Education
Hello! Welcome to COMM122 Podcast, Episode two My name’s max, and Ill be your host for today.In the last episode, we talked about how media create mainstream and popular cultures. In this episode, we will make a more contentious argument. Media shape ideologies that divide our society into blue states and red states, Trump army and Bernie Bro, Proud Boys and Social Justice Warriors. You see, ideology is a value system through which we assign meanings to the things we see and do. You are a libertarian, so you believe in small government and lower taxes. You are a conservative in America and by extension, you value the Second Amendment and traditional values. Of course, I am painting different ideologies here in a broad stroke. But have you thought about why different societies upload drastically different ideologies, such as in America, freedom, tolerance, and diversity are highly esteemed values, whereas in China nationalism is a unifying principle in public life?Again, the answer lies in media. Media shape and reinforce what we call dominant ideology. The dominant ideology is the social common sense of our time, what is deemed acceptable and desirable by the majority of the public. So, what is the dominant ideology of our time? Maybe, you would say, tolerance, diversity, and progress? Some may say, Make America Great Again? Notice that a dominant ideology, that is, what is accepted and promoted by the majority, can be benign or hideous, progressive or against the current of history. Dominant ideologies also vary across societies and change over time. Take Germany for example, its dominant ideology during the Nazi era was antisemitism, scientific racism, and eugenics. During the cold war, the dominant ideology of former East Germany was, communism. These values are just outrightly despicable in current-day Germany.Why do media create dominant ideology? Do media do it purposefully? Is there a conspiracy of “Amusing Ourselves to Death”, as claimed by Neil Postman in his famous book?We should consider several scenarios. First, in some societies and at certain times in history, media outlets could be controlled by powerful governments, to propagate what authoritarian regimes want to promote. Media outlets then act as mouthpieces and a tool of propaganda. There are many such cases in the history of the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, and war-time America. But, you might be surprised to find many contemporary cases of modern-day media propaganda, in the form of sleek videos, viral internet memes, and catching rap songs. They could be in your Facebook timeline, Instagram stories, and Tik Tok. Don’t forget that, as you become more digitally and media savvy, so do authoritarian regimes.That said, in current-day America, media censorship, and government direct control of media is prohibited by the First Amendment. There is no law requiring Fox News to stick with Conservative talking points and no regulation asking HBO to produce diverse TV shows. Mostly, media shape the dominant ideology by catering to what people want, because that makes business sense. If people want A, not B, then media supply more A, not B. The simple logic is that by heeding to people’s popular choices media industry can maintain and increase advertising revenue and profit from subscriptions and content purchases. Do you notice that this is a self-fulfilling loop: by supplying more of what the public wants, it creates more demand for the thing wanted by the public.Here are some examples.Have you heard of an HBO show called Confederate? I am sure you haven’t watched it. The show was created by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, two writers behind Game of Thrones. But, this show is now dead in the water. Confederate is an alternative-history drama, imagining a time after the Civil War, where South won. Sounds interesting, but HBO had to cancel the show resulting in a significant financial loss.