HOCHSCHULERHEINWAAL

RHINEWAALUNIVERSITYOFAPPLIEDSCIENCES
FACULTYOFSOCIETYANDECONOMICS

TermPaper

WS2015/16

ModuleDomesticPolicy
CourseDomesticPolicyExercise

Dr.JanNiklasRolf

CASESTUDY12:HOWPOWERFULISMASSMEDIA?

GuilhermeKlinkerfuss

MatriculationNumber:
20396

DueDate:
12January2016

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Examplesaboundinourmodernsocietyaboutthepowerofthemediaanditsabilitytoshape
publicopinion.Inthisdigitalage,whenpeoplearediscoveringnewwaysofsharinginformation,
thetraditionalroleofthemediahaschangedandthewayitpresentsitselfhaschangedtoo.It
must.
Muchhasbeensaid,also,abouttheroleofthemainstreammediainademocracyandhowit
helpspeopletobeinformedaboutsociety,aboutgovernmentaldecisionsandpoliciesandhow
thataffectsthecountryaswhole.Alternatively,themediaalsohastheroleofinforming
authoritiesabouthowpeoplefeelregardingcertainissuesandwhattheirproblemsare.Ina
democracy,thisisawinwinsituation,becausedemocracyisreallyatooloftransparencyfor
bothpeopleandthegovernment.

Ontheotherhand,onecannotignoretheroleofthemediainthedevelopingworld,where
censorshipstillexists,wherejournalistsarepersecutedandevenmurdered,wherereportingthe
newsisdangerousandpoliticalpowerandinfluencemaydistortthewaythenewsarepresented
andevenshaperealityitself.Thefreedomofthepressmaybedirectlylinkedtohowdeveloped
thedemocraticinstitutionsare.UnderstandinghowthemediaworksinplaceslikeRussiaand
Brazil,forinstance,mightshedalightonhowthesecountriesincreasedordecreasedthe
powerofdemocraticinstitutionsthroughouttheyears.Bothcountriesareconsideredsomeof
themostdangerousonesintheworldforjournalists,butpoliticalanalystsseemtoagreethatthe
freedomofthepresshasdiminishedinRussia,wherethegovernmenthasmorecontrolover
whatcanbewritten,spokenandpublished,whereasinBrazilthedemocraticinstitutionsare
widelyconsideredtohavestrengthenedoverthelastdecades.

Sowehavetwocompletelydifferentnations,withoppositehistoricalbackgroundswhichshare
commonepisodesofpersecution,censorshipanddictatorshipinthepastandarenowlivingthe
earlystagesofademocraticexperience.Severalcountriesintheworld,mainlyinSoutheast
AsiaandAfrica,alsosharesimilaritieswiththis"democraticopening".Butthequestionremains,
howmuchofthisprocessisduetomassmedia?

Toanswerthisquestion,itmightbeusefultoanalysethedevelopmentofmainstreammediain
oneoftheworld'smostfamousdemocracies,theUnitedStates.Itisalittleknownfact(orrather,
littlepublicizedfact)thattheconcentrationofmediaintobiggerandbiggerconglomerateshas
beenconstantnowforalmostthreedecades,withthenumberofnetworksdecreasing
considerablyandmergingatafastpace.Whatthismeans,objectively,isthatbigcorporations
aretakingovernewspapers,TVnetworksandradiostations.

IndependentmediaismoreandmorerestrictedtotheInternet,withlittletonovisibilityata
nationalscale.Problemsaffectingsmallcommunities,ifignoredbythemainstreammedia,go
unnoticed.Themediatendstofollowcertainpatternswhichitknowswillattractreadersand
viewers,andsticktothatpatternandthosesubjectsthatinterestthegeneralpopulation:it'sa

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business,afterall,andthewhole"manbitesdog"rationalestilappliestoadisturbinglylarge
numberofcases.
Oneshouldkeepinmindthatthisdubiousroleofthemedia,beinganenterpriseandatthe
sametimehavingasocialfunctiontoinformandprotectthecitizens'righttoinformation,isa
paradoxwhichhasbeenextensivelyexploredeveninHollywoodfilms.AceintheHole,a1951
classicbyBillyWilder,featuresKirkDouglasasacorrupt,ruthless,ambitiousreporterthat
exploitsatragedyforpersonalprofitamediacircusisformedaroundadyingmanandDouglas
istheonlyonewithaccesstohim.Thegeneralpublicseeshimasahero,ignoranttothefact
thathewasthreateningthatman'slifewithhisactions.FromBusterKeaton'sTheCameraman,
in1928,toNightcrawlerin2014,cinemahasbeenfascinatedsinceitsinceptionwiththeroleof
themediaandhowitcreatesillusionsnotunlikemoviesthemselves,onlymorepowerfuland
dangerous.Movies,afterall,rarelyturnpeopleagainsteachother,influencepoliticaldecisions
orthrownationsintowar:thepresshasdoneallthosethingsinthepast,especiallywhen
backedbyfinancialorpoliticalsupport.
Massmediacanneverbedetachedfromtheofficialnarrative,afterall,andthatdoesn'talways
benefitthegeneralpopulation.Sometimes,truthdoesn'tsell.

