MEDIA - How do Marxists Evaluate News Value Theories? Flashcards
TRUE OR FALSE: Marxists are NOT critical of the idea that truth-telling is the primary function of journalists and that news gathering is mainly based on a set of objective news values!
FALSE - Marxists are INDEED critical of the idea that truth-telling is the primary function of journalists and that news gathering is mainly based on a set of objective news values –> They believe that the Media is an ISA that reinforces the Hegemonic view of society!
What does McChesney argue? HINT: Media Owners influencing the Social Construction of the News, which creates Compliant Journalists who do their bidding!
He argues that powerful media owners are able to influence the social manufacture and construction of the news by shaping the editorial approach or policy of their news media, and this affects the choice of stories pursued by their editors and the way in which those stories are presented. In other words an owner does not have to exercise day-to-day control - compliant editors who value their jobs know what their employer expects.
(MCCHESNEY) Provide an Example of Owners and Journalists Influencing what is Portrayed and Presented in the News! HINT: Blair and Murdoch and their contact before the Iraq War invasion!
As Instrumental or Manipulative Marxists have observed, a number of national newspapers carried a story in July 2007 detailing Murdoch’s contacts with the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, in the run-up to the Iraq War. The story was not featured at all in any of Murdoch’s newspapers.
What do Herman and Chomsky argue? HINT: News-gathering is shaped by market forces and News Values help to create Propaganda!
They argue that news-gathering is largely shaped by market forces - particularly the power of advertisers - and that, built into the capitalist system, there is a range of filters that work ceaselessly to shape a news outlet that generally supports and disseminates the capitalist ideology. They argue that this is not surprising because most news agencies are part of profit-seeking media corporations that are partly funded by advertisers who want their advertising to appear in a supportive selling environment.
They say that the news and news values are not objective - instead, they constitute a form of propaganda, because news-gathering and output are shaped by a neo-liberal and politically conservative ideology, which extols the virtues of free-market capitalism and is critical of any alternative point of view.
What does McChesney argue in regards to Journalists being seen as ‘Unreliable’ by the Media?
He argues that the media see official sources of information - big business, government and wealthy individuals - as ‘legitimate’, but he notes that the perspectives of the poor and powerless are often portrayed by journalists as ‘unreliable’!
What does Badkinian argue in regards to the USA and how Capitalist Values infiltrating the News + The news media seem uninterested in the growing gap between Rich and Poor People in the USA, as they focus more on Rich people!
He writes about the USA and notes how capitalist values often gradually and slightly permeate news!
He identifies that most newspapers have sections dedicated to business news, which present corporate leaders as heroes or exciting combatants, and they frequently report corporate and stock-market information uncritically. In contrast, very little attention is paid to ordinary Americans and the economic pressures they face, as it revolves all around big businesses = EG: The news media seem uninterested in the growing gap between rich and poor people in the USA.
What do Edwards and Cromwell argue in regards to the Media’s Role as a Propaganda Machine for Capitalism? HINT: White-collar crimes are often ignored and anything that may weakened the Capitalist System is discredited
They argue that the media’s role as a propaganda machine for capitalism means that subjects, such as corporate criminality or the poor human rights record of the UK allies, such as China or Saudi Arabia, are often ignored by the British news media.
What does Stuart Hall argue in regards to the Hierarchy of Credibility? HINT: Primary Definers!
He suggests that news is supportive of capitalist interests because those in powerful positions have better access to media institutions than the less powerful. He argues that most journalists rank the views of politicians, police officers, civil servants and business leaders (primary definers) as more important (or credible) than those of pressure groups, trade unionists or ordinary people.
(STUART HALL) What is the Definition of ‘Primary Definers’?
These are powerful groups in society that have easier and more effective access to the media, such as government ministers, spin doctors, the police and PR companies.
(STUART HALL) What does Hall argue in regards to the ‘Hierarchy of Credibility’? HINT: Powerful people ‘make the news’ and other groups are ignored by the Media!
Hall also argues that this ‘hierarchy of credibility’ means that journalists often report what prominent people say about events rather than the events themselves; indeed, what such people say may constitute an event in itself, as powerful people ‘make news’!
The media’s focus on primary definers means that minority groups are often ignored by the media or are portrayed negatively, as threats to society.
What does Manning argue in regards to Less Powerful Groups and how they have to Change their message to get the Media to listen to them?
He notes that less powerful groups have to tone down anything extreme or radical in their message, in order to get heard by the media.
What Marxist perspective does the Glasgow University Media Group (the GUMG / the GMG) take?
Hegemonic Marxist!
What do the GMG argue in regards to how the Social Background of Media Professionals impacts the News? HINT: Hegemonic Marxist Approach and Agenda Setting!
The GUMG claims that journalists unconsciously side with the rich and powerful because they have more in common with them, due to their middle-class backgrounds.
Journalists often do not welcome the sorts of radical change that is proposed by the representatives of the ‘poor and the powerless’.
The GUMG, therefore argues that news journalists engage in agenda setting - they choose to include certain types of news stories and to exclude others that do not fit their view of the world!
TRUE OR FALSE: In their study, the GUMG identified that news broadcasts would use language and images that would be MORE SYMPATHETIC to the interests of the rich and powerful!
The GUMG studied news broadcasts and found that the language and images used by journalists were more sympathetic to the interests of the powerful and often devalued the points of view of less powerful groups!
What did Fiske identify in regards to the Presentation of Trade Unions by News Journalists? HINT: Negative Connotations of Unions + Positive Connotations of Government and Management
He found that trade unions were typically presented by news journalists as ‘demanding’, which is a word that implied greed and disruption, whereas management made ‘offers’, which is a word that implies generosity.
