‘The media successfully controls the way people think and behave.’ Evaluate this view
CAMBRIDGE
A level and AS level
2021
👑Complete Model Essay
Free Essay Plan
Introduction
Briefly introduce the topic of media influence and state your line of argument.
Arguments Supporting Media Control
Marxist Perspective: Explain how the mass manipulation model and the hypodermic-syringe model support the idea of media control. Provide examples of how media can shape thoughts and behaviors to favor capitalist interests.
Dominance and Advertising: Discuss the media's control over information flow and its reliance on advertising. Explain how advertising can manipulate consumer behavior and influence social identities.
Celebrity Influence: Explore the role of celebrities as opinion formers and role models, and how the media constructs their image and influence.
Arguments Against Media Control
Audience Agency: Introduce the uses and gratifications model and explain how audiences actively choose and interpret media content.
Diverse Interpretations: Discuss how media messages can be interpreted differently by various individuals and groups, limiting the media's control over their thoughts and behaviors.
New Media and Democratization: Explain how new media platforms empower individuals to create and share content, potentially challenging the dominance of traditional media. Mention the counter-argument of digital pessimism.
Resistance and Challenges: Provide examples of individuals and groups actively challenging media narratives and representations. Discuss feminist critiques of media sexism, the alt-right's challenge to established media, and the role of the underground press.
Conclusion
Summarize your evaluation of the statement and provide a balanced perspective on the extent to which the media controls thought and behavior.
The Media's Influence on Thought and Behavior
The assertion that the media successfully controls how people think and behave is a complex one, encompassing elements of truth while neglecting the nuances of individual agency and media consumption habits. While it is undeniable that the media exerts a powerful influence on societal values, beliefs, and behaviors, the extent of this control is often overstated. This essay will delve into both sides of this argument, exploring the persuasive capabilities of the media alongside the factors that mitigate its absolute control.
Arguments for Media Control
Proponents of the view that the media effectively shapes thought and behavior often cite the pervasiveness of media in modern life. As argued by the Frankfurt School, features of mass society create fertile ground for media manipulation. The media dominate the flow of information, acting as gatekeepers of what is deemed newsworthy and important. This agenda-setting power allows the media to influence public discourse and shape perceptions of social reality.
Furthermore, the media's reliance on advertising revenue creates a vested interest in promoting consumerism and shaping social identities in ways that benefit capitalist interests. Advertisers exert significant influence over media content, ensuring that their products and messages are presented in a favorable light. This can lead to the normalization of certain behaviors and aspirations, as seen in the media's portrayal of ideal body types and consumerist lifestyles.
The role of celebrities further strengthens the media's influence. Celebrities, often products of the media themselves, wield considerable power as opinion formers and role models. Their endorsements of products, political stances, or social causes can sway public opinion and influence individual choices.
Arguments Against Media Control
Despite the media's undeniable influence, it is inaccurate to suggest that individuals are passive recipients of media messages. The uses and gratifications model of media effects posits that audiences are active consumers who choose media that aligns with their existing needs and interests. People select what they watch, read, and listen to, exercising a degree of agency in shaping their media consumption.
Moreover, the interpretation of media messages is not uniform. Factors such as personal experiences, cultural background, and social networks influence how individuals decode and internalize media content. A news story, for instance, might be interpreted differently by people with opposing political views.
The rise of new media has also challenged the notion of a monolithic media apparatus controlling public opinion. The internet and social media platforms have given rise to citizen journalism and alternative media outlets, allowing individuals to produce and share content independent of traditional media institutions. This democratization of media production provides opportunities for counter-narratives and challenges to dominant ideologies.
Furthermore, audiences are not powerless against media manipulation. Social movements and advocacy groups actively challenge negative or biased media representations. Campaigns against sexism in the media or the work of watchdog organizations dedicated to exposing "fake news" demonstrate the capacity of individuals and groups to resist and reshape media narratives.
Conclusion
While the media undoubtedly wields significant influence over how people think and behave, it would be simplistic to claim absolute control. Media effects are mediated by individual agency, diverse interpretations of media content, and the emergence of alternative media platforms. While acknowledging the persuasive power of the media, particularly in shaping consumer behavior and reinforcing dominant ideologies, it is essential to recognize the limitations of its influence. Audiences are not passive recipients; they actively engage with, interpret, and challenge media messages based on their own needs, beliefs, and experiences.
Free Mark Scheme Extracts
The media successfully controls the way people think and behave. Evaluate this view.
Key focus of the question: This is a question about the power of the media to influence thought and behaviour. Good answers will consider how far, and in what ways, the media shape the way people think and behave.
Marxist theories of the media broadly agree with the view expressed in the question. The mass manipulation model sees the media as an extremely powerful agent of social control through disseminating ideas favourable to the capitalist ruling class in ways that gain immediate and uncritical acceptance from the populace. Likewise, the hypodermic-syringe model of media effects sees the media as having a direct and controlling influence on behaviour. By contrast, other models of media effects, such as the neo-Marxist hegemonic model and the uses and gratifications model, see the influence of the media in shaping the way people think and behave as longer-term and/or more indirect. Similarly, functionalist and pluralist theories would see the media as reflecting the values and attitudes of society more than shaping them. They would reject the idea of the media as a monolithic force manipulating the way people think and behave. Interactionists would point out that media content can be interpreted in different ways and various factors affect the way particular audiences respond to the messages transmitted by the media. Feminists would agree that the media exercise a very powerful influence on how women see themselves and are perceived by men, but would also note how feminists have been successful in resisting those media influences and campaigning against negative representations of women in the media. Postmodernists have been particularly interested in how the new digital media operate and whether they provide a platform from which ordinary citizens can challenge the power of established authorities such as the powerful conglomerates that own the traditional media.
Indicative content:
For:
- The Frankfurt School highlighted some features of mass society that create a conducive background for media manipulation of the way people think and behave.
- The media dominate the flow of information in society today.
- The media are heavily dependent on support from advertisers, and the latter have an interest in manipulating consumer behaviour and more broadly in shaping social identities in ways that support a vibrant capitalist economy.
- Celebrities are seen as important opinion formers and role models today and, to some extent, they can be seen as a product of the media.
Against:
- People are not passive consumers of the media; they actively choose how to use the media to suit their own needs, according to the uses and gratifications model of media effects.
- The way media messages are interpreted by different individuals and groups can vary, and the factors influencing this are not all within the control of the media.
- The new media have provided people with the means to generate their own media content rather than be reliant on the content produced for them by the traditional media. In this sense, democratisation of the media can be said to have occurred (although digital pessimists would disagree with this optimistic view of the impact of the new media).
- Rather than being manipulated by the media into accepting particular ways of thinking and behaving, people often challenge media content and seek to change the way media operators work. Examples include campaigns against sexism in the media, the alt-right’s efforts to expose so-called fake news among established media outlets, and the work of the ‘underground press’ in challenging the state-controlled media in many oppressive, authoritarian regimes.