Throughtheeditingofimages,speechesandvideos,themediaisalsoabletomakeleaders
lookweakorpowerful,determinedorreluctant.IntheWesternworld,forexample,itisgenerally
consideredthatVladimirPutin'smachoimageiscarefullybuilttomakeRussiansseetheir
presidentasstrong,asafighter,awarrior,orevenahunter.This,then,isnotpurelya
journalist'simaginationatwork,thesearenotlies:hehas,infact,playedoneroleoranotherfor
thecameras,buttheyareusedtofeedthemyththatsurroundshim,whichcertainlyhelpshis
image.

Understandingthesetechniques,ofactiveandpassivemanipulationbythemedia,isessential
fordiscerningtheinformativeandusefulaspectofthemediafromthelow,absurd,cowardside
ofmanipulation.
Controllingthemediaisabsolutelyessentialformaintainingpower,andoneofthemost
remarkableexampleshappenedinGermanyduringtheNaziregime.Thepropagandawent
beyondnewspapers,radioandfilm:evenhandgesturesandbodypositionswereexecutedina
waytoexpressauthority.Butnow,longafterGoebbelsandHitlerandTriumphdesWillens,
materialmanipulationforpoliticaladvantagesisstillsomethingverytangible.In2006,British
newspaperDailyStarwastheprotagonistofashameful,regrettableepisode:itsownworkers
refusedtopublishapagecalled"HowBritainsfavenewspaperwouldlookunderMuslimrule",
whichfeaturedstrongantiMuslimpropagandaasareactiontotheirincreasinglydiverse
country.

Lenin,thelateCommunistleader,oncesaidthatfreedomofthepressmeantbuyingthemedia
andmakeitsaywhatyouwantittosaywhichisn'tfarfromourownrealitynowadays.Most

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peoplewouldn'tsuggestgoingbacktotheSovietsystemofgovernment,andindeedthathasto
beleftbehind.Butitisaninterestingconcept:ifdemocracymeansthatpeoplechoosetheir
leadersandrepresentativesandbasetheirdecisionsonwhattheywatchandread,thenitis
entirelypossible,insideademocracy,tobuypoliticalsupport.It'spossibletosculptyourown
imagethroughmediasupport,ifyouhavethemeansforit.Inmanypoliticalenvironmentsinthe
Westernworld,gainingfavorwiththemediaismoreimportantthangainingfavorwiththevoters,
andpoliticiansknowthis:theoneswhogetelectedaregenerallypresentedinapositivelight.

LobbyingforcompaniesiscommonintheAmericanCongress,thatmeans,bigbusinessescan
actuallybuyinfluenceandpoliticalsupportthroughlobbyistsandmediasupport.Tobendthe
lawsinyourfavorthatdoesn'tsoundverydemocratic.Becauseitisn't.Butwealthycompanies
andindividualsusingtheLegislativetoachievepersonalgoalsisn'taphenomenonrestrictedto
NorthAmerica.InBrazil,whereroughlyhalfoftheNationalCongressiscomposedof
businessmen,itbecomesquiteobvioustheyrarelypasslawswhichgoagainsttheirown
interests.Backedbyanextremelypowerfulmediaconglomerate,theGloboNetwork
(comparableinsizetotheBBC),theyareabsolutelyshieldedfromthepubliceyesaslongas
theyprotectGloboitself,whichneedsstatesupportasitowesmillionsofdollarsintaxes.How
powerfulismassmedia?Braziliansknowtheanswer:there,mediaisoftencalled"TheFourth
Power",inreferencetoMontesquieu'sdivisionofgovernmentinthreebranches.

References
Ghosh,Ilina.2014.MassMedia:TheAllPowerfulEntity.
VoicesoftheWorld.
http://www.voicesoftheworld.org/politicsandeconomy/dowehaveanycontrol
overit/
Lutz,Ashley.2012.These6CorporationsControl90%oftheMediainAmerica.
BusinessInsider.
http://www.businessinsider.com/these6corporationscontrol90ofthemediaina
merica20126?IR=T
Parfitt,Tom.2012.Russiaseraofmanageddemocracyisover,claims
presidentialcandidate.
TheGuardian
.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jan/11/russiaeramanageddemocracym
ikhailprokhorov
Robinson,Sadie.2008.HowPowerfulistheMassMedia?
SocialistWorker.
https://socialistworker.co.uk/art/14907/How+powerful+is+the+mass+media%3F
2014.GloboDomination.
TheEconomist.
http://www.economist.com/news/business/21603472brazilsbiggestmediafirmfl
ourishingoldfashionedbusinessmodelglobodomination

DeclarationofAuthenticity
I, Guilherme Klinkerfuss, hereby declare that the work presented herein is my own work
completedwithouttheuseofanyaidsotherthanthoselisted.Anymaterialfromothersourcesor
works done by others has been givendueacknowledgementandlistedinthereferencesection.
Sentences or parts of sentences quoted literally are marked as quotations. Theworkpresented
herein has not been published or submitted elsewhere for assessment in the same or a similar
form. I will retain a copy of this assignment until aftertheBoardofExaminershaspublishedthe
results,whichIwillmakeavailableonrequest.