The Concept Ideology and The Media and Communication Studies Why it is important for media and communication

studies to insist on making use of the concept ideology in its analyses, and what does such insistence entail? Stuart Hall explains the importance of ideology for the media and communication in his article The Rediscovery of Ideology: Return of the Repressed in Media Studies. According to him, the reason that the media and communication studies insist on making use of the concept ideology in the analyses is the shift from the mainstream approach to critical approach. As an explanation for this shift, Hall says: The simplest way to characterize the shift from mainstream to critical perspectives is in the terms of the movement from, essentially, a behavioral to an ideological perspective. (Hall, 56) The ideology in the media and communication studies was developed from a behavioral perspective. The society was not in a consensus and critical approach pointed at this. It questioned this process. It was also important considering the media. The media was not in a passive condition as it was in the mainstream approach. Because mainstream approach claimed that there is integrity throughout the society according to the fact that everybody has the same point of view. Of course the point of view of the majority was what they considered as the same. So about the media it was obviously considered as the reflection of all this pattern. It was limited about reflecting only the common point of view while it was supposed to create it. Everybody cannot have the same thoughts, same point of views. There is a differing throughout the whole society which should be pointed at and media has to be in a position where it can be very active in all this. So the insisting on making use of the concept of ideology according to the media and communication studies because it shows the fact that media shows what is real. Not like the mainstream perspective which claimed that media was a passive element. While generating
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what is real the economical, social and political divisions according to the society should be considered and being pointed at which was the main fact of insisting on making use of the concept of ideology. Also medias role should be a part of creating this, not reflecting the majoritys ideas or point of views. Asl Zeren 06.11.2009