Pluralism

Summary:

A basic definition of pluralism:
- opposite belief to marxism
- society is a system of competing groups and interests
- The elite, who control the media, allows a lot of flexibility in the production of choices.
- The audience can manipulate the media- they are able to "conform, accommodate or reject"

The role of the audience:
- audience= vital to media producers- who must spend a lot of R+D to make sure their products will appeal to the audience.
- Audience is active

The Media as a fourth estate:
- 1st three estates (government, legal system and the Church) each have power in our society.
- Each of these systems hold the other in place as democracy is maintained.
- Role of media is the 4th estate- to keep the public informed of what is happening in the other 3.

Limitations of pluralism:
- It assumes the audience is active and an economic basis for production..these can sometime be in conflict.

Why I am/am not a Pluralist:
I believe the way that pluralists think about how the economy is treated and the governing of the country. Democracy is a more forward way of thinking and the audience demanding products that they can manipulate in their own way is sometimes accurate. I think it depends on the knowledge on the audience as to whether or not they are able to make their own judgement of what they read/hear/see or whether the representations are hegemonic to them. However, there is clearly some class divide in society today and the media does not always fulfill the role of the fourth estate. Sometimes the media are one-sided (such as in tabloids) and do not have enough information to remain neutral like the BBC. By being more focused on entertainment and profits, the media fails to inform the public of the 3 estates neutrally. Therefore, I believe that in some ways i am a pluralist but in others i am more marxist.