Dewey

Dewey believed that the emergence of a modern mass media had the potential to improve the conditions and operations of American democracy, if structured with those ends in mind but he worried that the particular shape of American media system, governed primarily by commercial interests, would have a much more negative influence.

What is the balance between public interest and commercial?
What is the balance between the accessibility of the media and the accessibility of the public domain?

Plato's Theory On Democracy

Democracy relates to power, control, citizenship, and freedom.

Plato asserted there are different categories of human beings and there is little point in letting the 2nd and third classes believe they are socially mobile in anyway.

Society functions better if people know their place and stay in it.

The ruling elite make decisions, the middle class make it all nice and shiny and inform the working class about whats to be done.

Past times such as tele, listening to music etc are 'distractions' to these classes from reality of how society functions and in blissful ignorance.

They are exploited by those in power

So Platos theory on a functioning society depends upon a denial of freedom, people are to be used, ruled and kept in place and distracted from questioning about how to system works.

Benn- 5 Questions To Anyone In Power

Tony Benn urges his grandchildren, and future generations to pose five questions to anyone in power:

1. What power have you got?
2. How did you get it?
3. In whose interests do you exercise it?
4. To whom are you accountable?
5. How do we get rid of you?

Consider the questions to unelected leaders such as gadafi, elected politicians locally, teachers, managers etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=486gATVABHQ

Chomsky- Manufacturing Consent

Noam Chomsky's Manufacturing Consent arguments about mass media in America and their relation to culture, society and the existing power structure.

Chomsky states that the ruling or elite class are the dominant class who come up with ideas that effect  society therefore preventing any form of change.

Chomsky believes that a decent society should maximise need for creative work.

He believes that the hope lies with ordinary people and in the understanding that all changes in history have come because people build a foundation for change at the grassroots level.

Ordinary people are very capable of understanding the world yet must work TOGETHER to get beyond the imposed information and strive to act in accordance with their own decent interests and develop independent minds.

Hebdidges- Sub culture: The Meaning of Style

Sub culture- A set of ideas that branch off from the mainstream culture

Counter Culture- fundamentally goes against mainstream culture and if large enough ends up reshaping the mainstream.

• 1979 book focusing on the British youth culture and the different groups that emerged after WW2.
• Saw style and its association with music as a symbolic form of resistance.
• Although he analysed how each specific sub-culture (Punks, rockers, skinheads) evolved he also looked at the shared aspects common to that evolution socio economic background, ethnicity, class, regional factors.
• He looked at links between subcultures around reggae music and punk music and (despite ethnic differences) saw links in terms of a rejection of the dominant ideology of the day- which at that time was a form of British nationalism.

Hebdige argues that all subcultures experience the same trajectory. In this way, subcultures usually form through a common resistance. The dominant society often sees these groups as radical, leading to fear, skepticisim, and anxiety in their response. Before long, elements of the subculture become mainstream and people stray away from it and back to the norm.