Mass Media As Agents of Dominant Ideology

Mass Media As Agents of Dominant Ideology

The attitudes and beliefs that are followed by the mass in societies

are dominant ideologies. These vary in different societies and can be

spread through cultural transmission. Mass media is one form of

cultural transmission, it is different forms of communication and ways

in which communication can be received. “The real importance of the

media lies not in content, but in the way the media alters our social

world” (Mcluhon). Without mass media dominant ideologies would not be

formed easily. Defleur’s dependency model (1989) shows just how much

individuals rely on the media. Theorists have strong views on this and

how even though audiences are sometimes unaware of it, mass media does

have a huge affect on their beliefs and values due to dominant

ideologies.

Television is the most popular form of mass media. Over the years the

amount of soaps that are being shown on television have increased by a

vast amount, and still now there is an increase in the number of soaps

on television and the amount of showing time they get. Due to this

soaps have become a form of popular culture and help to form dominant

ideologies in societies. Feminists have strong views on the way that

the soaps produce dominant ideologies. Even though soap operas do

have relatively high proportion of women, they are still outnumbered

by men. But this isn’t the main thing that concerns feminists, it is

the nature of representation that is important. Bretl and cantor

(1988) note that males are more likely to be shown in higher-status

occupations act their role away from home and have more authority.

When this is shown o...

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society in general.

In conclusion it is clear that the mass media is one of the main ways

that dominant ideologies are created. As certain forms of the media

become increasing popular then the images that are shown in the media

are more important because they make a difference to peoples lives.

Frueh and Mcghee interviewed American kindergarden children about the

amount of time they spend watching television to see if it has any

connection with their views on sex roles. They found the girl’s that

watch a lot of television want to imitate the roles of women that they

see on television. Because women roles on TV are usually lower than

men they found that most girls between 3 and 6 had abandoned ambitions

by this early age. This shows how important mass media is when it

comes to forming dominant ideologies.