Media Hegemony

What is Hegemony?
Hegemony

refers to the mean by which ruling class

maintain its dominance

Ideas

of the ruling class in the society becomes ruling

ideas.

Hegemony
It

is a rule by won consent

is special form of control based not upon force or

coercion, but resulting from successful persuasion.

Back Ground

Rooted

in ideas of Karl Marx

According

to him the ruling or dominant ideas in society

are those of bourgeoisie, serving their economic and
class interest.

Ideology

is manufactured by those at the top of the

society and distributed to the rest of society

Society

is presented a false picture of reality (false

consciousness) of the world.

 According

to Marx the media are willing vehicles in

the reproduction of dominant ideology.

The

ruling class were controlling literacy, political

and ideological mechanism for maintaining their
power.

They

were controlling not only the farms and

factories (material good) but also the government,
churches and presses (intellectual goods), which
enables them to maintain their power.

Antonio Gramsci and Hegemony

The

theory of Hegemony is attributed to Italian

philosopher Antonio Gramsci.

He

rejected the impression created by classical Marxism

that people are being brain washed by dominant class
and people as passive recipients of dominant class
ideology of bourgeoisie.

He

states that dominance is not achieved through the

simple imposition of the will of the ruling class but by
the ability of the ruling class to present themselves as a
group best equipped to fulfill the interest and goals of
other class and as a result for society as a whole.

 Consent

has to be earned from subordinate classes and this

involves a continuous process of negotiation to
accommodate their views and interests.

The

dominant and ruling group has to work continuously to

gain the acceptance from all members of society, a process
that is described as a process of moral and cultural
leadership.

He

considers this exercise of leadership taking place

through the institutions like civil Society, education,
church, family and media.

Such

institutions are sites of struggle between hegemonic

and counter hegemonic ideas .they are where consent is
won and reproduced and maintained.

 The

media therefore dont simply reproduce the views

and beliefs of the ruling class but are crucial sites of
struggle between competing ideas and believes.

Hegemony

offers an insight how changes in society can

be brought about and the key role of media and other
social and cultural institutions in transformation.

Hegemony

must be flexible, responsive to changing

conditions and adaptive.

The

bourgeoisie still have the advantages of economic

dominance and moral leadership.

 Their

authority enables them to exercise an

influence over what is dominant and generally
accepted way of understanding the world.

Gramsci

accepts that at the moment of crisis the

dominant class will resort to the use of force to
discipline those who dont or will not accept their
will.

Consent

is more effective mean of controlling

society in the long run than coercion.

 Hall

at all (1978) attempted o apply Gramscis

concept hegemony to the economic and political
crisis in Britain.

According

to him media performs the ideological

work of ruling class while they dont act as mouth
piece of dominant class and present competing
definition of reality, media institutions frame
reality in a way that serves the interests of
dominant class. This for hall (1978) is the
hegemonic effect of media.

HOW CAPITALISTS MANIPULATE MEDIA

Chain

and Network: two outlets of same

medium owned by same persons or same
group.

Cross

media ownership: two or more

outlets of different media under same
group

 Joint

operating agreement:
Anycontract,agreement,Joint Venture
,orotherarrangemententeredintobytwoormo
rebusinessesinwhichtheoperationsandthe
physicalfacilitiesofbusinessremerged,although
eachbusiness
retainsitsstatusasaseparateentityintermsof
profitsand individualmission.

Conglomerates:

the companies that are not

primarily In communication business, own or
owned by mass media outlet.