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Arguments on media bias
Arguments on media bias
Arguments on media bias
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ASSIGNMENT 5
“The hidden power of media discourse and the capacity of the capitalist class and other power-holders to exercise this power depend on systematic tendencies in news reporting and other media activities” (Page 25). Explain and exemplify.
Zulfiqar Ahmad
ID # 4025
Submitted to:
Dr. M. Umer Farooq
1. Introduction
Hidden power, according to Fairclough (1995a), is the “power behind discourse” and entails how and to what extent the holders of powers exercise their influence. Discourse being a social practice (Fairclough 2001) and an element of a communicative event (van Dijk 1997) becomes a strong determinant that impacts culture and distributes power in society. This approach to discourse makes media a very influential mediator, and the discourse itself becomes a source of not only defining the power but also naturalizing it for the benefit of the power-holders. This media hegemony is manifest in the use of language, ordering of news, prioritizing the topics, and predetermining the content.
2. Power in media discourse
Power and dominance are normally organized and institutionalized (van Dijk: 1993). Media, through its discursive practices exercise power and dominance but it is goes unnoticed unlike practiced by other social institutions such as judiciary and politics. Media discourse naturalizes the notions of power and dominance to the extent they are internalized and therefore, legitimated.
Media discourse possesses several characteristics that make it distinctive from other types of communicative events. According to Fairclough (2001), media discourse is an event of “one-sidedness”; it is permanent; reproducible; and multifaceted in use and function. Media discourse also exemplifies a sig...
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In the second chapter of Lies My Teacher Told Me Lowen argues that electronic media has decisively and irriversibly changed the character of our environment. He believes that we are now a culture whose information, ideas and epistemology are given form by televison not by the printed word. Loewen describes how discourse in America is now different from what it once was. Loewwen says discourse was once logical, serious, and rational and now under the governance of television it is shriveled and absurd. In addition, he writes about the definitions of truth and the sources in which the definitions come from. Loewen shows how the bias of a medium is unseen throughout a culture and he gives three examples of truth telling.
...J and Seaton, J. (2003). The Era of the Press Barons. In: Power Witout Responsibility . 6th ed. London: Routledge . 38-40.
Bonila, Denise M., and Levy, Beth, Eds. The Power of the Press. H. W. Wilson, 1999.
Theses and Professional Projects from the College of Journalism and Mass Communications. Paper 2. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/journalismdiss/2
The media has the ability to front line stories and control the general population’s belief by influence and exposure. Because the media has such a powerful control on society and because it controls so much of everyday life I must say that this is why I relate more to the postmodern
In “Reporting the News” by George C. Edwards III, Martin P. Wattenberg, and Robert L. Lineberry, the main idea is how the media determines what to air, where to get said stories that will air, how the media presents the news, and the medias effect on the general public. “Reporting The News” is a very strong and detailed article. The authors’ purpose is to inform the readers of what goes on in the news media. This can be inferred by the authors’ tone. The authors’ overall tone is critical of the topics that are covered. The tone can be determined by the authors’ strong use of transitions, specific examples, and phrases or words that indicate analysis. To summarize, first, the authors’ indicate that the media chooses its stories that will air
Seelye, Katharine. “Lack of News Doesn’t Deter Coverage.” New York Times. N.p. 16 Oct. 2002. Web. 09 May 2013.
First, the role of the media is to represent the public and intervene between the public and the government. The media is a mirror, which re...
The use of media has always been very tactical and representative of a statement or purpose. The issue of race has always been a topic of immaculate exploration through different forms of media. Mediated topics such as race, gender, and class have always been topics represented in the media as a form of oppression. The widely use of media surrounds the globe extensively as the public is bombarded with media daily. There are many different types of media that circulates the public making it widely available to anyone. Media can hold an immense amount of power as it can distort the manner in which people understand the world. In our society the media creates the dominant ideology that is to be followed for centuries in the classifications of race, gender, and class. Media can be a powerful tool to use to display a message which, is how “…the media also resorts to sensationalism whereby it invents new forms of menace” (Welch, Price and Yankey 36). Media makers and contributors take advantage of the high power that it possesses and begin to display messages of ideologies that represent only one dominant race or gender. It became to be known as the “dominant ideology of white supremacy” for many and all (Hazell and Clarke 6).
O’Shaughnessy, M., Stadler, J. (2009)Media and Society: An introduction. Dominant Ideology and Hegemony. London: Oxford.
The Hidden Relationship Between Government and Media Rather than being a neutral conduit for the communication of information, the U.S. media plays an intricate role in shaping and controlling political opinions. Media is extremely powerful in the sense that without an adequate functioning media, it is virtually impossible for a sophisticated social structure like the U.S. Government to exist. Henceforth, all known sophisticated social structures, have always been dependent upon the media’s ability to socialize. The U.S. government generally exploits the media, often times manipulating the enormous power of the printed word. Ultimately empowering the U.S. government, strengthening it with the ability to determine and control the popular perception of reality.
The media has this immense power, this way of showing things how their network wants, and
Campbell, Richard. Media & Culture: an introduction to mass communication. Bedford/St. Martin?s: Boston, N.Y. 2005.
The power of the mass media has once become so powerful that its undoubtedly significant role in the world today stays beyond any questions. It is so strong that even politics uses it as a means of governing in any country around the world. The mass media has not only political meaning but also it conveys wide knowledge concerning all possible aspects of human beings’ lives and, what is utterly true, influences on people’s points of view and their attitude to the surrounding environment. It is completely agreeable about what kind of virtues the mass media is supposed to accent. Nevertheless, it is not frequent at all that the media provides societies with such a content, which is doubtful in terms of the role consigned to it. Presenting violence and intolerance as well as shaping and manipulating public are only a few examples of how the role of mass media is misunderstood by those who define themselves as leading media makers.
Encapsulated in a democratic homeland since the advent of time, media systems are habitually acclaimed as the “fourth power,” with its journalists often hailed as the “watch-dogs” of such a society. Lending itself to act as ‘gatekeeper’ for the wider society and performing the traditional role of journalism, the media (overall) exist as powerful “instruments of knowledge” that perform the function of providing information to the masses in a public sphere, where issues may be discussed, justified and contested (Scannell, 1995, p. 17). Evidently, media workers play a pivotal role in our society; however, their status in the realm of professions is not definite. Although the above emphasize the predicament at the heart of ...