Jurgen Habermas and the concept of the Public Sphere – arguments: that the media should work in the public’s interest and not purely in a commercial interest, that mass media has reduced the effectiveness of the public sphere though the concentration of ownership, and that in order to have democracy we must have an informed and aware society. “A public sphere between the private domain and the state in which a public opinion was formed and ‘popular’ supervision of government was established”

James Curran & Jean Seaton – the theory of the liberal free press – the idea that media should have the right to be exercised freely. The public wants a free market when it comes to the news, however laws have to be implemented to prevent media platforms from publishing highly offensive and untrue information, but if the government put too many laws in place then the news becomes controlled by the state.”The media ceased to be an agency of empowerment and rationality, and became a further means by which the public was sidelined”.

Noam Chomsky – the 5 filters that manufacture consent – presents his views on how mass media works against democracy, he thinks that media selectively chooses what to publish not based on what is best for the viewer, but for their personal agenda. Propaganda model – explains how populations are manipulated and how consent is manufactured for social, economic and political policies, includes structures of ownership, the role of advertising, links with the establishment, diversionary tactics and uniting against a common enemy

Louis Althusser – interpellation & Ideological State Appraratus and the notion of interpellation. it is a theoretical concept developed by French philosopher Louis Althusser which is used to describe the way in which structures of civic society – education, culture, the arts, the family, religion, bureaucracy, administration etc serve to structure the ideological perspectives of society, which in turn form our individual subject identity.

Antonio Gramsci – the concept of hegemony / hegemonic struggle  Hegemony is the leadership or dominance, especially by one state or social group over others. Gramsci suggests that power relations can be understood as a hegemonic struggle through culture. In other words, Gramsci raises the concept of Hegemony to illustrate how certain cultural forms predominate over others, which means that certain ideas are more influential than others, usually in line with the dominant ideas, the dominant groups and their corresponding dominant interests.