1. Political Economy of Media: Key Concepts
COM 327
February

2. Quiz!

3. According to Smythe, what is the main commodity of the mass media?
a) zombies
b) audience power
c) editorials
d) pop music

4. 2. “The function of the __________ is to whet the appetite
2. “The function of the __________ is to whet the appetite. In this case, to whet the prospective audience members’ appetites and thus (1) attract and keep them attending to the program, newspaper, or magazine; (2) cultivate a mood conducive to favorable reaction to the advertisers’ explicit and implicit messages.” (Smythe, p. 242)
a) free lunch
b) bait
c) branding
d) education

5. 3. McChesney uses the term “global _________” to refer to the consolidation of media in the hands of fewer and fewer corporations.
a) clusterf**k
b) Doomsday Scenario
c) oligopoly
d) consciousness industry

6. 4. For McChesney, “globalization” is synonymous with this word, starting with “neo”
a) neoliberalism
b) Neopets
c) Neolithic Era
d) neo-Nazism

7. Political economy of media
If cultural studies (Hall, Doty, Mulvey, Jenkins) looks at communication as a struggle over meaning, political economy looks at communication as a struggle over the production and ownership of media

8. Roots in Marxism
Society is defined by the struggle for power between the ruling elite and the lower (and middle) classes
“We are the 99%”

9. “Main Street vs Wall Street”

10. “99%”

11. Hall’s use of Marxism IDEOLOGY
Messages are “encoded” to support the ruling elite

12. Political Economy & Marxism
The role of media ownership in class struggle

13. Consumerism & media: BFFs

14. Key concepts Emphasis on media ownership Role of the press
The relationship of media to democracy
Concerns over advertising
Portrayal of ordinary people as relatively powerless

15. Emphasis on media ownership

16. Role of the press
“the corporate media have the additional advantage of controlling the very news media that would be the place citizens would expect to find criticism and discussion of media policy in a free society.” (McChesney)

18. Relationship of media to democracy

19. Concerns over advertising

20. Spot the commodity!

21. Portrayal of ordinary people as relatively powerless
“dupes”
“false consciousness”
“Consciousness industry”

22. http://watch-simpsons-online. blogspot. com/2012/12/fraudcast-news