Institutional Analysis

A key area of media studies is to look at the role of companies, organisations, businesses, institutions. This takes the form of critical analysis. In other words, it is not looking at from a Business studies perspective – organisation, profit, structure – but rather from a sociological perspective – issues of ownership, power, control, behaviour management. I have made a post on my own blog which you can find here, but central to this kind of approach is Althusser’s notion of ISA’s (Ideological State Apparatus), which is often traced in media production by the way in which media texts INTERPELLATE (hail, call, construct, build, maintain) an ideological identity.

However, for this type of analytical approach we need to move beyond the text (ie Lacan ‘mirror theory’ / Representation) and look towards an analysis of those structures (Institutions) that Althusser would see as form an Ideological State Apparatus. A key theoretical approach can be found in Noam Chomsky work based around proposition that the Media ‘Manufacture Consent‘ for the state.

Noam Chomsky takes a left wing perspective that looks to challenge the ideas of Western Capitalism. For instance, making a direct connection between the ideas of ruling class as the ruling ideas. I have mentioned this before when looking at the ideas of Roland Barthes (follow this link), but provide the link to Karl Marx again here:

The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas,

Marx, German Ideology (1845)

Again you can see a visual representation of this in Bombshell, for example, Roger Ailes talks about the media as ‘the most competitive industry in the world’, which means consent to a number of suspect practices – ranging from sexual favours (Roger Ailes and others at Fox News) to eating liberal food or wearing a hoodie (Mrs Ailes working practices as a publisher)! And don’t forget the opening sequence which clearly places Ailes at the centre of corporate and government power – Murdoch, Trump, Reagan, Bush etc.

5 Filters that help to Manufacture Consent

• Structures of ownership
• The role of advertising
• Links with ‘The Establishment’
• Diversionary tactics – ‘flack’
• Uniting against a ‘common enemy’

Key ideas

• Gate Keeping
• Agenda Setting
• Selecting, Shaping, Emphasising
• Social, Political and Economic Bias
• Lack of independence, impartiality, diversity

Key words:

• Media concentration / Conglomerates / Globalisation (in terms of media ownership)
• Vertical Integration & Horizontal Integration
• Gatekeepers
• Regulation / Deregulation
• Free market vs Monopolies & Mergers
• Neo-liberalism and the Alt-Right
• Surveillance / Privacy / Security / GDPR