Karl Marx

Karl Marx 19th Century Philosopher, Economist,

journalist and revolutionary He critiqued society which he claimed was

both scientific and revolutionary

Marx and Ideology Marx’ ideology is closely associated with the

effects theory He traced the developments of material life

predicting that socialism would supersede capitalism

Capitalism is based on the profit motive and under capitalism profits are generated by exploiting workers

Marx and the capitalist society Marx said that capitalist society was divided

in to two parts: Working class – those who sell their labour

and do not own the means of production Bourgeoisie – employ others and have the

means for production

Marxism and media Media producers produce texts in this divided

society. Even when they attempt to produce texts which criticise it – they are still working within it and therefore accept it.

Mass media are seen as a way of entertaining workers (mass audience) while drip feeding them ideologies

Althusser Identified what he called the Ideological State

Apparatuses (ISA’s), which opperate along side the Repressive State Apparatuses (military, police etc) to maintain these Bourgeoisie ideologies:

Religion education Family (values) Legal and political system Cultural and communication systems

He studies the ways the ISA’s act to position the audience in such a way that they presume that these ideologies are correct

Gramsci and Hegemony Hegemony – the dominance of the ideologies

of the ruling class He argued that this process is so successful

that it becomes ‘common sense’ and these ideologies become taken for granted

By maintaining these ideologies in the media, the ruling classes can ensure they retain hegemonic control

Conclusion This is still evident today with corporate

media companies like Murdoch’s News Corp and 20th Century Fox

However thanks to technological developments we are all media producers and social media allows us to send out our own messages