Liberal pluralism Flashcards
Define liberal pluralist
Liberal = freedom of choice/individual choice Pluralist = Range of views
What does a democratic society mean?
Everyone has a say, we all have a voice
Doyle
Suggests ownership is important for 2 reasons
- All points of view need to be heard if society is truly democratic
- Abuses power and influence by elites and need to be monitored by a free media
Pluralists argue that media owners are
Objective, responsible, impartial felicitators of political process
Concentration doesn’t matter
Large number of media outlets
Although there are a few owners there is lots of choice
E.g. Murdoch owns the sun/the times which cater to different audiences
Concentration doesn’t matter
Consumers have the power
If we don’t like it, we can switch it off and they’ll go bust
Concentration doesn’t matter
Consumer control
Consumer led audience can set up their own voice through twitter or youtube
Concentration doesn’t matter
Consumer feedback + libel laws
The media is regulated by Ofcom
Concentration doesn’t matter
Control by the proprietors (owners)
The owners cannot realistically control everyone - this would be impossible
The public gets what the public wants
Range of media is extremely diverse and the media mirrors what the audience wants or sees as important
E.g. women’s magazines focus on beauty, weddings etc as this is what women want to read about
State control
Pluralists note that power of media owners is also restricted by state controls and this prevents unscrupulous media owners imposing biased content upon the general public
- Complain to Ofcom
Investigative journalism
Argue journalists have too much integratiy to be biased
E.g. Watergate scandal = President Nixon was exposed for listening into the oponents office
MP’s expenses = MP’s were exposed by journalists for buying unnecessary items
What do the examples of Investigative journalism tell us?
Journalists have more power than the ruling class, we aren’t brainwashed however, this is undermined by the role of churnalism (Dawis), most journalists rely on press releases rather than investigative journalism
Media audiences
- Pluralists argue the audience do not passively accept what is being fed to them, audiences are diverse and interpret and use the media in different ways
- Selective filter model
- We are active and in control
Criticisms of pluralist approach
- Journalists don’t have to voice their opinions they can sack people who don’t have the same views
- The phantom prime minister decides who will win
- Audience may not want good news and entertainment, easy passive and comforting
- There are barriers to competition not everyone can set up a newspaper or provide an alternative
