Asses the Role of the Mass Media in the Political Process

Marxists view the audience to the mass media as passive and this then allows the hypodermic syringe idea to come into play. Marxists believe the mass media is a instrument of the ruling class and through the media the ruling class ideology is 'injected' into our heads. This is able to happen as the ruling class own the means of production so have control over society, e.g Rupert Murdoch who owns sky, the sun newspaper, the times newspaper, Sunday times and much more Right wing businesses. Lukes would point out that Murdoch uses the 3rd face of power to manipulate the views of others into supporting the conservatives without them even noticing, changing the political process into ways that suit Murdoch and the ruling class.

On the other hand Sociologists who follow the elite theory would say that Murdoch (and other successful business men) owns the means of production, because he is an elite and not because he is in the ruling class. Murdoch being an elite allows him to form networks with other elites which C. Wright Mills would call a power elite. Through these networks Murdoch will socialise with the prime minister for example and work with them to gain a more positive media impression, which then influences the political process. Other Elitist theories such as Budge would notice that the elite is fragmented and political parties in the UK are in competition and the more elite parties will gain more media support.

In contrast to the previous two arguments Pluralists see the audience as active and notice that people have freedom of choice to pick which news paper to read(uses and gratification), which TV shows to watch etc.. But they also notice that some newspapers are more popular and have more readers than others which is an example of elite pluralism. Bachrach and Barats would agree that the media is used to set the agenda (2nd face of power) within the political process as inside pressure groups who have money and power can get a press association and...