The Controversy of Media Imperialism

The Controversy of Media Imperialism

The controversy of media imperialism questions us as to whether a

certain medium (in this case, the newspaper – tabloid, broadsheet,

hybrid) is controlled by the publication owner or the

managers/editors-in-chief/journalists. They both deliver news and make

it possible to be accessed by the reading-public. Proprietors own

publication companies and administer the content of the media through

a set agenda. Media practitioners are the workers within the business.

They operate inside a framework of constructed agreement. Others may

believe that the control of media is possessed by the owners, whilst

others think that it is the journalists/managers who decide what is to

be put in the medium. This issue will be scrutinised by looking at the

dissimilar models and related concepts; providing exemplified

statements; and finding out if there’s a significant connection

between them.

“The class which has the means of material production has control at

the same time of the means of mental production…they regulate the

production of the ideas of their age: thus their ideas are the ruling

ideas of the epoch.”

Marx, The German Ideology, p. 39

The capitalist class and government maintain their status quo by

manipulating the media content/institution of broadcasting/press and

control the public in a conscious manner. These proprietors belong to

the more influential part of the society. This is suggested by The

Marxist’s Manipulative Model (MM). Proprietors intentionally conspire

to put forward their own interests and welfare. They tend to

monopolise what is to be included in the medium for their own in...

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... what is to be put in the media. Based on the reasons and weighing out

of the models, the Manipulative Model still has the final decision for

the output of the medium. Owners/proprietors and the government

purposely select apt news for publication that suits their interests

and benefits them - at the same time, shaping the society on what they

should read in the newspapers. They deliberately choose what ideas

could possibly fit in the current events to make it successful and

later on develop it into a more controlled way.

Indeed, the Marxist’s saying:

“The class which has the means of material production has control at

the same time of the means of mental production…they regulate the

production of the ideas of their age: thus their ideas are the ruling

ideas of the epoch.”

Marx, The German Ideology, p. 39