín, Martín Barbero. Communication, Culture and Hegemony: From the Media to Mediations. London: SAGE Publications, 1993. Print. Pilger, John. The War You Don’t See’ . London, 13 December 2010. Print. Wayne, Mike. Marxism and media studies: key concepts and contemporary trends. London: Pluto Press, 2003. Print. Read More