Understanding key terms 2

 

Marxism is a theory which revolves around the interpretation that the society is the history of class struggles. One of its founders is Karl Marx. One key element which Marx mentioned is superstructure which includes the social consciousness encoded in institutions such as religion, government, politics, education, law, art and media which represent the material status of a society. Media is one big part of this structure and it is profit driven, and the big companies running the media industry turn to profit maximization principles. First big strategy is synergy, whereby multiple subsidiary companies are linked in cross-development all of this is made possible by horizontal integration. Spectacle is another strategy which the media industry might resort to. Presence of celebrities is really important but when it unavailable because it can be expensive, media industry resorts to creating spectacles instead. Spectacles include sensational and scandalous domains of a certain event or context. Walter Lippman, a well-known essayist and editor is responsible for the widespread adoption of objectivity as a journalistic standard. Which meant that fair and impartial reporting was a key ideal, as the journalism of that time was not as trustworthy as desired. There are four different information biases which occur when selecting what is presented as news. Those include personalization (where the focus is on the individual and not the institution), dramatization (offering narrative in news), fragmentation (treating stories as isolated and not connected to other events), and authority–disorder (creating tension between authority and disorder). Lastly, there is also political bias which can occur when a news agency favors one political party of view. There are many factors which have led to this but the key circumstance is that niche news sources are on the rise and each niche appeals to different audiences. 

Personally, I believe that media is not inherently bad and I do not see it as solely being a profit-making tool, everyone is welcome to play the media game and it is a free market, so there is a niche for everyone. However, I also believe that consumers of media should adopt the responsibility of being more critical and open minded when taking in all this information. That is our first and final line of defense against indoctrination and ideology. Being aware of all this abundant information but taking it with a grain of salt and standing by our own principles and values is conducive to making us stronger as individuals.