Applying material from the item above and your knowledge,
evaluate the pluralist view of the ownership and control of the
media. [20 marks] 19/20
Ownership and control in society has been a significant focus of sociology since
Marx’s initial ideas on public ownership of the means of production. As we
now move into a high-tech, modern society, the question of ownership and
control has been transformed from a question of physical property to a
question of media property. While Marxism remains ever pessimistic on the
issue, Pluralists have hope and strongly believe that active audiences have the
ability to shape, interpret and control the media content they consume. This
essay will analyse pluralist views of ownership and control with frequent
refence and comparison to the opposing Marxist view, ultimately concluding
that pluralists are unfounded in their view of the media and both the
traditional and neo-Marxist approaches are consistently more convincing and
provide better substantiated claims.
As stated in the Item, pluralists believe that “the media are an important part
of the democratic process” as they give different interest groups the
opportunity to put forward their views. Pluralists argue that the media act as a
“marketplace of ideas” where a range of political parties, pressure groups and
interest groups can put forward views. Pluralist sociologists Livingstone & Lunt
highlight how audiences can engage with these voices, especially in debates
around regulation and representation, ultimately arguing that audiences have
the ability to communicate and collaborate with a range of views produced by
the media. This supports democracy, as citizens can access competing
arguments and make informed political choices without being forced into echo
chambers or narrow algorithms. From this view, ownership and control are not
problematic because diversity of views is built into the system itself. While
there may still be an ‘owner’, it is not defined in the same way as Marxists
would define it, they receive revenue from the corporation, but they do not
own or persuade any ideological content of said corporation. However,
Marxists argue that this diversity and perceived audience control is superficial.
Curran and Seaton found that the UK media is dominated by a very small
evaluate the pluralist view of the ownership and control of the
media. [20 marks] 19/20
Ownership and control in society has been a significant focus of sociology since
Marx’s initial ideas on public ownership of the means of production. As we
now move into a high-tech, modern society, the question of ownership and
control has been transformed from a question of physical property to a
question of media property. While Marxism remains ever pessimistic on the
issue, Pluralists have hope and strongly believe that active audiences have the
ability to shape, interpret and control the media content they consume. This
essay will analyse pluralist views of ownership and control with frequent
refence and comparison to the opposing Marxist view, ultimately concluding
that pluralists are unfounded in their view of the media and both the
traditional and neo-Marxist approaches are consistently more convincing and
provide better substantiated claims.
As stated in the Item, pluralists believe that “the media are an important part
of the democratic process” as they give different interest groups the
opportunity to put forward their views. Pluralists argue that the media act as a
“marketplace of ideas” where a range of political parties, pressure groups and
interest groups can put forward views. Pluralist sociologists Livingstone & Lunt
highlight how audiences can engage with these voices, especially in debates
around regulation and representation, ultimately arguing that audiences have
the ability to communicate and collaborate with a range of views produced by
the media. This supports democracy, as citizens can access competing
arguments and make informed political choices without being forced into echo
chambers or narrow algorithms. From this view, ownership and control are not
problematic because diversity of views is built into the system itself. While
there may still be an ‘owner’, it is not defined in the same way as Marxists
would define it, they receive revenue from the corporation, but they do not
own or persuade any ideological content of said corporation. However,
Marxists argue that this diversity and perceived audience control is superficial.
Curran and Seaton found that the UK media is dominated by a very small
