MEP 203 CONTEMPORARY MEDIA THEORY

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MEP 203 CONTEMPORARY MEDIA THEORY

• 10. DEBATING MEDIA THEORY

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Which theory is best? (1)

• MEDIUM THEORY power of technology, form over
  content
• POLITICAL ECONOMY power of ownership and
  production
• FEMINISM power of patriarchy (radical)/ male
  capitalist producers (structural)
• POSTCOLONIAL THEORY power of the West to
  represent the Orient
• CONSUMERISM power of everyday audiences

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Which theory is best? (2)

• STRUCTURALISM power of social structures, codes,
  ideology, hegemony
• INTERACTIONISM power of mediated communications
  (both ways!)
• POSTMODERNITY power of media/ popular culture to
  saturate real world perceptions
• BEHAVIOURISM power of effects

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Which theory is worst? (1)

• POLITICAL ECONOMY guilty of economic and
  political determinism
• MEDIUM THEORY guilty of technological
  determinism
• FEMINISM emphasis on gender ignores other
  important demographics
• BEHAVIOURISM social contexts neglected
• POSTCOLONIAL THEORY the idea of a dominant white
  discourse is outdated

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Which theory is worst? (2)

• CONSUMERISM audiences are bestowed with power
  they do not possess
• STRUCTURALISM social structures are not
  necessarily reflected by codes in texts
• INTERACTIONISM unhelpful to compare face-to-face
  with mediated interactions
• POSTMODERNITY ahistorical and lacking empirical
  verification

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News as ideology (political economy /
structuralism)

• News is either controlled by the state or by
  global media conglomerates
• Instrumentalist perspectives
• Journalists are subject to the power of news
  corporation owners e.g. Murdoch
• Structuralist perspectives
• Market structures ensure that journalists encode
  news in the interests of owners and ruling elites

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News as socio-cultural practice (interactionism /
consumerism)

• News is mediated quasi-interaction, i.e. action
  for distant others instils a constant monitoring
  principle
• News presentation has clearly marked front/ back
  regions reflecting cultural expectations
• News values are partly decided by the desires of
  audiences NOT ONLY by media owners, producers
  and advertisers
• News is now about citizen journalism